Because this article is an early reflection on the tsunami relief effort, you may find, by the time of its appearing in print, that some of the numbers will have changed. They are accurate, as far as we have been able to determine, at the date this is written.

The response to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 was a seminal moment for nonprofits and philanthropy. Equally pivotal is the response to the earthquake and tsunami centered off the island of Sumatra in Indonesia that leveled much of several Southeast Asian nations—perhaps more so, in fact, because of the scale of the tragedy. About 3,000 people died in September 11th violence, compared to more than 168,000 deaths and upwards of 5,000,000 people displaced along the boundaries of the Indian Ocean as of this writing; and these numbers could easily escalate.

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