Nepal 2015 - Samaritan's Purse evaluation

Donor report: Nepal Earthquake 2015: Relief and Early Recovery Report

Raised: No information found

Spending: No information found

Expertise: Christian development that provides multi-service humanitarian aid

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Good charity picks missed: Samaritan’s Purse?

As in investing, the mistakes of omission need to be factored in accountability. Charity Intelligence did not recommend Samaritan's Purse in April 2015 (original recommendations made in April 2015). Samaritan’s Purse may have outperformed relative to other charities providing disaster relief in meeting the needs in Nepal.

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Key Activities: Samaritan’s Purse Nepal disaster relief was turbo-charged by connecting with the US Marines deployed to Nepal. Nothing gets tonnes of supplies into remote locations faster than a massive military airlift. Samaritan’s Purse was on the ground in Dolakha, the region most affected by the after-shock, or second earthquake.

Samaritan’s Purse details its food distribution: it provided 14,830 households with each family receiving 15kg of rice, 2 kg of lentils, 0.5l of oil, and 0.25kg of salt. Through a partnership with the World Food Program, a UN-agency funded by governments, Samaritan’s Purse distributed Plumpy’Doz to 7,856 children under two. This specialty food stops malnutrition, which was an initial fear in Nepal that did not occur on a large scale.

Samaritan’s Purse’s director reports its shift in aid to all in Phase 1 to targeting Nepal’s most vulnerable people affected. He also notes

“it soon became evident that households needed a more substantial temporary shelter than tarps to sustain them through the monsoon period”.

Samaritan’s Purse switched to providing corrugated galvanized iron sheets and locally-bought Quonset shelters. This local-sourcing benefits market recoveries. 

Samaritan’s Purse has built the most homes of the ten charities assessed by Charity Intelligence. It has built 350 earth-bag houses, with 50 more coming.[i]Earth-bag houses should be more earthquake-resistant than bricks and plaster. Permanent houses are Nepal's greatest need according to independent surveys done by GroundTruth Solutions. 

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Comparing Results: Homes built in Nepal

Like many charities, Samaritan’s Purse does not publish financial information on its disaster relief. This information is critical for donors to understand the scope of the disaster spending relative to the activities. Numbers matter. Without financial information found for Samaritan's Purse, donors have only pictures of homes built to compare results. From the pictures, Samaritan's Purse and World Renew look better.

* If you are a Samaritan's Purse donor and agree, please contact the charity and let them know you want more financial disclosure about its disaster work. 

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Additional Sources:

Caralee Giebeig, Rebuilding in Nepal After Devastating Earthquakes, Samaritan’s Purse, August 31, 2017

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More Charity Intelligence reports on Nepal Earthquake 2015 disaster response

Summary assessment of Nepal disaster response by 10 charities Canadians supported

Charity Intelligence's full report on Nepal Earthquake - 3 Years Later Assessment of How Giving Helped

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About Charity Intelligence: Charity Intelligence’s mission is to help Canadian donors be informed and give intelligently. We do this through objective and independent research on Canadian charities.

Charity Intelligence’s total costs to report and evaluate Nepal’s earthquake disaster response since April 2015 are $11,900. This is entirely funded by Canadian donors. If you found this evaluation useful, please share it with your friends and join us on Facebook and Twitter @CharityIntel

Please consider donating to support our research.

Charity Intelligence researches Canadian charities for donors to be informed and give intelligently. Charity Intelligence’s website posts free reports on more than 700 Canadian charities, as well as in-depth primers on philanthropic sectors like Canada’s environment, cancer, and homelessness. Today over 325,000 Canadians use Charity Intelligence’s website as a go-to source for information on Canadian charities reading over 1.3 million charity reports. Through rigorous and independent research, Charity Intelligence aims to assist Canada’s dynamic charitable sector in being more transparent, accountable and focused on results.

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001

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