Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About WER

World Emergency Relief gets asked thousands of questions every year. As part of our commitment to transparency, here are a few of the most frequently asked questions:

Q:  What is World Emergency Relief?
A:  World Emergency Relief (WER) is a non-profit organization and an interdenominational fellowship of Christians worldwide.  WER was established in 1985 by Rev. Joel MacCollam.  Our vision is to give children all over the world a living chance by addressing their practical, emotional, spiritual and economic needs, as well as the needs of their families and communities. 

Q:  Is WER a “band-aid organization”?
A:  Bandages are highly useful; they prevent infection and promote healing.  Our immediate disaster relief work must sometimes be “band-aid” in nature.  However, our WER global efforts also promote education, medical service, community rebuilding, financial stability and a host of other activities.

Q:  What kind of relief activities does WER provide?
A:  WER primarily delivers practical aid for disaster-struck or impoverished communities in the form of Gifts-In-Kind such as food, clothing and medical supplies.  Our WER global efforts also promote education, communitiy building, financial stability, healthcare, the war against child abuse and a host of other activities.

Q:  How does WER use emergency aid, sustained aid and development aid?
A:  Emergency relief addresses basic needs in the first month after a disaster, like ‘giving a man a fish to eat.’  Sustained aid occurs after 45-60 days, when supply pipelines are reasonably restored.  Development normalizes and improves communities, which involves sustainability programs like ‘teaching people to fish’.

Q: How does WER choose its projects?
A:  Each project must meet our eight criteria:

•  ASKING:  We must be asked to help so we know what type of aid is needed, as well as when and where to deliver it.
•  ACCESSIBILITY:  Can our supplies be safely delivered and stored?  Will local laws or practices hinder our work?
•  ACCEPTABILITY:  Will the culture/community accept aid from our U.S. Christian ministry?
•  AVAILABILITY:  Can WER get the resources needed and meet the needs of our project colleagues?
•  AFFORDABILITY:  Are we sure we can fulfill our commitment to the project?
•  APPROPRIATENESS:  Is the project appropriate for a Christian ministry?
•  ACCOUNTABILITY:  Will our resources reach the right people and be used properly?  Will we get field reports and meet regulatory and audit standards?
•  ANTI-TERRORISM:  Can our partners supply adequate information proving that our resources are not directly or indirectly supporting terrorists or illegal activities.

Q: How does WER serve people’s spiritual needs?
A:  We encourage our faith-based program partners by strengthening their efforts with food, books, medical supplies, and other valuable resources.  When people donate money for Bibles, we typically provide them through our sister charity in Honduras.

Q: Does WER provide non-sectarian aid?
A:  Yes.  We believe that all people deserve God’s love and our relief aid is freely given, regardless their faith.

Q: What are "embraceable communities"?
A:  WER helps smaller groups of people who get overlooked in the rush of a major tragedy or drown in the media's everyday flood of information - people we can “get our arms around” to form strong, encouraging relationships. These “embraceable communities” include orphanages, churches, villages, schools, clinics, neighborhoods and refugee camps in countries all over the world.

Q:  What is WER’s status with the U.S. government regulatory and national watchdog agencies?
A:  WER is regulated by nine federal agencies and the Attorneys General in every state.  We file state charity solicitation registrations wherever required.  We have a positive standing with ECFA, Guidestar and the Wise Giving Alliance (Council of Better Business Bureaus).

Q: How does WER keep costs low?
A:  By soliciting donated supplies, WER normally only pays procureent, shipping and distributions costs.  Occasonally we purchase goods in local markets, especially if local prices are advantageous and the supplies are actually available.

Q:  Doesn’t the U.S. government help fund WER? 
A:  WER occasionally receives minimal funds from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which we can only use to pay for a portion of overseas shipping costs.  WER does not receive other  USAID grants or resources from other agencies.  We rely on our fundraising programs and the generosity of our donors to continue WER's good works.

Q:  Why can’t overseas governments help their own people? 
A:  The reasons depend on each government.  Sometimes local governments run out of supplies like food and medicine in their warehouses.  Frequently, they have already used all of their humanitarian resources and still need help.  Some local governments are unstable and in the middle of a civil war, making them unable to help local people in need.  Unfortunately, a few local governments try to confiscate the food and supplies that could relieve their people.  WER deliberately avoids any such situation.

Q: What percent of WER’s received donations directly help the people?
A:  For each of the past 12 years, over 96% of WER's resources have funded supplies and projects for people in need.

Q: Why doesn’t WER give money directly to children in need?
A:  Numerous reasons, including the limits of a young child’s decision-making abilities for spending money, the strong possibility of it being stolen, plus the staff needed to distribute funds appropriately.

Q:  How can my $10 actually make a difference worldwide?
A:  $10 might not seem like much, but we can usually stretch it to provide 500 servigs of rice, or 100 lbs. of food.  Think of how many children all that can feed!

Q: What if I want my donation to be used for ONLY a specific project?

A: There are several ways to make sure your donation is restricted. When writing a check, you can write the name of the project on the notes line. When making an online donation, you can tell us your restriction in the Special Notes box. When mailing in a credit card donation, you can write a note on the donation form. Example: “Restricted funds- use in Africa only”

Q:  What happens if WER gets more resources that it needs for a specific project?
A:  Extra resources may be assigned to a similar project or held as part of our emergency reserve.  In the case of very large monetary donations, we would contact the donor and ask their preference of alternative projects.  When WER has surplus commodities, we store them for future use or offer them to other charities.

Q:  Our company would like to donate goods.  How can we do this?
A:  Please contact our office, outlining the type and condition of the goods, their labeling, packaging, shelf life, expiration date, location, any restrictions such as prohibited countries, and shipping arrangement type (palletized, etc.)

Q:  Can I donate personal items to WER?
A:  We are unable to accept personal items from individuals.  We do not have the resources, staff or facilities to clean, sort and store personal items such as used clothing. For similar reasons, we do not accept physician's medical samples.  Even if we had the resources to handle these, many countries will not allow these donated items to be imported.

Q:  Can I volunteer at a WER project?
A:  We do not currently have a volunteer program, although we do make occasional exceptions. We do link with churches to help them expand their own global outreaches.

Q:  How did WER get my name and address?
A:  Fundraising by volunteers or events is not easily possible for nationally or internationally-focused organizations like WER, so we exchange names with other organizations to find new donors who will replace those who have moved, died, etc.

Q:  I don’t want other organizations to have my name. What should I do?
A:  Let us know! It may take up to three months to take effect in our entire mailing process. You can also contact the Mail Preference Service of the Direct Marketing Association. (https://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing).