AmeriCares Foundation as a disaster relief organization: Haiti Earthquake, 2010 (2011 Report)

Table of Contents

Where we looked

All of the below was examined in January 2011. Full references for the below pages are in the sources section of this page.

  • AmeriCares Foundation's website (www.americares.org):
    • About Us
    • What We Do
    • Where We Work
    • Haiti One Year Anniversary Recovery Report
    • Haiti Earthquake One Year Special Report (2011)
    • Annual Reports
    • Consolidated Financial Statements (2009)
    • Annual Report (2009)
    • AmeriCares Relief Worker Blog From Haiti
  • InterAction. 2010. Haiti Accountability Report 2010
  • Chronicle of Philanthropy
  • Google search, 'Haiti' and 'Haiti evaluation' on www.americares.org.
  • Google searches for 'AmeriCares Haiti evaluation,' 'AmeriCares Haiti expenses,' 'AmeriCares Haiti spent.'

How much did the organization raise and how much did it spend?

Date Amount donated Amount Spent
January 25, 2010 $6 million1 N/A
January 29, 2010 $7 million2 N/A
February 03, 2010 $9 million3 N/A
February 12, 2010 $10 million4 N/A
February 16, 2010 $10 million5 N/A
May 10, 2010 $15 million6 N/A
June 30, 2010 $15 million7 $2.7 million
November 29, 2010 $16 million8 $4 million
February 11, 2011 16.29 $4.8 million

How specific is the organization about how it spent its funds?

AmeriCares Foundation breaks down its $4.8 million monetary expenses in five categories.10

AmeriCares Foundation also presents a list of projects in Haiti.11 For each project, this list provides project title and description, estimated start and end dates, budget, partner organization(s), and location.12 Many of the projects cover future years (e.g., until late 2011 or as last as 2015), and the total budgets of these projects add up to $2.5 million.13

AmeriCares also provides a breakdown of the more than $40 million worth of supplies distributed in Haiti.14

Non-disaster relief activities

  • AmeriCares Foundation reports a breakdown of spending in different regions of the world.15
  • It reports a breakdown among regions supported by its Medical Outreach Program.16
  • AmeriCares Foundation provides highlights of its overall activities,17 and lists the countries it works in.18

We have not found a comprehensive breakdown of activities, or attribution of funds to activities, at a more detailed level.

Sources

  • 1Chronicle of Philanthropy, "A Roundup of Haiti Fund Raising."
  • 2Chronicle of Philanthropy, "A Roundup of Haiti Fund Raising as of January 29."
  • 3Chronicle of Philanthropy, "Haiti Donations Exceed $644-Million, as of February 3."
  • 4Chronicle of Philanthropy, "American Charities Raise $709-Million for Haiti Relief, Chronicle Tally Finds."
  • 5Chronicle of Philanthropy, "American Charities Raise $774-Million for Haiti Relief, Chronicle Tally Finds."
  • 6Chronicle of Philanthropy, "$1.1-Billion Donated for Haiti Relief: Updated Tally (May 11)."
  • 7

    "Private Donations
    $15,200,000
    Expenditures
    $2,700,000"
    InterAction 2010, Pg 18.

    "FUNDING AND SPENDING
    As of June 30, AmeriCares has received $15,200,000 in private donations: $8,000,000 from individuals, $6,200,000 from corporations, $600,000 from founda-tions and $400,000 from other sources. AmeriCares has spent $2,700,000 on grant support, procuring additional relief supplies, shipping and logistics, staff-ing, securing a warehouse where we distribute medi-cal assistance throughout Haiti and establishing an office in Haiti to continue our response efforts over the next three to five years. In addition, AmeriCares has delivered and distributed close to $30,000,000 in medical assistance to more than 60 health care facili-ties and supported over 190 volunteer medical teams traveling to Haiti to treat patients." InterAction 2010, Pg 18.

