• by Karl Greenberg , January 14, 2010

The queue of marketers pitching in money and products to help out in Haiti is getting a lot longer. And some companies that pitched in early are upping the ante. Aid organization World Vision says it is working a lot of U.S. corporations now and has 370 staff on the earthquake-ruined island.

AT&T, which launched a text-message donation program yesterday (customers can send $10 to Red Cross International by texting) is giving a $50,000 donation to Telecoms Sans Frontieres (TSF) through its AT&T Foundation. TSF is an international humanitarian organization specializing in emergency telecommunications. Verizon Wireless is also asking for $10 donations to the American Red Cross (ARC), via texting the word Haiti to 90999.

Procter & Gamble is sending at least two million packets of PUR water purifiers through its Children's Safe Drinking Water partners. "We know from initial assessments that clean drinking water will be both a short-term and ongoing issue," a spokesperson tells Marketing Daily. "Shipments started today; however, it will be next week before all of this product can be delivered to people in need. We have another three million packets that we expect to make available over the next several weeks as we confirm the need for water treatment products."

The spokesperson says P&G brands are checking on product inventories in North and South America to see what additional P&G products can be made available for donation, and that Duracell has already donated $200,000 worth of batteries and flashlights. "We are working to move these to non-profit groups that will ship them into Haiti over the next several weeks. Once the full scope of the disaster is known, we will continue to work with our partners to ship PUR and other products into Port-au-Prince as quickly as possible."

The PepsiCo Foundation will donate $1 million and provide Quaker products as well as bottled water and Gatorade for victims through its bottlers in Florida and the Dominican Republic. The PepsiCo Foundation said $500,000 will go to the ARC (to be earmarked for Red Cross partners operating in Haiti), Save the Children and Friends of the World Food Program. The remaining $500,000 will be used to support longer-term rebuilding efforts designed to strengthen Haiti's infrastructure and limit significant damage from future disasters.

AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle, is partnering with the ARC to provide aid. The company is giving its AAdvantage members a one-time award of 250 bonus AAdvantage miles for a minimum donation of $50 or 500 bonus miles for a donation of $100 or more to the ARC through Feb. 28.

The company says American and American Eagle have begun sending aid into Haiti for its 100 employees at Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport and for assistance at local hospitals in Port-au-Prince. AMR, which says three American Eagle aircraft arrived in Port-au-Prince Thursday with water, food and other non-perishable goods, will run three more relief flights Friday. The company is also allowing free ticket changes to people who had planned to fly into Haiti on American.

Deutsche Post DHL has sent in a team for on-the-ground logistics support to the international relief effort. The DHL Disaster Response Team Americas is preparing to operate out of the airport in Port-au-Prince to help expedite inbound freight. The company is planning a temporary warehouse at the airport, including sorting facilities. DHL will help load aid onto trucks or helicopters for the next several weeks.

Other corporate donations include:

• Abbott and its philanthropic foundation the Abbott Fund: $1 million in initial humanitarian aid, including grant funding and donations of critical pharmaceutical and nutritional products, and an initial quantity of pharmaceutical and nutritional products the company says are already in use in a hospital in Haiti.

• Pharma company Amgen: $2 million to Haiti relief efforts. The company says its Amgen Foundation will deploy its Disaster Relief Program Web site for Amgen staffers around the globe who wish to contribute their own funds, with the foundation to match staff contributions.

• Bank of America Charitable Foundation: $1 million, including a $500,000 grant to the ARC for the Haitian Relief and Development Fund.

• The Amway family of companies: $100,000 among the ARC and the SOS Children's Village to aid in relief efforts. It has also dedicated an area of the Amway Web site where customers and employees can donate directly to the Red Cross.

• BMO Financial Group: $250,000 to the ARC. Also, for customers who want to send drafts or fund transfers directly to relatives or others in Haiti, BMO and Harris will waive all fees or charges related to these transactions until at least Feb. 12.

• Eli Lilly and Company: $250,000 in direct cash contributions, half for short-term relief, with the balance donated over the next 12 months in support of the longer-term rebuilding efforts. The company will also match contributions of its U.S. employees, up to a total of $250,000, and plans to donate medicines as well through NGOs on the ground in Haiti.

• Ford Motor: Ford Fund & Community Services says it will match all individual Ford employee contributions towards the Haitian relief project up to $50,000.

• Kellogg Company: $250,000 to the ARC via its Kellogg's Corporate Citizenship Fund, its charitable arm. The company says that for the past year it has partnered with a humanitarian organization to provide food in Haiti. "Kellogg will work with this organization and others involved in relief efforts to continue to provide food products," said the company.

• Major League Baseball: $1 million through UNICEF on behalf of MLB, its 30 clubs, MLB Network and MLB.com. In addition to the $1 million donation, MLB has launched an effort to encourage fans to help as part of its continuing "Going Beyond." MLB Network will air public service announcements encouraging fans to make donations and MLB.com will also support the relief efforts with editorial coverage, social media outreach and prominently displayed links to UNICEF where fans can make contributions online.

• Walmart: $600,000 to the Red Cross. The company is also sending prepackaged food kits valued at $100,000 to Haiti at the request of the ARC. The Walmart Foundation has also launched a special Web page on its site through which customers and associates can make donations to nonprofits that are also supporting relief efforts in Haiti.