Cross Cultural Communication: Fundraising for Victims of Natural Disasters - Case Study Example

Name: Instructor: Course: 5th May, 2013. Cross Cultural Communication: Fundraising for Victims of Natural Disasters Introduction When reference is made to Cross Cultural Communication, a thread of thought is drawn to the many different ways in which communication is made in different states depending on the cultures that are adopted or the trends that are considered fashionable in that state. In regard to the above mentioned subject matter of contemplation, a natural disaster refers to any natural calamity or phenomenon that causes mayhem or pandemonium, that is inclusive of death, displacements, diseases, homelessness, destruction of public property, destruction of plants, lack of clothing, and many others to the general public and is beyond human control. Because of these consequent disorders that are associated with natural disasters and their vast nature of destruction, many a time societies or states that are affected calculate values or extent of the destruction that is caused and because it is part of their national obligations to ensure that citizens in their individual states have access to basics such as food, clothing and shelter, they may decide to involve the nationals or states that are not affected by the disaster much to come together and do a fundraising that is aimed at alleviating the damage or helping the victims of the natural calamity or disaster (Strom, 20). The modes of fundraising differ from one state to another and depend much on the trend that is common in that particular state. Fundraisings are done in order to help the victims regain or settle back to their normal ways of life or to enable them rebuild houses, buy clothing, access medical services, relocate them, afford food, and produce food according to their economic activity. In many states, and based on the natural calamities that have been faced in the past, it has been found that the media help a great deal in enabling communication of information about natural disasters reach the populations that may be interested in lending a helping hand to the victims of the natural disasters (Braniac, 3). The most common modalities that the media use in reaching larger populations include running adverts about the initiatives of the governments that have been established to help alleviate the effects of the disaster, self-initiative programmes that include sporting activities that charge particular fees for the participants aimed at raising funds, volunteer activities that would help provide labour for reconstruction of houses that may have been destroyed in areas hit by the calamities, establishment of electronic money transfer initiatives to aid raise money, publicity via print media such as newspapers, magazines and periodicals that help make people aware of the initiatives that are already established to fundraise and similarly make public the calamity that has hit a particular country via international magazines, media houses and outline the extent of damage that has been caused. Natural disasters are therefore seen as those sad realities that affect thousands of people living across the world or across borders each and every year, and each of these people has different approaches depending on their traditions to help resolve the calamities (Marken, 32). Natural calamities that have occurred include, but not limited to the following; floods, typhoons, forest fires, earth tremors and earthquakes, droughts, acid rains, and many others. The mode of fundraising that is used across different cultures would depend on the trends that the people in that particular state find common or rather will consider as a non conic activity and aid in raising funds for meeting the expectations of the above mentioned unfortunate incidences or possible consequences of a natural calamity. As such, this particular essay tends to make a comparison between different cultures on the modalities that have been used before to raise funds or general support for victims of natural disasters. In order to attach a relevant context to the subject matter of deliberation or inspection to that effect, this essay seeks to study two calamities that include; the devastating typhoons and earthquakes in eastern Asia that hit the Philippines and parts of Vietnam and similarly the earthquakes that hit Haiti in January 2012. By so doing, the studies would help establish the differences that most cultures adopt in fundraising for victims of natural disasters. Fundraising does not necessarily mean financial support but similarly volunteer programs, or donations that include clothing, food, shoes, labor and many more (Geary, 11). Thus Fundraising is the control or management of relationship between an organisation that is charitable and its donor publics (Waters, 2008). The population in general may view fundraising as a fundamental or basic financial contribution, but in actual sense the principal or guideline is to build a long lasting relationship through trust and communication via the media (Freberg, 92). Body In January, the year 2012, a disastrous and serious earthquake that had a magnitude of between 6.5 and 7.3 hit Haiti and overwhelmed or devastated most parts of its capital known as Port-au-Prince, which led to a search activity, a rescue operation and a recovery mission being initiated (Waters, 241). In this particular disaster, thousands of citizens died, several other individuals went missing, and this included some American 24 year old students from MA that were stationed in Haiti and were running a food relief program. After the disastrous quake, some of the survivors decided to shift post or migrate to the countryside and were leaving in buses while a larger percentage of the roads were still blocked as a consequence of the destruction that resulted from the earthquake (Bolland, 10). Because the survivors of this earthquake needed food, water, and other related basic necessities and in addition an image, an initiative by name ‘Help Us’ was established and it was visible on a satellite. Because the United States of America was the closest neighbor to Haiti, they were already providing food, help and other donations. The earthquake disaster in Haiti left many children orphaned and some of the families in US decided to adopt and brought home the Haitian orphans (Smith, 1). Making reference to Haiti as a case study, most of the aid that was found at this time came from the United States (Smith, 333). United States in particular uses the