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New York: The numbers are almost too large to fathom, so many stop trying. As bodies pile up in disaster after global disaster, even the most sympathetic souls can turn away.
Charities know this as "donor fatigue", but it might be more accurately described as disaster fatigue - the sense that these events are never-ending, uncontrollable and overwhelming. Experts say it is one reason Americans have contributed relatively little so far to victims of the Myanmar cyclone and China's earthquake.
Just a trickle
Ironically, the more bad news there is, the less likely people may be to give.
"Hearing about too many disasters makes some people not give at all, when they would have if it had been just one disaster," says Michal Ann Strahilevitz, who teaches marketing at Golden Gate University and specialises in the factors at play in charitable giving.
Compared with disasters like the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, those in China and Myanmar have generated just a trickle of aid. As of Friday, Americans had given about $12.1 million (Dh44.4 million) to charities for Myanmar, according to the Centre on Philanthropy at Indiana University. The group said on Monday that it was too soon to count contributions to China.
A number of factors may be at play in the slow American response, including a lack of sympathy for the repressive governments involved, doubts about whether aid will get through, and an inclination to save pennies because of shaky economic times at home.
But Americans may have also been influenced by the quick succession of monumental catastrophes in two distant lands.
Have people become desensitised to natural calamities today? Have you ever helped relief efforts in such a situation? How was the experience? How did this influence your future efforts? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com or fill in the form bellow to send your comments.
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