Doctors Without Borders USA Inc

My husband and I donated to DWB on 8/11/2023 to support their emergency work. As always, we trust their work. The only complaint is that they spend too much on fundraising. Seeing some other nonprofits like CW and MO that have 100% policies, it becomes obvious how much of our donation goes to waste. But the need for fundraising is understandable.

I donated by card through their website. I hope this review helps anyone considering them for donation.

absolute scam, they get people to sign you up saying its one payment. Dont email the paperwork and then say they did.

As with some of the other negative reviews here, my last two donation checks - in 12/2020 and 12/2021 - both of which were fairly substantial, didn't get deposited for months.
I wrote a letter of inquiry to the Executive Director, cc'd to the Director of Development, in February 2022 and haven't received the courtesy of a reply from either person. I also wasted a significant amount of time on the phone futilely trying to reach someone to discuss this failing with.
This organization is poorly run and unworthy of financial support, especially when there are so many other well run NGOs to support.

DUPED
In November of 2019 a $20. transfer appeared on my bank statement. In 2022, the following $20.00 transfers appeared on my bank statements (all done without my permission): April 19, May 19, June 21, July 19, August 17, October 3 and October 19 and just this last month on November 28 for a total of $180 stolen from my checking account. Despite the fact that I stopped sending my personal checks since August 2022.
Checks did not clear the month they were sent. And in Sept. I sent a USPS Postal Money Order for $20 to cover donation for September 2022; then in October I sent a $60 USPS Postal Money to cover donations for the months of October, November and December. So WHY did Doctors Without Borders continue to send Transfers to my checking Account? It is now in the hands of my bank. I feel used and never again shall I donate to Doctors Without Borders. No one answers the phone and no one answers my letters and e-mails sent asking for an explanation. DO NOT TRUST THEM EVER!

I never gave them the ok to take an amount out of my account monthly. This is terrible. I want this to stop and credit my account.

I have emailed and called this organization several times to stop taking money out of my acct. They can't find my acct. nor due they reply to the emails, but the money keeps coming out of my acct. My bank is now handling this matter. I feel very taken. Never Again!

I totally agree with the review by Chartommy. I sent $10,000 in December, 2021. They lost the check. Reissued a check with they acknowledged in an email receiving, but it is now a few months and dozens of emails with no letter of acknowledgement. This 400+ million dollar charity cannot get out of its own way despite the $60+ million dollars that they spend each year on fund raising.

3 weeks have passed and my $5000 check donation still has not been cashed . 5 days ago, I emailed them with an URGENT , URGENT heading , no response . Yesterday I call their headquarters in N.Y. and asked to speak to its president . Due to the covid pandemic , I was told that she is working out of her home .The gentleman , who answered the call , asked for my email address and stated that she would email me . Needless to say , that hasn't happened either ! Today I asked the bank to stop payment on the check. Either this organization is too inundated with donations or is too disorganized and inefficient in its office matters .
This was my first contribution with the thought of naming it as the beneficiary of my estate. Lesson learned ! NOT A CHANCE IN HELL !!

I gave money to this nonprofit because they seem to do good work however my one time donation become an invitation for repeated harassment mailings phone calls emails. How much of my donation has gone to support this harassment? Money poorly spent I wanted my donation to get to the front lines to help people not to create mass mailers and fund phone banks

I am working in Afghanistan with MSF and I would like to give a zero star ranking to this NGO. During the Taliban takeover and conflict I was here and we seen so many internal displaced people, among those IDPS I must say half of our staff became internally displaced and were in a serious trouble, they were really poor and needy people. MSF did nothing with them in terms of any assistance despite receiving many request for even a simple tent or some relocation allowances.
It is very regretful that an NGO claims that works in the field of humanitarian assistance but not providing any assistance to it's employees at a time when they really need it.

Best Non Profit. Do great work around the world.

Don' bother giving this organization your money. They will spend all you sent sending you mail to ask for more. I get it twice weakly. What a waste of my measly 25 bucks. I have never been harassed as much by anyone for a donation. They certainly need new management to help them get their priorities straight.

After years of periodic support, I now donate to Doctors Without Borders monthly. This charity is also my choice to receive donations from amazon.com when I order through smile.amazon.com.

DWB works around the world providIng medical services where they are most needed. These people go into extremely dangerous areas to help people suffering from diseases or wounds caused by wars. Physicians and nurses devote years studying for their professions. Afterward, they can work anywhere for good pay, but the DWB medical professionals choose to go where they are most needed.

They send me occasional magazines that describe their work in various areas. I find this information educational and inspiring. Their overhead expenses are quite low compared to many charities.

