Apple, American Red Cross accept iTunes donations for Haiti relief

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
With tens of thousands feared dead following a devastating series of earthquakes in Haiti, Apple and the American Red Cross have begun accepting donations for aid and relief through the iTunes Music Store.



Through a link featured on the front page of the store, customers can contribute (iTunes link) as little as $5, or as much as $200. The donations are charged through users' credit cards through iTunes, in the same manner a music or movie purchase would be charged.



The contributions are essentially anonymous, as Apple will not reveal personal information of its users to the American Red Cross through the transactions. Those who give will receive an e-mail confirmation from the iTunes Store, which will be the only evidence of the donation for tax writeoff purposes.



"Your gift to the American Red Cross will support emergency relief efforts to help those affected by this earthquake," the iTunes donation page states. "Assistance provided by the American Red Cross may include sending relief supplies, mobilizing relief workers and providing financial resources."



Donations are available in sizes of $5, $10, $25, $50, $100 and $200. 100 percent of contributions go to the American Red Cross.



A series of earthquakes measuring 6.5 to 7.3 on the Richster scale hit Haiti this Tuesdsay. The American Red Cross is working with partners in the global Red Cross and Red Crescent network, including the Haitian Red Cross, and other partners to assist the nation.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 21
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    The title is confusing. Should read: Apple adds: "Donate to Haiti relief" button in iTunes store.
  • Reply 2 of 21
    "100 percent of contributions go to the American Red Cross."



    Unfortunately this is rarely the case as the credit card companies and their processors almost always take their cut which in the case of disaster relief can amount to 10's of millions of dollars and more.



    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_423238.html





    Sad, but true.
  • Reply 3 of 21
    crees!crees! Posts: 501member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by justfine View Post


    "100 percent of contributions go to the American Red Cross."



    Unfortunately this is rarely the case as the credit card companies and their processors almost always take their cut which in the case of disaster relief can amount to 10's of millions of dollars and more.



    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_423238.html





    Sad, but true.



    Yeah! Those big evil right-wing credit card companies! Go get 'em!



    On that note, I'll go donate now. You?
  • Reply 4 of 21
    rbonnerrbonner Posts: 635member
    Well, will be the first to say that this is a good thing on balance. Very cynical these forums sometimes.
  • Reply 5 of 21
    I wonder, has Apple ever done this before (use iTunes to collect donations)?
  • Reply 6 of 21
    macslutmacslut Posts: 514member
    I'm happy to see them doing this since it makes it quick and easy as well as raising awareness, but I was extremely disappointed to see that you can't donate money from your iTunes account. I get lots of iTunes gift cards from people I do business with, and have money just sitting in my account waiting to spend. I was hoping to donate all of it, but I can't. It needs to be charged to a credit card.



    I hope Apple can change this.



    (In the meantime, I've already donated via SMS).
  • Reply 7 of 21
    mactrippermactripper Posts: 1,328member
    The US has sent in basically a invasion force of 10,000 men in order to secure the country, perhaps they will install a new government in the process.



    It would be a shame to spend all this effort and ignore the opportunity to make a permanent change for the better in that country so it's not so impoverished.



    Plant trees on the mountains to prevent mudslides, rebuild the economy etc. etc.





    Of course our present politicians in the US haven't done a whole lot to rebuild this economy. But the military has much more control, can institute the change that's needed, train the armed forces etc.





    I would like to see Haiti coming out of this tragedy a much stronger and self reliant nation with a vibrant economy and better infrastructure to handle natural disasters better.
  • Reply 8 of 21
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by justfine View Post


    "100 percent of contributions go to the American Red Cross."



    Unfortunately this is rarely the case as the credit card companies and their processors almost always take their cut which in the case of disaster relief can amount to 10's of millions of dollars and more.



    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_423238.html





    Sad, but true.



    There's more of an update on that story (apparently also linked in that entry):

    http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/...for-haiti-aid/



    No news yet on exactly what organization is going to be on the approved list for the waived fees.
  • Reply 9 of 21
    I want to donate to the Haiti relief effort, but I question that money I give to the Red Cross through iTunes would, in fact, be earmarked for Haiti. The Red Cross is on record as saying that all money given to them at any time goes into their general fund and is used for whatever they deem appropriate. That means that some of the money may go to Haiti, but some or even all of it may also go to some other Red Cross project, or even administrative expenses. I applaud Apple for making iTunes a conduit for the relief effort, but I'm going to donate to an organization that can assure me that money I donate to Haitian relief will actually go to Haiti.
  • Reply 10 of 21
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by crees! View Post


    Yeah! Those big evil right-wing credit card companies! Go get 'em!



    Wait, what? The person you replied to made a non-political factual statement as far as I can tell. I realize that Huff Post is generally a political blog, but geez, I didn't notice any political statements in that article proper.
  • Reply 11 of 21
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macslut View Post


    I'm happy to see them doing this since it makes it quick and easy as well as raising awareness, but I was extremely disappointed to see that you can't donate money from your iTunes account. I get lots of iTunes gift cards from people I do business with, and have money just sitting in my account waiting to spend. I was hoping to donate all of it, but I can't. It needs to be charged to a credit card.



