A string of tragedies can also make potential donors feel nervous about their own safety, making them less likely to give. That could be especially troubling now for Americans, many of whom are worried about their jobs and rising food and gas prices.
It's too soon to judge the effects of the economic downturn on giving, says Del Martin, chair of the Giving USA Foundation, although early figures show that donations rose in 2007. In general, people tend to give to causes closer to home. In 2006, Americans gave more than $295 billion to charity, but less than 4 percent of that went overseas.
One thing that may make people give to foreign causes is their personal connection to a region, either by knowing someone there or hearing an individual's story, Strahilevitz says. That's something that's difficult when unpopular governments are involved, or media access is restricted, as in Myanmar.
Lurma Rackley, spokeswoman for CARE USA, is heartened that Americans are giving to Myanmar at all, considering the lack of images from the disaster. "There's always concern that the tragedy is going to be forgotten," Rackley says.
CARE USA, World Vision and Mercy Corps all say giving for Myanmar is on pace to match the amount given after the Pakistan earthquake, although the Myanmar death toll appears to be far bigger. That's partly because of concerns about whether aid will reach the intended recipients, with reports that Myanmar's military government may be confiscating the aid or diverting it from those most in need.
Dave Morris, 34, tries to donate 10 percent of his income to causes such as public radio, the Red Cross and breast cancer. But the engineer from Ypsilanti, Mich., hasn't given to the relief efforts in Myanmar and China, in part because the world's problems seem impossibly large.
"If you thought about at this very second the number of people who were suffering and dying, I could dedicate all my resources to that and yet it would be a drop in the bucket," he says.
Companies pledging money to China
Still, experts in the field are optimistic that Americans may still come through for victims of these disasters. The Giving USA Foundation says companies are pledging relief funds for China, perhaps because so many do business there.
Gerard Jacobs, director of the Disaster Mental Health Institute at the University of South Dakota, was in Bangkok working with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center when the cyclone struck Myanmar, and he got word of the earthquake while in a meeting about helping governments in the region to respond to victims' psychological needs.
"I think we may also see a surge of donations for the China relief effort because of people's frustrations with the Myanmar government's resistance to the aid effort there," says Gerard Jacobs, director of the Disaster Mental Health Institute at University of South Dakota.
Jacobs was in Bangkok working with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center when the cyclone struck Myanmar, and he got word of the earthquake while in a meeting about helping governments in the region to respond to victims' psychological needs.
"People may feel a sense of relief that the China earthquake presents a situation where the public can genuinely make a difference," he says.
