Want to Help the Families in Japan?

Our heart is with our friends in Japan who are impacted by 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami. We’ve put together a list of the variety of charities that provide relief to Japan.

Save the Children helps by providing food, medical care and education and remains to help communities rebuild through long-term recovery programs. Donate now to the Japan Earthquake Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund to support Save the Children’s relief efforts and responses to children’s ongoing and urgent needs.

UNICEF specializes in helping children recover from crisis and trauma after the disaster and provides children with health care, clean water, nutrition, education, emergency relief, and more. 100% of your donation will go to Japan. Support UNICEF’s disaster relief efforts in Japan.

Convoy of Hope is working tirelessly to get much-needed food, water and emergency supplies into the hands of survivors of last week’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Donate here

Food for the Hungry is responding in collaboration with Japan International Food for the Hungry (JIFH). JIFH staff is assessing the most urgent needs in Sendai. Initial response includes distribution of canned bread, rice and water. Donate here

Architecture for Humanity and its teams in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto are partnering with other organizations to mobilize around the long term reconstruction effort. Give now, so they can build later.

World Vision is distributing relief supplies to thousands of people devastated in Japan. An emergency response team is on the ground in hard hit areas, providing water, blankets, and other urgently needed supplies to survivors. As a child-focused organization, World Vision will focus their efforts on responding to the emotional needs of children. Donate here

Mercy Corps is working to help survivors of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami with their longstanding partner, Peace Winds. Peace Winds delivers emergency supplies — including tents, blankets, instant rice and other foodstuffs — to families evacuated from homes in the tsunami-devastated city of Kesennuma.Your donation will be used to meet immediate and longer-term needs of families affected by this disaster. Donate here

International Medical Corps’ mission is to deliver vital health care services that focus on training.  The team is assessing post disaster conditions and prepping critical supplies for delivery to the most-affected areas.  They will focus their efforts on earthquake- and tsunami- affected communities that have not yet been reached. Text to Give!  Text MED and send it to 80888, a one-time donation of $10 will be billed to your mobile phone bill.

As you decide what is right for you, please keep in mind the following:

• Some of the charities might not commit to spending all of the money they raise now for Japan. As the situation continues to unfold, many charities are yet unsure if they will raise more than they need and therefore use the donations instead for future disasters and/or their work in other parts of the world.
• Felix Salmon of Reuters suggests that if you are inspired to give because of the tragedy in Japan, then make an unrestricted gift. You can read his article here. FoxNews Channel also picked up this debate which you can watch here.

If  you decide to give, then please consult these giving tips listed below.

• Avoid Newly-Formed Charities and Give To An Established Charity That Has Worked In Japan
• Designate Your Investment – Generally, it is best to trust your chosen charity to spend your donation as it sees fit.
• Do Not Send Supplies – Knowing that people are desperately in need of food and water, it is hard not to want to pack up a box of supplies and send it to Japan. But this type of philanthropy is simply not practical or efficient.
• Be Careful Of Email Solicitations
• Seek Out The Charity’s Authorized Website
• Consider The Nature Of The Charity’s Work – Think about what it is you want your philanthropic investment to accomplish and then take the time to find the charities doing that work.
• Be Inspired By Social Media, But Still Do Your Homework – While these tools can be a powerful tool to inspire your desire to help, you should not blindly give via these vehicles. You must take the time to investigate the groups behind such pleas for help to ensure that it comes from a legitimate nonprofit.
• Avoid Telemarketers
• Do Not Expect Immediate Results, But Do Keep Tabs On What Your Donation Accomplishes-