Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2016 | Page 55

Calculation of Goodwill Table 4: Percentage of Americans Following Typhoon Aftermath “Very Closely” Haiti earthquake January 2010 60 Indian ocean tsunami January 2005 58 Japan tsunami March 2011 55 Philippines typhoon November 2013 32 China earthquake May 2008 30 Chile earthquake March 2010 27 Burma cyclone May 2008 23 Pakistan earthquake October 2005 22 Source: Table adapted from Pew Research Center, November 14–17, 2013; Pew Research Center (November 19, 2013): http://www.people-press.org/2013/11/19/philippines-disaster-draws-limitedinterest-donations/. The percentage of Americans donating money and supplies to relief organizations dedicated to helping the Philippines lagged behind efforts to donate to previous natural disasters receiving more media attention. Although many planned to donate to Philippine relief efforts, just 14% made donations, which is less than donations made after Hurricane Katrina (56%), the earthquake in Haiti (52%), and the Indian Ocean (30%), and Fukushima Japan tsunamis (21%). 67% planned on not donating at all, which was the highest of all five natural disasters listed in the Pew survey. U.S. interest in the typhoon was lower across every age cohort. For example 45% of those over 65 closely following the story compared to the 67% who closely followed the 2011 tsunami in Japan and 20% among adults younger than 40 compared with 47% who closely followed the 2011 disaster in Japan (Pew 2013). Americans contributed more than $300 million to earthquake relief in Haiti within 10 days of the natural disaster compared to more than $33 million to typhoon relief in the Philippines within 7 days of the storm (Hicken 2013; NPR 2010). While private sector donations are more informal and difficult to record, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that private organizations and individuals around the world pledged $150 million of the total contributions to Philippines relief (Troilo 2014). Previous humanitarian crises prompted higher amounts of donations from private organizations and individuals. $3.9 billion was raised in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, $1.2 billion for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and $450 million was given in response to the 2010 floods in Pakistan (Stoianova 2012). It could be that the implementation of America’s new healthcare law dominated the headlines and drew attention away from typhoon relief efforts. While this may explain the smaller donations, it does not elucidate the lower contributions from private individuals and organizations across the globe. 49