  • 8

    "Amount raised: $15,600,000; n/a by worldwide network
    Amount spent: $4,000,000 as of 11/29/2010
    In-kind donations: $40,000,000
    ...
    Where the money went: $40-million worth of donated medicine and medical supplies distributed to more than 75 health-care facilities and provided to more than 200 volunteer medical teams." Chronicle of Philanthropy, "Haiti Earthquake Fund Raising, One Year Later."

    "AmeriCares has delivered over $40 million in aid to Haiti to help survivors since January 12, 2010."
    AmeriCares Foundation, "Haiti One Year Anniversary Recovery Report." This message was published January 5, 2011.

  • 9

    "To date, AmeriCares has delivered over $40 million in aid to Haiti earthquake survivors, yet has only spent $4.8 million because of our gift-in-kind model." Donna Porstner, email to GiveWell, February 11, 2011.

    "Our Haiti fundraising total as of February is $16.2 million." Donna Porstner, email to GiveWell, February 25, 2011.

  • 10

    "The $4.8 million was spent as follows:

    • Personnel Costs $407,034
    • Purchases of relief materials $456,371
    • Projects and Grants $1,483,237
    • Shipping, Warehouse and Logistics $1,444,365
    • Operating Expenses $1,057,204"

    Donna Porstner, email to GiveWell, February 11, 2011.

  • 11

    AmeriCares Foundation, "AmeriCares Haiti Projects and Spending, February 2011."

    AmeriCares refers to this list as "the complete list of our Haiti projects." Donna Porstner, email to GiveWell, February 16, 2011.

  • 12

    AmeriCares Foundation, "AmeriCares Haiti Projects and Spending, February 2011."

  • 13

    $2,511,419. AmeriCares Foundation, "AmeriCares Haiti Projects and Spending, February 2011."

  • 14

    AmeriCares Foundation, "Haiti Earthquake One Year Special Report (2011)," Pg 1.

  • 15

    "Total Aid Delivered by Region in 2009 ...

    • Sub-Saharan Africa (28%)
    • Central America & the Caribbean (23%)
    • United States (18%)
    • South America (8%)
    • East Asia & the Pacifi c (8%)
    • Central Asia (5%)
    • North Africa & Middle East (5%)
    • Eastern Europe (3%)
    • South Asia (2%)"

    AmeriCares Foundation, "Annual Report (2009)," Pg 9.

  • 16

    "Regions Supported by the Medical Outreach Program in 2009 ...

    • Central America
      & the Caribbean (57%)
    • Sub-Saharan Africa (18%)
    • East Asia & the Pacifi c (14%)
    • South America (6%)
    • South Asia (2%)
    • Eastern Europe (1%)
    • North Africa & Middle East (1%)
    • United States (1%)"

    AmeriCares Foundation, "Annual Report (2009)," Pg 19.

  • 17

    "2009 Highlights ...

    • Delivered more than $1 billion in medical assistance, reaching over 270 health care partners in 92 countries through our Global & Domestic Medical Assistance, Emergency Response and Medical Outreach Programs.
    • Responded to 32 emergencies in 22 countries, helping hundreds of thousands of people affected by natural disasters, disease outbreaks and civil unrest.
    • Supported 952 medical volunteer trips to 79 countries through the Medical Outreach Program, providing over $35 million in medicines and supplies to enable the delivery of free health care services.
    • Opened a distribution hub in Mumbai, India to deliver critical aid during emergencies and respond to ongoing medical needs in India, Asia and Africa with greater speed and effi ciency.
    • Provided $20 million in medicines and medical supplies in the United States to support health clinics serving the uninsured and underinsured through the Domestic Medical Assistance Program.
    • Filled over 215,000 prescriptions through our Patient Assistance Program, providing free medications for Americans with acute and chronic conditions.
    • Increased patient visits at AmeriCares Free Clinics to over 9,000, providing primary care, diagnostic and specialty services for uninsured residents in Connecticut.
    • Treated over 30,000 patients at the AmeriCares Family Clinic in El Salvador with comprehensive medical services and health education programs."

    AmeriCares Foundation, "Annual Report (2009)," Pgs 4-5.

  • 18

    AmeriCares Foundation, "Annual Report (2009)," Pgs 6-7.