The Charity Olympics

Monday, Nov. 05, 2001 By JOSH TYRANGIEL
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Whether it was intended to help the homeless or cure cancer, donating money to charity before Sept. 11 was a form of absolution. Letters came in, people wrote checks, and they felt better. Since then, more than $1 billion has been pledged and $631 million collected to aid those affected by the terrorist attacks. In addition to being the largest in American history, the philanthropic effort also marks the first time in recent memory that Americans donated not as a way out but a way in. While estimates of those in need of direct relief range from 10,000 to 25,000, the entire nation was wounded; people gave not till it hurt but because they hurt. Now, justifiably, they want to know: Where is that money going?

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As of last Friday, $153 million had been handed out, $61 million in direct aid to families. But those figures only begin to tell the story. Individually, a few charities have thrived by finding a specific need and working feverishly toward meeting it. But as a whole, the relief effort--composed of 190 charities--has too often resembled a straggling army of compassion, bogged down by the obstinacy of the American Red Cross, a lack of focus by other charities and general confusion about how to reach out to those in need.

Starting on Sept. 12, folks ranging from Eliot Spitzer, the attorney general of New York, to Nancy Anthony, executive director of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, urged all agencies participating in the relief effort to coordinate their work using a simple computer database. Spitzer said the database would help eliminate fraud; Anthony, who oversaw the Oklahoma City bombing relief effort, noted that "a database deals with the potential fraud issue, but it also allows someone to go in and say, 'Who hasn't been served yet?' People are very different in their responses to tragedy. Some reach out immediately for assistance, others become very withdrawn. They'll sit at home and go broke or crazy before they'll reach out."

Most charities instantly agreed that databasing was logical. The significant holdout was the American Red Cross. Dr. Bernadine Healy cited a strict organizational policy against sharing victim information because of privacy concerns. Spitzer countered that the database would be overseen by an independent accounting firm, not a government agency, and would be confidential. Healy wouldn't budge, and last Friday she was forced out by her own board.