Donate Crypto to Disaster and Crisis Relief

Most giving after a disaster happens in the first few days, while the news coverage lasts. Most of the need does not. Families stay displaced for years, homes are rebuilt slowly, and the cheapest point to help is often before the disaster happens at all.

A disaster in four stages

Before it strikes

Preparing is where money goes furthest. UN agencies report that every $1 spent on anticipatory action before a forecast disaster can return up to $7 in avoided losses and benefits. In Bangladesh in 2020, families who received cash before forecast floods were 36% less likely to go a day without eating. Warnings matter too: the Global Commission on Adaptation found that 24 hours’ notice of a coming storm or heatwave can cut the resulting damage by 30%, yet in 2025 only 119 countries, 60% of all countries, reported having multi-hazard early warning systems (UNDRR and WMO).

Causes we list: supplies placed ahead of the typhoon season in the Philippines (Typhoon Response Coalition) and the monsoon in India, flood preparedness in Greece from clearing stream beds to evacuation drills, and firebreaks and volunteer forest patrols against Greek wildfires.

The first days

Shelter, water, medical care and food come first, mostly delivered by local responders and organizations already in the area. Causes we list fund emergency shelter and household items for families newly displaced by fighting in Sudan, shelter materials and blankets in Gaza, and food for towns cut off by armed-group blockades in Burkina Faso.

The first months

Temporary shelter, repairs and getting income back. Causes we list fund recovery after wildfire seasons in Greece and the western United States, home repairs and livelihoods after cyclones in Mozambique, and repair grants after floods in Germany and Greece.

Years later

Recovery runs long after the coverage ends. The 2023 earthquakes in Turkey killed more than 53,000 people and the 2023 Morocco earthquake nearly 3,000; in 2026, some families were still in temporary housing. Pakistan’s 2022 floods affected about 33 million people. Causes we list fund winter support and earthquake-resistant rebuilding in Morocco’s High Atlas, including the Earthquake Emergency Fund, support for families still in temporary housing in southern Turkey, flood-resilient homes in Pakistan and cyclone-resistant homes in Vanuatu.

Some crises outlast a generation. Landmines and explosive remnants of war killed or injured at least 6,279 people in 2024, and 90% of those whose status was known were civilians. Cambodia still has large areas of minefields to clear decades after its wars ended; the Landmine Clearance Fund funds clearance of farmland and villages, with risk education for children.

Why some disasters get attention and others don’t

Funding follows the news more than it follows need. A study of about 5,000 disasters from 1968 to 2002 found that US relief was less likely when a disaster happened at the same time as other big news, such as the Olympic Games, which has nothing to do with how badly people were affected (Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2007).

Every year the aid agency CARE counts media coverage of crises affecting at least a million people. In its report on 2025 (covering January to September), the least-reported was the Central African Republic, followed by Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Honduras, North Korea, Angola, Burundi, Zimbabwe and Madagascar. Overall funding is falling too: the UN’s humanitarian appeals received only about $12 billion in 2025, the lowest in a decade, and its 2026 appeal asked for $33 billion to reach 135 million of the 239 million people in need, with $23 billion prioritised to save 87 million lives.

What not to send

Boxes of clothes, food and medicines feel more personal than money, but relief experts consistently ask people not to send them. The Center for International Disaster Information, set up with funding from USAID, says unsolicited goods can burden the relief effort, clog supply chains and take up space needed for priority supplies. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the UK’s aid department reported that the airport was “clogged with supplies that are unsolicited and unprioritised”, delaying urgent aid.

Before sending any goods, it advises checking four things: a credible relief agency has asked for them, someone is ready to receive and distribute them, shipping costs are covered, and the items can’t be bought locally. Money avoids all four problems, and lets responders buy what is needed, often from local businesses that are trying to recover too.

Signs of a good relief organization

Every Disaster & Crisis Relief cause we list

Causes are listed with their country, the partner that carries out the work and the date we last checked it. Open any of them for details on what your gift pays for.

Common questions

Is it better to give immediately after a disaster or later?

Early gifts fund emergency shelter and supplies; later gifts fund the rebuilding that continues for years. Several causes we list focus on long-term recovery after the 2023 Morocco and Turkey earthquakes.

Can I give before a disaster happens?

Yes. Causes in the Philippines, India and Greece fund preparation, such as supplies placed ahead of typhoon and monsoon seasons and flood preparedness, which is often where money does the most good.

How can I avoid fake disaster appeals?

Check that the organization is registered, find its wallet address on its own website rather than in a post or message, and be wary of new accounts that appear right after a disaster.