AThrough the Deutschland Hilft campaign alone, the Germans have so far donated 194 million euros to support those affected by the war in Ukraine. As with many aid organizations, you can also donate there using a clear keyword. The earmarking guarantees that the money is only used for this emergency situation – and thus restricts the flexibility of the aid organizations.
According to the German Central Institute for Social Issues (DZI), earmarked donations have many disadvantages for the work of the relief organizations. Decision-making leeway is shrinking, additional administrative costs are incurred and aid that is not earmarked is disadvantaged. Even if a cause brings in more money than it needs, it shouldn’t just be redistributed elsewhere. Donors must then always first be asked about the alternative use.
The DZI reports that many donors want to control what their money is used for. Some even flatly refused to support an organization as a whole. Carolin Lohmann from Aktion Deutschland Hilft says: “Many people feel the need for their donation to benefit a specific purpose. This is especially true when disasters or crises are in the media.”
Free donations help more
In the current crisis, Aktion Deutschland Hilft fears that other relief efforts could suffer from the many earmarked donations. “Aid to Ukraine is an imperative of humanity,” says Manuela Roßbach, board member of the alliance. “But it is also a matter of justice not to forget the poorest and most vulnerable in other parts of the world, whose lives are threatened by hunger.”
In addition, existing emergencies are often aggravated by acute crises. Countries like Somalia, Lebanon and Yemen are heavily dependent on wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine. Missing deliveries and rising prices therefore threaten the existence of millions. According to the World Food Program of the United Nations, 13 million people are threatened by acute hunger in the Horn of Africa alone – due to pre-Ukraine crises such as droughts, wars and the pandemic. An example: A total of 18 million euros have been donated to the Germany Helps campaign since the start of the collection in 2016 to help against the famine in war-torn Yemen.
Free donations could have a balancing effect in this respect. The DZI describes it as the “silver bullet” because the donations can be distributed flexibly. The alliance Aktion Deutschland Hilft distributes all free donations to its members according to a fixed key. “An organization that is able to use the donations to implement very large-scale aid due to its structures will receive a larger share than, for example, organizations with medium-sized or smaller aid capacities,” says Lohmann. “This means that the donations have the greatest possible effect on those affected in emergencies.” For which crises the money is used – that is decided on a needs-based basis. “The donations under the keyword ’emergency aid worldwide’ are always used where they are urgently needed.”
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