Donors need more help deciding where to give during big natural disasters like the cyclone that hit Myanmar, the GiveWell Blog argues.

“Google ‘Myanmar’ and you’ll see a huge list of organizations advertising for donations,” writes Holden Karnofsky, a program officer at GiveWell, a grant maker that publicizes its evaluations of nonprofit groups. “I don’t know whether they’re coordinating on the ground, but they’re certainly competing when it comes to raising money—and donors, including myself, have virtually nothing to go on in picking one.”

Mr. Karnofsky says he participated in a conference call about the Myanmar disaster hosted by Arabella Advisors, a firm that advises philanthropists. The callers were urged to consult a list of charities vetted by InterAction, the coalition of American relief groups. But that list offered 46 organizations to choose from — and the vetting standards focus on accounting and governance, not on the charities’ track record in previous disasters, he says.

“Right now, I believe that donors need emergency help,” he writes.“We need to help well-meaning people help others, by understanding that they don’t have a preexisting wealth of knowledge about Myanmar, that they don’t have a preexisting commitment to and knowledge of the best aid organizations, by understanding that they just want to help in the best way possible — and therefore, by giving substantive, well-supported, specific recommendations for where to give.”

Do you agree that donors need more guidance on how to help during natural disasters? What is the best way for people to decide where to give?