Disasters and Donations
As fans arrived to watch the University of Maryland football team play Clemson on Sept. 10, 2005, student-athletes collected donations to the American Red Cross's relief fund for Hurricane Katrina victims.
(By Doug Pensinger -- Getty Images)
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Americans open their hearts and wallets after disasters, but the scale of the suffering is not the only thing that determines their generosity. Several other factors, including their sense of connection to the events, determines how people respond to natural disasters such as the cyclone last week in Burma.
Americans' | ||
| Disaster | Death toll | contributions |
| 2001 terror attacks | 2,973 | $2.2 billion |
| 2004 tsunami | 216,000 | $1.8 billion |
| 2005 hurricanes | 1,810 | $3.3 billion |
SOURCES: Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University,
Chronicle of Philanthropy, Associated Press
