Long term giving: after the Asian Tsunami

In the wake of the devastating Asian tsunami on Boxing Day last year, most of us heard politicians using the phrase ‘the response to this disaster will be a marathon...not a sprint’.

A month later, we witnessed some British charities close their appeals due to the terrific response of the British public.

Does that mean that the situation is under control, the race is over, and everyone who needs help from the relief and development agencies will receive it? Of course not! The scale of destruction was enormous and it will take years and plenty more money yet to return the affected people back to any sense of normality.

While emergency relief agencies closed their appeals once they were satisfied they had the money to fulfil their immediate commitments, development agencies need regular income in order to achieve their long-term goals.

Take Habitat for Humanity as an example. It is an international Christian house-building organisation that currently builds a house every 26 minutes, and works in 98 countries worldwide. The charity was working in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladesh long before the relief agencies and media arrived and will be there for a long time after.

In Sri Lanka for instance, Habitat for Humanity has been building houses in partnership with the needy since 1994. In fact, they are the second largest house-builder in the country after the Sri Lankan government. At the time the tsunami struck, they had already helped around 4,000 Sri Lankan families out of poverty housing into simple, decent homes.

Habitat for Humanity would have continued working in Sri Lanka even if the tsunami had not struck but the scale of devastation has given them a whole new challenge. They plan to build 10,000 simple, permanent homes in the first 6 months to a year. To meet that challenge they need long-term commitment from people in the UK.
Please help them with a regular gift and so that they can fulfil their long-term commitment to rebuilding homes and hope.

Whilst every charity appreciates the one-off gifts that its supporters give out of the kindness of their hearts, it is very difficult to plan ahead with this income. Regular giving is a long-term source of income that the charity can rely on and with which they can plan ahead. As long as the charity has a healthy “core” of committed supporters who give regular donations, it can make an accurate assessment of what projects it is able to commit to in the foreseeable future.

For more information on the work of Habitat for Humanity or to request a regular giving form, please contact Astrid Keen on 01295 264240 or visit their website www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk.

Barry Floyd works at Habitat for Humanity in Banbury, Oxon