I am sorry that I cannot join these heroes in their work, due to my age and lack of expertise, not to mention my cowardice. At least I can send money to support their worthy cause.

I made 1 donation to this organization and soon after I got bombarded from all kinds of charitable organizations asking for donations. This is ridiculous! I get about 5 requests for donations per month! I was very clear when I made my donation that it was a one time donation because I live off of disability and did not want to be contacted further. Ultimately my small $25 donation has been poorly spent on mailing me more unsolicited mail requests for donations. I’m very disappointed and regret throwing my money away and on top of that have spent a lot of time calling each one of these organizations trying to get my name off these lists!!

I went on several missions with this organisation and still miss it every day. We made lives better

These people are heroes. They go where they're needed, and they make impossible situations possible for people to live through, and hopefully go on with their lives.

Former Nobel Peace Prize winners and 33,000 volunteers makes an awesome impact.

While studying, I made a concerted attempt to understand disease beyond the contexts of the medical textbooks and decided to work with international child health in the polarized parts of the world where I could help share my pediatric knowledge reciprocated with the experience of local people of their disease.

With my red swiss water bottle in hand. I became a member of the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).I started work with MSF in 2014 and have really just started my life with MSF.

This is a life changing experience. I am now trying to decide what the next steps are for me. Only time will tell.

This Nonprofit may not provide long term solutions but it helps those in need of immediate care. I am grateful for all those dedicated to providing the necessary care. I often find myself wishing I could do more for this much needed Nonprofit. I am so glad this Nonprofit exist.

Doctors Without Borders is an international organization that seeks to provide medical attention to individuals that have been impacted by natural disaster, conflict, or limited accessibility to health care services. They have provided relief in 70 countries worldwide with recent work in Western Africa treating people who have been affected by the Ebola crisis.

The work done by Doctors Without Borders has been shown to reduce the hardships in developing countries during a crisis. However, once the immediate crisis subsides they train individuals in the region to run the medical centers and Doctors Without Borders leaves the operation in the hands of the locals. I think there is little question that the organization has a positive impact on relief efforts, but they may not contribute to long term development. This does not address the larger structural issues that plague developing regions and keep those affected in poverty. This ultimately results in regions reverting back to the same conditions they had before they were faced with a crisis.

Overall, Doctors Without Borders is a stable organization that has a positive impact in the developing world, and although health care is a factor in development the relief nature of their programs prevents them from having a long term effect in those regions. Relief efforts are important in the developing world but at a certain point focus needs to be redirected to finding long lasting solutions to the problems that cause overwhelming poverty. Money donated to Doctors Without Borders is well spent and benefits those with urgent need. That being said, I think the organization would have an even bigger impact if they did more work to address the underlying causes of poverty that make extensive relief necessary.

I have served as a volunteer pro bono attorney, from 1988-2000 as a volunteer director, from 2000-present as a volunteer member of the board of advisors, and as a donor to Doctors Without Borders USA. Before I retired, I practiced law specializing in the law of charities. I choose to give to Doctors Without Borders because it is the most ethical organization I have ever worked with and serves huge numbers of the world's poorest and neediest in often-awful settings. Doctors Without Borders has low salaries and highest ratings from people who know actors in the field of international relief and medical service. It follows its own internal rules of its MSF/Doctors Without Borders movement and I find it stunning--absolutely stunning--that the BBB has elected to downgrade its rating because Doctors Without Borders has not written some internal evaluation report to take to the US board of directors. Maybe the board of directors is too busy worrying about the safety of its staff and patients in South Sudan or Syria to worry about make-work reports to satisfy rating agencies. Has the BBB ever read the reports on its missions produced by Doctors Without Borders??? They are the gold standard in the medical field.

Not sure what all the fuss is about the snail mail donor solicitations. I've donated online a couple times in the past 6 months and I have had no issue with solicitations. The only mailings I get from DWB are quarterly updates on the work that DWB is providing and I think that's because I'm associated with their Partners Program. CEO compensation appears to be in check which was a big thing for me when I decided to donate to DWB. The advertising and fund raising program numbers appear to be slightly high and I would prefer that more of that money be spent directly towards the needs of the people that require assistance but DWB I feel is a top notch charity. Also, DWB is a secular charity not pushing some religious agenda which is right up my agnostic alley. I don't see religious charitable organizations as being completely compassionately motivated if your gonna push your religious agenda upon those your providing assistance too. I will continue to donate to DWB in the future.

MSF sets the standard. Their reports to the media are highly regarded. Unparralled.