United State Red cross to run most of their fundraising initiatives and therefore the following methods were used or are currently still in use by the United States red cross; The first method that was used was particularly money donations that were made public via the media adds. A sample media ad that displayed the following information was used to mobilize individuals to help with fundraising; ‘Help Charity, Help the Homeless, Help Haiti, Child Care Help, and How to Help Parents’ was initiated to help the victims of the natural disaster. In this initiative, citizens of the United States and the unaffected parts of Haiti were asked to donate money that could help the victims of the disaster and similarly help in the recovery process (Strom, 20). They were asked to donate more money by going to the website of Red Cross and donate by the use of a credit card at http://www.redcross.org/ . This indicates that because of the developed nature of the state in question, money donations were able to be done via the internet (Judy, 13). Secondly, the citizens were informed that they could donate clothes, food and many more basic materials via the initiatives that were established by UPS. UPS was responsible for offering free shipments of anything that was donated that is less than 50lbs to Haiti. Such initiatives needed communication, and in specific the local language of Haiti known as Creole and therefore volunteers were asked for by Red Cross for a 24 hour phone bank. The food donations that included canned foods, rice, cereal and many more, and in addition clothes and shoes were collected and the donations were made via calling 212-697-9767 for facilitation purposes (David, 70). This indicates that the funds that were raised could similarly be used for purchasing these products. On a third instance, money donations were made to UNICEF, an international organization that helps children, at their website https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=668o&668o.donation=form1 and similarly money donations via phone that was done by calling via Skype 1-800-FOR-KIDS or 1-800-367-5437 (Sanborn, 37). In addition to the three basic modalities that were used in this disaster, money that was raised via these initiatives were used to facilitate volunteers that had to go to those areas so that they help the victims of the natural disaster rebuild and recover from the consequences of the natural disaster provided they had time to do so (Manjoo, 13). Finally, money was donated to blood banks in order to purchase blood that could be used to help the injured victims that had lost a lot of blood and were recovering from the injuries in hospitals (Curtis, 91). Other citizens in the United States were urged not to give money if they don’t have but simply make a visit to the blood banks that were part of the initiative then donate blood which cost them nothing. In return, they were given a chocolate bar after the donation, a good meal and left with plenty of blood. As indicated by the above case study, it is evident that money donations or funds / support were mainly done via two bodies and was mainly facilitated via the internet and through media adverts (Baran, 40). The RED CROSS website did it all apart from the UNICEF initiative and the sites used included http://www.redcrossblood.org/ , http://www.redcrossblood.org/make-donation or they had to call by phone to make appointments that were meant to donate blood via Skype 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or Skype 1-800-448-3543 (Baker, 116). On to the second case study, in South-East Asia, a coalition of charities was kicked off in 2009 and a major fundraising request was made to the general public to help those that were left destitute or desperate by the devastating earthquakes, typhoons and floods. Typhoon Ketsana at this time hit the Philippines and several other parts of Vietnam (Harman, 1). Similarly, in this same region apart from the Indonesian earthquake, floods had also hit Cambodia and Vietnam which in addition submerged the capital of Philippine, namely Mania, where a large number of more than 330 people were reported dead (Waters, 140). These reports were made by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and appeals were made to the general public to help with the donations. Amongst the destructions that were reported by the National Disaster Management Agency, 83,712 houses, 285 schools, and 200 public buildings were destroyed. Similarly, another 100,000 buildings that were located 20 miles of road were seriously damaged and five bridges that aided in crossing ridges and rivers had collapsed as a result of the raging waters of the floods and earthquakes (Bush, 38). The disasters made millions of people witness the world that they were used to being ripped apart in their vicinity. Despite the DEC members responding to the appalling situations that were on the ground, they urgently requested the public’s help to help fund their activities or work (Hamilton, 630). The appeal was made to the citizens of the UK and they expressed their understanding of the uncertain times. The donations which were to be made were to be done by ringing the contact 0370 60 60 900 0r visiting the website www.dec.org.uk (Croft, 19). On the other hand, the British Red Cross had also launched their own form of appeal that was to particularly help the victims of the tsunami that struck Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, at the same time that killed about 177 people (Waters, 250). The initiatives that were adopted by the Red Cross amongst others included provision of food, blankets for survival in the cold, cooking pots, water and similarly tarpaulins. In addition, Red Cross was to ensure that there is a safe water supply and a reconnection of families that may have been separated by the tsunami. The record indicated that in Samoa, the death toll hit 136, 32 in American Samoa and about nine in the nearby Tonga. Those who were willing to make donations had to visit the Red Cross Website, www.redcross.org.uk/samoatsunami or calling 0845054 7200 (Cas, s 1). In regard to the above mentioned cases, it is evident that the International Federation of Red Cross plays a major role in facilitating fundraisings for national disasters that happen worldwide and therefore, a general discussion of the methods or modalities that are used by Red Cross to help victims of natural disasters would be helpful in discussing a general oversight of the modalities that are used in different cultures. To this effect, this essay