American Charities Raise Nearly $1 Billion for Haiti

(March 17) -- Following Haiti's devastating earthquake, Americans opened their hearts and picked up their cell phones.

A tally by The Chronicle of Philanthropy finds that in the nine weeks following the magnitude-7.0 quake that leveled much of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas on Jan. 12, American charities raised nearly $980 million from contributions to support relief efforts in the beleaguered Caribbean nation.

Nick Ut, AP

American charities have raised nearly $1 billion to support earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. Here, a man gives money to the American Red Cross, which has received $369 million in donations for Haiti so far.

Among the dozens of charities that raised the most money were the American Red Cross, which so far has received $369 million in donations for Haiti; Catholic Relief Services, which took in $106.7 million; and UNICEF, which has raised $56.5 million.

Of its total contributions, the American Red Cross said that $32 million had been raised from donations made via text messages.

"We broke all of our expectations and previous records for texting donations," Red Cross spokeswoman Abi Weaver told AOL News. "It's a more efficient way give for the donor."

Weaver said that though donations earmarked for Haiti have slowed in recent weeks, the American Red Cross continues to receive them. She said it is too early to tell whether donations to the organization will exceed the $581 million it raised for the Asian tsunami of 2004.