I have been in developing nations during war it is not a picnic. I just had my EMS I respect the very fact of completing medical education. To then eschew raking in the money doing elective cosmetic surgery and to put your life on the line going into Syria is awesome.

DWB (MSF) is an incredible organization. No one else really can do what they do - providing care to the places that need it most.

I would rate this a 5 because the work Doctors Without Borders do is fantastic and they go into places that many would not. However, the money poured into mailings and calls could be better spent if fewer solicitations were made. My husband and I were getting about one mailing a month from DWB, which was bad enough. But somehow that split into two mailings one to him and one to me. Then they started sending one to two different forms of my husband's name, for a total of three copies. (First name, middle initial and first initial, middle name.) The number of calls seemed to increase, as well. So they must have been calling for each name.

I called to have the names removed from the mailing list and was told that they could only remove one name per call. That's a ridiculous policy. I had to speak to Donor Services, which took several calls. DWB should be easily able to avoid sending multiple solicitations to one address in the first place.

Although I apparently could have reduced the frequency of mailings if I had an online account with them, I don't because I've always done my donations through the mail. But I would still know that even if I reduced my own mailings my annual donation would be paying for monthly mailings to other people.

So, as a result, I've asked us to be completely removed from mailings and calls. And this year, our donation will go to a different organization who doesn't just waste the money I donate on mailing things out to me.

I am donating because as I research I find DWB along side every NGO in any hotspot around the globe and sadly they lose too many doctors, nurses, caregivers are killed at these places--both local personnel they recruit and their staff.... They are truly saints and unsung heroes to risk life and limb to this cause. Likewise when I view many a documentary or television special about a conflict or disease outbreak or mission of mercy,,,in the background quietly I see DWB in their role. This has recently promted me to make a monthly donation via credit card, rathe rthan write checks. I give to a few charities regularly this way. I have not been heavily solicited to date, as others report-- that only adds to expenses and they will hear from me if that occurs,,,perhaps one nicely done package of reports and a global map, etc, and a request or two here and there. I am switching to email notification and I will block them if it gets bothersome. thank you, best wishes,,,,,Richard B.

This is a fantastic organization. It goes into very dangerous areas to give medical care where needed. Their advertising and administration expenses are minimal. It is one of the few charities that I give monthly to.

This is my favorite charity because they go where the action is and put their lives on the line to help the victims of war and violence. I have given since i can't remember when and will continue. But i must whole heartily agree with those that comment about the monthly mail, and equally frequent emails and phone calls. ENOUGH. You can only drive firm supporters away. Be selective with your solicitations. Become more competent with your very high advertizing expenditures.

I HAVE BEEN DONATING TO DWB FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW THROUGH DIRECT CHARGE TO ONE OF MY CREDIT CARDS. I DON'T MISS THE $$ AND FEEL THAT IT IS DOING SOME GOOD. TAKE A LOOK AROUND YOU, PEOPLE, AND SEE HOW LUCKY WE REALLY ARE HERE IN THE U.S. THESE MEDICAL PERSONNEL GO INTO WAR ZONES TO GIVE HELP TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOTHING!! OPEN YOUR POCKETS, EVEN FOR A SMALL AMOUNT, AND SHINE A LIGHT IN THE WORLD. I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS CHARITY.

GOOD CHARIITY! IT MAKE ME HAPPY. Thaks for you time! - Jeff

I have donated to Doctors without Borders for years and feel confident that my money is going to save lives effectively. I used to receive more mail than I wanted, but I contacted them and the mail has slowed considerably. On their site, this is their suggestion for updating mail preferences:

"We can send you mail as often as you would like. We can limit the mailings to quarterly, twice a year, just once a year, or none at all. Simply state your preference when making your gift or send an email, with your name, address, and mail preference, to donations@newyork.msf.org.

Please note that due to our mail production schedule it may take up to 6-8 weeks for this request to take effect."

I'm sure Doctors Without Borders is well worth any donation we can give. When they sent me a snail mail request for a donation, I donated $50.00 through Charity Navigator rather than write a check and mail it. As it turned out, the total charge to my bank account was $57.37 -- "processing fee" of 2.37 and another, unspecified fee for 5.00. Charity Navigator won't let me rate them, and this unknown intermediary, "Network for Good" (which seems to have claimed the unspecified five dollars) doesn't appear on Charity Navigator's list of charities. I didn't authorize these charges. I will donate to Doctors Without Borders again, but guess how I will NOT be doing it from now on.

I have a family member who just returned from E. Africa after having spent nine months with the U.S. Military on the Kony mission. I asked him if he came across any charitable organizations working there I should support. His immediate answer was DWB. He said it is reaching people like none other. I’ve been a long-time donor and getting his first hand confirmation sealed the deal for future donations.

