The week after 9/11...

...lines for donating blood snaked out doors and down streets. Some people had to wait hours or were asked to come back another day.

People donated so much blood, in fact, that the Red Cross had to throw some of it away because the organization couldn't store it all.

What I learned from this is that good intentions isn't always enough. I give money to causes very rarely, but when I do I spend some time and thought beforehand so I can give as wisely as possible.

I mention all of this for two reasons.

One, I know many of you have either donated money to organizations helping the tsunami victims or would like to. There are many good organizations to give money to, but for what it's worth, I ended up going with the Red Cross after looking at a half dozen similar organizations. Primarily because the Red Cross president went on record to say that donations to the International Relief Fund would be used for the tsunami victims, along with a few smaller reasons I had. If you have a better suggestion, please post it in the comments. You can reach the Red Cross donation page here. (Update: Andrew recommends Doctors Without Borders. I've heard good things about them, and they are already mobilized in Banda Aceh.)

Two, and perhaps a more important point, it may be better to wait a few weeks before donating anything. By then, it will become more clear which organizations are best equipped to handle this disaster and you may be able to make your donation more effective.

My main motivation for donating now is so I could avoid feeling like a fraud while writing this post. Kind of like my roommate who will enter the kitchen, say something like "Wow, this floor is really dirty!" and then proceed to blissfully walk past the broom and lie on the couch by the TV, as if he just cast a magic spell that will animate his week-old baguette into a little boy that will sweep the entire kitchen floor and then throw himself into the trash can.

But I digress. And here's another digression. I have been thinking a lot recently about the gradients of good deeds, such as a poor person giving a food bank $5 versus a millionaire giving $50, or a person telling the truth who would feel guilty if he didn't versus a person telling the same truth who finds it very difficult. Are these actions equally moral, or are some better than others? What matters, the objective (e.g. the principle of telling the truth), the personal (the difficulty for you or I to tell the truth), or both?

To tie this into the original topic, most people find it easier to donate time or money immediately after a disaster rather than a month later, even though the need is usually at least as great at both times. For this type of person, is donating the money a month later "more good" than a few days after, when it is easier to act?