Abstract

Disasters are times when people tend to act with sympathy for victims and appear more responsive to calls for donations. In particular, major disasters stimulate philanthropic behaviour. However, motivations and behavioural patterns for individuals and organizations vary significantly (Martin et al., 2006). Individuals might approach disasters with empathy, but not necessarily with knowledge of how and what to donate. Corporations, on the other hand, may have quite mixed motives and may or may not have applicable expertise. Some establish deep, long lasting relationships with disaster relief agencies; many others make ad hoc contributions that may end up congesting the system since they are not organized properly (Zhang et al., 2009).