I wrote this charity, explaining that I could not contribute in the near future and suggested that they could try again in two years. It had no effect. Well, I tried. If they persist, I will keep any gifts received and throw everything else away.

I seriously considered stopping my donations to Doctors without Borders because I could not get them to stop sending me solicitations by mail. I finaly wrote to directly to a board member when I received a solicitation signed by her. I have not received any mail from Doctors without Borders in several weeks. I am cautiously optimistic at this point that the mail has stopped.

Doctors Without Borders is one of the premier international medical non-profits. Doctors Without Borders medical staff provide health services in areas of the world that are too dangerous from other non-profit agencies to work in. The courage of these doctors is unbelievable. They are literally laying their lives on the line to provide medical services in conflict zones around the world. Critics who question the fund-raising practices of DWB are directed to www.charitynavigator.org and www.charitywatch.org.

Like some others who have commented, I receive about one mailing per month from this charity, each with a 45-cent stamp on the enclosed envelope. How many people are likely to donate this frequently? I feel it is a real waste of money on their part and would like to see that money go to their field work instead. If people want to donate, they will provide their own stamp! This practice has made me less likely to contribute in the future.

Yes, they do wonderful work but I too am tired of all the snail mail (and environmental degradation that goes with it). Seems like that would be better spent on non-donors. If you stop donating, does the mail ever end?

We have donated to Doctors Without Borders for many years. They absolutely will not stop the snail mail, no matter what we do. We donate to quite a few charities, and all of them have honored our request to stop the calls/snail mail. But Doctors Without Borders will not. Also, their privacy choices are difficult to find on their website, and I'm not sure they will honor those preferences either. There are so many wonderful international charities that we find it easy to stop our donations to this group.

Doctors without borders is one of the most proactive and altruistic charities I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Their efforts around the world have an immediate impact, and their non-bias and anti discriminatory policies is one of the reasons why I hold them in such high regard.

Looks like this organization has gotten back its 4 star rating. I plan to donate for the first time this year as I know a person who is participating. 13% is not unusual to spend for getting contributions in this economy where everyone is tightening their purse strings. I would hope that once you have donated, they don't ask you again until the following year.

I have been a donor for years and was disappointed to find Doctors Without Borders downgraded to 3 stars. I will contribute again this year but if there is no improvement in their rating for 2012, I will remove them from my charitable donations list.

I have gladly donated monthly to the courageous Doctors and staff of this necessary organization for many years now. But as I give to other needy charities as well, I use the 4 Stars of Charity Navigator as my cutoff point for deciding who will receive my donations. I am considering holding back on donating to Doctors Without Borders until they meet the 4 star criteria. But the hard working Doctors and Staff on the front lines don't "manage the business" so I'd like to see the management staff and board hustle to get this Charity up to the high class standards of the many other charitable organizations and support their front line.

The cost of $.13 to receive a $1 donation seems high and unnecessary. I received mailers at least monthly, if not more. I finally requested that they stop sending requests except once a year, which they have done, fortunately. I have always happily donated to this charity, but am now reconsidering. I think they can do better at increasing the amount of their funds going to programs, rather than fundraising. They should evaluate how effective their fundraising strategies really are.

I have supported this organization as a Field Partner for several years. I authorized a small charge of $7.50 on my charge card each month to support their work. However, in June 2011, they put a charge of $800.00 on my card without my authorization. When I called, they offered absolutely no explanation as to how this could have happened and four days later, there is still no credit pending on my account to reverse this charge.

I am a Physician my self but not biased. I am also the president of Sahaita Inc. a 501 c 3 non profit organization. We started up after Tsunami in 2005. At the time of Tsunami we raised lot of funds and the only organization which really cared and went out of their to appreciate our work was Doctor's without Border's. Lot of them didnot even acknowledge they got funds but I will not name any. Doctors without Borders are really a great organization. Since they need long commitments I could never join them so started our own small organization with similar goals called Sahaita Inc. ( You can visit us st www.sahaita.org) This time again The two picks where our funds we collect will go to are doctors without Borders and United Sikh organization which does a lot of work( which sometime do not get credited).United Sikh is also a volunteer run Non profit entity and they did great work at Tsunami,Katerina and in Houston during last Hurricanes and ran Food kitchens. So our 100% support for Doctor without Borders and United Sikh organization, Thanks you all for working to help Humanity.

I recommend this organization who help under developed countries by providing health care in over 70 countries. they currently have a special program helping people in Haiti who have no health coverage or medical assistance.