    Yeah, I just noticed that as well. I wish I had read this before donating. I thought this was a great solution as I don't have any cash I can donate, but I did get a few iTunes gift cards for Christmas. I figured I could go without a few of those tunes so that someone in Haiti can have food and water, and so I donated a little bit, happy that it was a way I could donate without putting my bank account more into the negative. Well, my iTunes account is tied to my credit card and instead of pulling the amount from my gift card credit, it just billed it to my card. Grrr. I would have donated to the organization I work for had I known this would happen, as at least with them I know 100% of the funds will go to Haiti and be used for relief. Oh well, most of the money should still get there I suppose. I just wish it had been more clear that this does not work with iTunes credit.
  • Reply 12 of 21
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macslut View Post


    I'm happy to see them doing this since it makes it quick and easy as well as raising awareness, but I was extremely disappointed to see that you can't donate money from your iTunes account. I get lots of iTunes gift cards from people I do business with, and have money just sitting in my account waiting to spend. I was hoping to donate all of it, but I can't. It needs to be charged to a credit card.



    I hope Apple can change this.



    (In the meantime, I've already donated via SMS).



    Makes sense when you think about it. Apple doesn't pay full price for the music it sells you. The face value of the Itunes Gift Card is more than it is worth to Apple.
  • Reply 13 of 21
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacTripper View Post


    The US has sent in basically a invasion force of 10,000 men in order to secure the country, perhaps they will install a new government in the process.



    It would be a shame to spend all this effort and ignore the opportunity to make a permanent change for the better in that country so it's not so impoverished.



    Plant trees on the mountains to prevent mudslides, rebuild the economy etc. etc.





    Of course our present politicians in the US haven't done a whole lot to rebuild this economy. But the military has much more control, can institute the change that's needed, train the armed forces etc.





    I would like to see Haiti coming out of this tragedy a much stronger and self reliant nation with a vibrant economy and better infrastructure to handle natural disasters better.



    This is what Haiti needs. http://blog.mises.org/archives/011456.asp
  • Reply 14 of 21
    elrothelroth Posts: 1,201member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacTripper View Post


    The US has sent in basically a invasion force of 10,000 men in order to secure the country, perhaps they will install a new government in the process.



    It would be a shame to spend all this effort and ignore the opportunity to make a permanent change for the better in that country so it's not so impoverished.



    Plant trees on the mountains to prevent mudslides, rebuild the economy etc. etc.





    Of course our present politicians in the US haven't done a whole lot to rebuild this economy. But the military has much more control, can institute the change that's needed, train the armed forces etc.





    I would like to see Haiti coming out of this tragedy a much stronger and self reliant nation with a vibrant economy and better infrastructure to handle natural disasters better.



    That's quite a fantasy world you live in.
  • Reply 15 of 21
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacTripper View Post


    Of course our present politicians in the US haven't done a whole lot to rebuild this economy.



    Yeah, but our past politicians did.



    Shut up already, and take your soapbox elsewhere.
  • Reply 16 of 21
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by justfine View Post


    "100 percent of contributions go to the American Red Cross."



    Unfortunately this is rarely the case as the credit card companies and their processors almost always take their cut which in the case of disaster relief can amount to 10's of millions of dollars and more.



    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_423238.html





    Sad, but true.



    While this is true for charity donations to charities because costs to the charity comes out of donations. Larger companies like Apple who operate as a business and have margins can eat certain costs and get better deals from credit card companies for the % and fees they pay because they have larger volumes then charities. Which is why charities use companies like Apple or your local grocery store etc because the value given to the charity is a "pure" amount with no costs attached.



    Also from speaking from personal experience while balancing business books, when you receive credit card fees, you receive them from as a large fee not a bunch of smaller fees. So unless you manually calculate each transaction fee (and since it is a percentage that would require a bit of extra work), I would think a company like Apple would just absorb the costs of the credit card fees in the iTunes general expenses (if there are any).



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by popnfresh View Post


    I want to donate to the Haiti relief effort, but I question that money I give to the Red Cross through iTunes would, in fact, be earmarked for Haiti. The Red Cross is on record as saying that all money given to them at any time goes into their general fund and is used for whatever they deem appropriate. That means that some of the money may go to Haiti, but some or even all of it may also go to some other Red Cross project, or even administrative expenses. I applaud Apple for making iTunes a conduit for the relief effort, but I'm going to donate to an organization that can assure me that money I donate to Haitian relief will actually go to Haiti.



    This is almost like saying I want to donate food for food hampers on xmas but not any other time of the year. People need to eat every year and donations need to made on a consistent basis.



    If you donate thru iTunes and only 80% goes to Haiti but then another 10% to another place or another 10% somewhere else, I would think you would be happier that you are being more of a humanitarian other than donating to an event that only makes the news. It is the Red Cross and not the government.
  • Reply 17 of 21
    Im glad to see Apple in on the help. Today my school hosted a special blood drive to go help the victims of the earth quakes. Everyone should help!
  • Reply 18 of 21
    eehdeehd Posts: 137member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Apple and the American Red Cross have begun accepting donations for aid and relief through the iTunes Music Store.



    Thank you for the info.Donation made.
  • Reply 19 of 21
    While I like the idea of donating through iTunes (and avoiding having my name on a few dozen more mailing lists) I would love to see other charities included. Doctors without Borders is one I would donate to - they were already working in Haiti when the earthquake hit. I sometime worry about the ARC - and remember that their CEO left after a SNAFU after Katrina.
  • Reply 20 of 21
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by joeYYY View Post


    I wonder, has Apple ever done this before (use iTunes to collect donations)?



    Yes, I donated to the Red Cross through the iTunes Store after Katrina.
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