Today's Disaster-Relief Donation Tip

In the first stretch of time after a disaster hits, such as Hurricane Sandy, charities get most of the donations they're ever going to get. It's crucial that, in this time, what they get out of that stretch is maximized.

What they tend to want, in the first stretch of time at least, is money and blood donations. The Red Cross, at least, has deals with wholesalers under which they are able to get bulk supplies at a discount. When they get donations of food or water or various other supplies, not only is the money not put to maximum use- the donating party bought at retail price instead of wholesale bulk price- but they have to spend time sorting those donations out, and possibly even throw some of the donations out for being unusable.

So if you awkwardly convert your campaign event in Ohio into a 'storm relief' event, make sure you ask that the attendees donate money, and not canned goods, water and diapers. (I was not able to locate how much money was donated, or if it was, whether it went to the Red Cross or to the campaign.)