would discuss the Media’s Impact on the American Red Cross Fundraising and Volunteerism Efforts during Natural Disasters (Davis 46; Waters, 139). The efforts that are in particular made by the American Red Cross provide a lot of support to the victims in natural calamities and often lead to support by communities and nationwide initiatives. Fundraising is the necessary lifeline of Red Cross mainly former agencies. Media has obviously contributed and changed the way charitable non profitable organizations run or handle public relations and provide assistance to the general public (Bush, 7). Times of natural disasters is such a hard time for Red Cross because it has to not only handle donations in the form of money but also help visitors to their camps locate their local Red Cross shelters, find their relatives in the areas struck by the disaster, get information concerning the details of blood donation and volunteering, and similarly keep up with the breaking news all at the same time (Bolland, 123). Communication or media, and in specific, social media is helping Red Cross via donations and donors by offering more access in various methods in lending aid through monetary funds. The financial support gained is then used in facilitating volunteerism. In particular, the media helps in the following ways; Traditional Media The traditional form of communication that had been used entailed essentially giving donations by use of mail or over the phone, and more so during natural calamities or disasters. However, fundraising due to their response to emergencies, is shifting from this form to digital media in order to have a larger, faster response to facilitate more conveniences. The use of publications that were done through the mail are now done online in order to save on printing and paper, but the quality of the information that is provided in print is still proving to be rather effective for Red Cross. In regard to reaching various ethical groups, generations and incomes the use of the traditional communication mode has not been completely made extinct but is becoming more transparent. Promotional event marketing is still done by use of newsletters, mailers, and paper fliers to the several groups that may still have limited access to the upcoming trends of new technology. As much as it is still effective to Red Cross, it found to be less active in comparison to its performance some years back. Digital Media The popularity of social media is on the rise and it is effectively contributing to the philanthropic efforts of the Red Cross. Via the internet, social media sites and networks, emails, podcast and blogs, Red Cross is benefiting through their access to more valuable resources in reaching out to the general public. They, Red Cross, use digital media to generate texting-to-donate initiatives, social networks, and the internet in general to facilitate and promote fundraising and volunteerism (Briones, 39). By using digital media or social media, Red Cross is able to give the ordinary personalities the capacity to communicate their views concerning the organization undertaking the relief initiative (Cass, 2008). By Red Cross creating a social media program, they are able to track perceptions or sentiment about issues related to Red Cross, give effective responses to misconceptions in any case they occur, and obviously support praise that is given to the organization (Cass, 2008). The main volunteer base for Red Cross is the old generation so they may not so much merge social media into their fundraising campaign because they fear not reaching their fun base (Saunders, 30). As such, it is evident that as much as the use of mobile phone applications is on the rise, it is still in its baby steps. The text-to-donate initiative was first used by Red Cross in the earthquake that hit Haiti as discussed above and within two days, about 2.3 million people had texted “Haiti” to the Red Cross number to give ten dollars and they raised about 30 million dollars. Similarly, in Haiti earthquake, people were tweeting to donate, thus texting to donate (Manjoo, 13). This opportunity of the Haiti campaign therefore presented an easy way for the general public to make small contributions that facilitated a lot. It did not require donors to mail letters, call toll free numbers, wait online or make use of their credit cards but still contributed (Bush, 6). Conclusion The Red Cross development programs have in general built more than 56,000 shelters, carried over 90,000 trained volunteers, and raised several million dollars in fundraising campaign. The use of traditional and digital media by such fundraising agencies has provided more training, preparedness, and help to citizens that are affected by natural disasters. The presence of technology for Red Cross seems endless at the verge of this 21st century. As such, it is evident that the modalities of fundraising that is used in whichever culture is dependent upon the technology that is available for the process. And the more advanced the technology is, the better the results for the fundraising. The technology that was used in Haiti earthquake was more advanced than the one used in the Vietnam, Cambodia and Philippine floods and as such realized a faster, effective and result oriented fundraiser. Thus the basic difference between modalities or method used in fundraising in different communities depends on the technology used and the number or population of the general public that is reached by the publicly supported agency aiding in the fundraiser. Thus today, with modernisation, apart from text-to-donate initiatives social media such as the use of the satellite with the iDirect system (iDirect), click to donate sites of the internet (Strom, 20), Green’s facebook application, peer-to-peer fundraising (Judy, 13), twitter, LinkedIn, and BlogSpot are used to aid in giving donations unlike the traditional methods (Manjoo, 13). Thus the more advanced a community is and depending on their cultural limits (less on technology use), the better the fundraising process. Works Cited Top of Form Bottom of Form American Red Cross: Small Changes Make a Big Different. Retrieved from American Red Cross Social Media Case Study, n.d Baker, Stacey M. “Vulnerability and Resilience in Natural Disasters: A Marketing and Public Policy Perspective.” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 28 (1): 114-123, 2009. Print. Baran, Stanley J. & Davis, Dennis K. Mass Communication Theory. Boston: Wadsworth, 2009. Print. 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