10 Best Practices for Disaster Relief Giving

5. Although collaboration can be difficult and costly, funders who don’t work well with others risk duplication, waste and poor prioritizing during a crisis. Sharing information with other donors is key. Streamlining the application process and working with other partners can facilitate delivery of resources to affected communities.

6. Acting as a first responder isn’t always the best role philanthropists can play. A more effective approach may be to split funding: initially supporting groups already mobilized and deferring part of a grant to see what important needs remain after the first wave of relief aid.

7. Lessons from one disaster can inform responses to future ones. Strategies employed and their outcomes can be invaluable to responders in the next crisis. At the same time, donors should remember that each crisis is unique, requiring different responses, and manage expectations accordingly.

8. Doing things differently in light of a particular crisis can be effective as the disaster changes over time. This could involve supporting local institutions known and trusted by affected populations that would not ordinarily receive a donor’s funding.

9. Proper due diligence can help many philanthropists crack a tough nut: whether to support a brand-name relief organization during a major disaster or stay within the framework they’ve established of supporting smaller nonprofits. Big aid groups need support, but sometimes they receive more funds than they can spend in response to a specific disaster, while smaller ones a donor supports may already be active in the field.

10. Disaster-related grants can fall within a funder’s existing programmatic or geographic priorities, allowing the donor to keep its focus. For example, a youth-focused program that provides afterschool programs could reach out to children displaced after a disaster.

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