This guest post is from Juanita Rilling, Director of the Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI). The CIDI is an education organization that supports international relief through encouraging effective donations by individuals, groups, businesses, and communities. Juanita’s post originally appeared at Good Intentions Are Not Enough.

I have good news for people with big hearts and skinny wallets!  Concerns that an ailing US economy will discourage people from donating in support of international disaster relief have inspired us at the Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI) to tweak our outreach materials.  Bargain-hunting humanitarians take note – the most effective donations are also the least expensive for donors.

Here’s an example: 100,000 liters of clean water hydrate 40,000 people for a day.  That amount of water purchased in-country costs about $500.  The same amount of water purchased in the US costs about $50,000.  But here’s the kicker – transportation expenses, customs fees and delivery charges add between $150,000 and $700,000 to the cost of sending potable water that can be purchased near the disaster site for $500.

A further distillation of that statistic – $1 of water purchased in the US would not supply even one person with enough drinking water for one day (including capital cost, transportation, taxes, etc.).  In contrast, $1 spent in-country could provide drinking water to approximately 80 people for one day.

Used clothing is another commodity that is expensive from donor to disposal. Western apparel is culturally inappropriate in many countries and is trashed instead of used. Marketplace problems and disposal costs have compelled many countries, including the Philippines, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi and Yemen, to ban importation of used clothing, including during emergencies.

These examples are snapshots of a bigger reality – that unsolicited material donations are high expense to donors and low or negative value to recipients, while cash donations are low expense to donors and high value to recipients.  The two are not on a continuum; they are opposites.

Unsolicited material donations – including canned food, bottled water and used clothing – are usually more expensive to transport than they are worth.  They clog supply chains, take space needed to stage life-saving relief supplies, and divert relief workers’ time. Managing piles of unsolicited “stuff” adds to the cost of emergency response by forcing changes to distribution plans and requiring disposal at further cost. If released into local markets, these donations can put local merchants out of business, adding economic stress to already fragile conditions.

In stark contrast, besides being the easiest gift for donors to give, monetary contributions to established relief agencies support local merchants and local economies, ensure that commodities are fresh and familiar to survivors, that supplies arrive expeditiously and that goods are culturally, nutritionally and environmentally appropriate. No unsolicited material donation can do as much good as quickly and at such low cost, with so little hassle for donor, recipient and host country.

Most people who contact CIDI understand that cash donations are preferred by relief agencies but have never heard about the harm that unsolicited material donations can do. Fortunately, the easiest donation to give also does the most good.  Cash donations convey more benefits to more people at lower cost and with less hassle – now that’s a bargain!

For more information on effective donations, check out www.cidi.org