This article investigates the possible connections between the different aspects of disasters and how people perceive the gravity of the situation and their tendency to respond to it. The amount of money given by individuals and organizations as a result of fund-raising campaigns is used as an indicator of the perception of disasters in the potential donor population. Drawing on the data from the fund-raising campaigns of three Norwegian non-governmental organisations involved in three disasters (the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, December 2004; the Kashmir earthquake, October 2005; and the Sudanese/Darfur conflict) the article argues that the public response to disasters is only weakly related to the magnitude of the disasters. The factors that can influence the perception of and reactions to disasters and implications for relief work are discussed.

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