>It would be a lot more efficient to mail an envelope with cash to a random address in a disaster area than it is to expect these organizations to make a go of

>It would be a lot more efficient to mail an envelope with cash to a random address in a disaster area than it is to expect these organizations to make a go of it. Interesting that you mention that. Charity evaluator Givewell has evaluated hundreds of charities based on whether they actually deliver results for your money. One of their top rated organizations is GiveDirectly, which does almost exactly what you describe. Here's their evaluation page for it: http://www.givewell.org/international/top-charities/give-directly http://www.givewell.org/international/top-charities/give-dir... Givewell is a bit bearish on disaster giving, by the way. See #6 in this list: http://blog.givewell.org/2013/11/12/6-tips-on-disaster-relief-giving/ http://blog.givewell.org/2013/11/12/6-tips-on-disaster-relie... If you're interested in this sort of thing, you might look in to the Effective Altruism movement, which I consider myself a part of: http://www.effectivealtruism.org/ http://www.effectivealtruism.org/