Donations can make a big difference and are desperately needed, but there are many more ways to support humanitarian work and to have an impact. If you need some ideas, here they are.
Raise awareness
Talk about humanitarian crises and share the stories on social media. Use social media to make your friends and family aware of situations you care about and to inform them of the need to support humanitarian work around the world. Use your social media to take action on critical issues.
Keep informed and support quality journalism
Stay informed about neglected crises and support journalism that covers humanitarian crises and forgotten conflicts.
Donate when you can
Any amount of money can make a difference. Support UN agencies and non-governmental organizations so they can provide the help people urgently need in humanitarian crises. For a concise selection of organizations, visit DONARE: Humanitarian Crisis Relief , DONARE: Refugees and IDPS , DONARE: Children in Need, and DONARE: Hunger and Food Insecurity.
Start a fundraiser
Don't have enough money to donate yourself? Why not act as a fundraiser and encourage friends, acquaintances, family and colleagues to contribute?
Hold your government to account
Hold your government and politicians accountable to aid pledges and political promises by writing letters to your local Member of Parliament or parliamentary representative. Use your voice to urge government leaders to make international humanitarian assistance and the resolution of violent conflicts their top priority.
Influence media coverage
Write to editors-in-chief and editorial offices of national and international leading media or make your views clear in a letter to the editor to local newspapers. If you have good reasons, you can also formulate formal complaints to supervisory authorities.
Support the lobbying and campaign work of aid organizations
Many humanitarian organizations lobby political leaders and act as advocates for people who cannot make their voices heard. Aid organizations start their own petitions or exert influence in other ways. You can support this work.
Sign or start a petition
There are several ways to start an official or private petition. Or you can find one you want to support and sign it. Your options depend in part on where you live. In the United Kingdom, Germany, and the European Union, rules exist for official petitions to parliaments, and a public infrastructure allows petitions to be easily submitted and signed electronically.
Join an organization
Found a nonprofit organization you trust and whose work impresses you? Does the organization offer membership or supporting membership? Why don't you join? Support the NGO on a permanent basis. Alternatively, you can become a regular donor to the humanitarian organization.
Sponsor a child
Do you want to make a direct connection with a country and a young person? Individual charities facilitate child sponsorship around the world. Child sponsorships are programs that match children in need and suffering with sponsors around the world.