From the catastrophic San Francisco earthquake of 1906, to its 1989 quake, advances in communications reduced the time between event and response significantly. Fast forward to the earthquake that rocked Haiti in 2010, and we’ve realized an exponential increase not only in what we know and how quickly we know it, but also in how and when we respond.

New media connects the world in entirely new ways, and allows us to come together to respond to disasters in more impactful ways. New media tools—particularly social media—allow non-profit and disaster relief organizations to unite the public in meeting the needs of communities affected by disasters in unprecedented ways. Convio has identified five ways in which new media has sped the response to and recovery of communities hit by disasters:

1. Responding Immediately
Seven years ago, when the Indian Ocean tsunami struck, disaster recovery organizations offered what was then considered a rapid response: within days, many had updated their websites and sent out e-mails. But in January 2010, it took only moments for Twitter posts to spread news of the Haiti earthquake—and to generate unprecedented social engagement.

Within hours, some non-profits had updated their home pages, launched Google AdWords campaigns and set up Haiti-specific text donation campaigns.* The responses were equally rapid:

• In the first 24 hours after the disaster, Oxfam America received contributions totaling more than $800,000. At least $10,000 of that came in through a Facebook™ cause the group set up for earthquake relief efforts.
• One day after the earthquake struck, donations to Save the Children’s relief efforts totaled $279,000.
• Within three days of the disaster, AmeriCares had raised more than $500,000 for Haiti relief.

Overall, in the three days following the earthquake, Convio clients raised more than $32 million dollars per day, eclipsing the previous single-day fundraising peak of more than $19 million dollars given through campaigns by December 31, 2009.

2. Connecting People Globally
It's one thing to hear that people are starving in Africa or homeless in Haiti. It’s another to see, in You Tube videos or Facebook posts, what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world. Our world has become smaller as our sources of information have increased.

Among the most credible of these sources are non-profit organizations with operations or connections in disaster areas. Through blogs and social media postings, with specific stories and vivid images, they can educate viewers in ways that simply were not available in the past.

Free the Kids, a volunteer-driven non-profit, did just that when its orphanage in Haiti suffered quake damage, putting more than 600 children at risk. The organization sent e-mails to supporters immediately, empowering them to share its needs through Facebook and Twitter. The group also used social media to relate specific stories about the children and keep readers updated on their progress.

When author Neil Gaiman re-tweeted about the plight of the children, web traffic, donations, and the number of people who provided their e-mail address to learn more skyrocketed. The result: in 2009, its first year of on-line fundraising, Free the Kids had raised $160,000. In the first two weeks after the quake, it raised more than $250,000.

3. Responding More Effectively
New media enhances a non-profit organization's ability to direct its donations more efficiently to specific needs and to track their use. Online tools can segment incoming funds for immediate or long-term uses, improving accountability and transparency.

Online donation forms allow non-profits of any size to process donations quickly, allowing resources to be allocated on a daily basis, influencing activities and planning decisions on the ground. And the electronic channel flows both ways: organizations can report back to donors, demonstrating how funds have been applied. Maintaining an ongoing communications stream fosters goodwill—and a continuing relationship with donors into the future.

Sometimes, non-profits can use on-line tools to support each other. After the Haitian earthquake, the Polly Klaas Foundation, which focuses on locating missing children, sent an e-mail to its house file urging people to donate to specific international disaster relief agencies that "focus on protecting children who have been separated from their families, and helping those children reunite with family members."

This was an exceptional example of an organization connecting its community to support a broader mission and effort.*

4. Engaging Younger Generations
The most recent entrant in the new media donation universe, mobile giving or text-to-gift, may become the most robust element of future community engagement. The reason lies in demographics.

Of the estimated 276 million wireless device users in the United States, the most avid users are Generations X (born 1965-80) and Y (born 1981-91). In a national survey conducted after the Haiti earthquake*, 17 percent of Gen Y respondents and 14 percent of Gen X respondents said they made a donation to Haiti relief efforts via text message. Only three percent of Boomer (born 1946-64) and Mature (born 1945 and earlier) respondents did so.

Although the mobile gift amounts were small—$5 to $10 each—they came from an estimated 6.5 million people and amounted to nearly $50 million. Prior to January 2010, little more than $1 million had been raised via mobile text.

One criticism of mobile giving has been the time it takes to process and deliver the donation. But if a non-profit knows those funds are coming, it can apply them to longer-term recovery operations, freeing up other funds for more immediate needs.

Perhaps the most significant impact of mobile giving is the access it provides to younger people, who engage directly through their wireless devices with organizations and causes meaningful to them. The opportunities for non-profits to spread information, attract volunteers and rally support through new media are only beginning to be explored. But as younger people age, and their ability to donate increases, the relationships forged today will establish strong foundations for future support.

5. Forging Community
When events—wildfires in Bastrop, uprisings in the Middle East, tsunamis or earthquakes—occur, people have questions. Seeking fast, credible answers, they create social media communities focused on these events.

The defining features of social media—peer-to-peer commentary, viral extensions and real-time information availability—offer tremendous opportunities to unite people in shared efforts. Non-profits engaged in social media can serve as reliable sources of information for their existing supporters as well as external audience members seeking up-to-date and credible news. Additionally, one community member’s positive comment about an organization validates its message to other members—and can encourage donations. Responding to a national survey,* younger donors said they were more likely to support a charity when friends or family members asked them to donate.

New Media Tools for Involved and Responsive Communities
The use of new media tools is becoming much more than following the latest trend or gadget—these tools are connecting communities to improve our world in new and exciting ways. Non-profits are leading the way with innovative strategies to capitalize on new media’s multiple benefits: responding more rapidly and effectively, fostering global connections, engaging new donor groups and forging wide-ranging communities to respond to whatever the future may bring.