Where Most Needed

More Katrina impact denial, this time from the Washington Post. 

Maybe donor fatigue isn't the right word for it, but in a poll conducted by CharityChannel shortly after Katrina, a number of comments indicated that major grantors had already told them that grants were being redirected toward Katrina recovery causes.  It isn't so much donor fatigue as it is significant reprioritization by the large grantors and I'm sure the same thing happened with smaller donors. 

Speaking of small donors, here's what they found in the UK Giving survey about the impact of tsunami giving on other causes:

Average giving to the tsunami appeal was £5.04 per head: roughly £4 of this tsunami gift represented an increase over and above what people would normally have given, and around £1 replaced giving to other causes.

If they could find a measurable impact on giving in the UK with the tsunami half a world away, surely there was some measurable impact from Katrina.  I'm surprised that none of the researchers (e.g. Lester Salamon or the University of Indiana folks who prepare Giving USA) have found a way to measure it, as they did in the UK.

[Update 1/20/2006] I forgot to mention the results of this survey of donors and charities by a group of nonprofit consultants in Colorado that found significant fundraising shortfalls as a direct result of competing needs as a result of Katrina fundraising campaigns.