4 votes

Are there situations where donating items in a box can be as helpful as cash?

When it comes to disaster relief, I often hear the refrain that it is best to donate cash, and donating boxes of things often hurts more than it helps. Is this universally true, or are there situations where donation boxes are actually helpful?

Search results on the subject ("disaster relief donation box vs cash"), all saying that boxes of stuff hurt more than help, due to the logistical costs of shipping, sorting, and storage:

3 comments

  1. [2]
    Catt
    Link
    I think locally and when organizations specifically ask for goods. For example, we've had some pretty bad forest fires in the past, where a lot of goods like diapers just weren't available locally...

    I think locally and when organizations specifically ask for goods. For example, we've had some pretty bad forest fires in the past, where a lot of goods like diapers just weren't available locally (in the city affect). There were also volunteers that took goods from nearby cities to the affected area, so transportation costs were basically free.

    3 votes
    1. talklittle
      Link Parent
      I think you're on to something when you say "locally." The original problem seems to stem from highly publicized disasters where these organizations are inundated with stuff coming from far and...

      I think you're on to something when you say "locally." The original problem seems to stem from highly publicized disasters where these organizations are inundated with stuff coming from far and wide. When it's more locally contained, it sounds like a community managed approach can be effective.

      For highly publicized incidents, I wonder why relief organizations continue to accept boxes when it is clear the disaster is getting massive media coverage? Or do these organizations in fact stop accepting boxes, yet people find ways to bypass the organization and ship stuff themselves? Or are there sometimes too many organizations in the same space, lacking coordination?

      1 vote
  2. Diet_Coke
    Link
    Maybe the only situation is when you're donating goods for which there is a shortage, but it would still probably be better to donate to an organization that can make use of economies of scale....

    Maybe the only situation is when you're donating goods for which there is a shortage, but it would still probably be better to donate to an organization that can make use of economies of scale. Boxes are just not an efficient way to allocate resources.

    1 vote