Disaster and No Notice Fundraising Efforts

When a disaster occurs, people turn to action. Organizations respond to the need, and ordinary people who don't usually think about making a contribution, start to reach into their pockets. Certainly, in the wake of the disastrous Hurricane Katrina, we have seen incredible examples of generosity and human kindness, and have also seen models of how organizations should, and should not respond to disasters such as this.

In the days and weeks following a disaster of such monumental proportions, much cash is needed to provide supplies, food, and shelter to the victims. But when people are made homeless and hungry overnight, non-profit organizations don't have the same time they would normally have. While a normal fundraiser designed to generate funds for cheerleader uniforms, band camp or a Girl Scout trip can take its time, responding to a disaster is much different. It's simply impossible for any organization to raise funds quickly enough to respond to the first and most serious wave of needy victims.

 

The most important thing that an organization can provide is immediate and timely assistance. But how can this be done, if there's not enough time to conduct a fundraiser? The only logical way to do this is to have an emergency fund, and to solicit general donations into that fund on a regular basis, throughout the year. Of course, this is more difficult from a strategic point of view, since when there is no emergency, people are less incentivized to give to an emergency fundraiser.

Certainly, an organization should undertake a fundraising campaign in the immediate days and weeks after an emergency. But instead of taking the tactic of fundraising for a particular emergency, which delays the assistance, the organization should instead fund their benevolence out of their reserve emergency fund, and then use the momentum of public awareness to supplement it. This is the most effective strategy, and the one used by larger organizations like the Red Cross, which maintain a permanent disaster emergency fund. This gives the organization enough flexibility to respond immediately.

You never know when disaster may strike. Homeowners in earthquake-prone regions prepare by creating an "earthquake box," which contains things like a battery-operated radio, canned goods and bottled water. Your organization can also prepare for disasters before they happen by setting up a master "disaster response" plan ahead of time.

 

As part of this disaster response plan, create in advance a mechanism for immediately changing the home page of your web site to feature information about the disaster, and how people can help. You can set up a template ahead of time, and fill in the details quickly as soon as the disaster occurs.

Also, get ready with an email alert network, so you can send out emails asking for assistance on a timely basis. It may be helpful to have a "disaster committee", so people will be ready to respond. Don't waste time at the last minute trying to get members of your group to volunteer to help. If you have a bank of people who have already agreed to help out in case of disaster, you will be able to respond faster.

While you can respond immediately with your emergency reserve fund, and go on to solicit more donations with an emergency fundraiser, you must also immediately get to work in determining what exactly is required and how you can best offer assistance. In case of something like an earthquake or hurricane, make contact with the relevant authorities to determine what is needed. In many cases, local authorities will send out a call for specific items. They may be in need of tents, blankets, and bottled water. Asking ahead of time is essential.

The disaster area may already be well supplied with bottled water from a large corporate donation, and sending more would be redundant. Similarly, before sending volunteers down to the disaster site, contact local authorities or coordinators to see what precisely is needed.

It may very well happen that the coordination of volunteers has not yet been organized, and your away team may end up doing nothing for days on end while waiting for an assignment. Find out exactly what is needed, and when they need it, and then respond.