General News

How to Respond to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma

Monday, August 28, 2017

The United Philanthropy Forum, Florida Philanthropic Network, and Philanthropy Southwest are compiling a list of responses, news items, resources and programming for philanthropy in response to the destruction being left by Hurricane Harvey and Irma. Please send additional suggestions to info@unitedphilforum.org. IPA members can share ways they're supporting the relief efforts by contacting Lissa Silotto.

HURRICANE IRMA

How to Help

Hurricane Irma- Disaster Philanthropy Resources
Florida Philanthropic Network has compiled a comprehensive list of relief efforts and resources.

Hurricane Irma Recovery Fund
Center for Disaster Philanthropy's fund will focus on medium and long-term rebuilding needs. Long-term needs are expected to include rebuilding homes, businesses, infrastructure, meeting the needs of young children and supporting mental health needs. Geographically, the fund will focus on the entirety of the storm’s impact area. Specific location and need-focus will be determined by the grant oversight committee.

Hurricane Irma Relief Fund at Central Florida Foundation
The fund will support longer term recovery and rebuilding efforts.

Collier Comes Together Disaster Relief Fund
The Community Foundation of Collier County, in close collaboration with the City of Naples and Collier County Emergency Management, Collier County Sheriff’s Office, City of Naples Police Department, Marco Island Police Department and the United Way of Collier County has established the Collier Comes Together Disaster Relief Fund to provide assistance to Hurricane Irma victims. 100% of donations collected are distributed to victims and their families.

Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Marlin Counties Hurricane Assistnce Fund
This fund will be used to grant funds to nonprofit organizations in Palm Beach and Martin Counties that have specific needs caused by storm conditions concerning interruption of services or facility repair and restoration.

Community Foundation of Sarasota County Hurricane Irma Relief Fund
The Community Foundation of Sarasota County has set up a Disaster Relief Fund that will accept tax deductible donations for relief efforts.

Gulf Coast Disaster Fund
The Gulf Coast Community Foundation has activated a disaster fund to support relief and recovery from the natural disaster that has affected the region. Relief will focus on making communities habitable again so residents can resume their daily lives and will include a range of activities needed to rebuild the regional economy and return stability to individuals and families.

Disaster Relief Fund at Manatee Community Foundation
As Manatee County faces the short-term relief and long-term recovery needs caused by Hurricane Irma, Manatee Community Foundation will work in partnership with other local funders including United Way Suncoast, Manatee County Government, and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to maximize the power of this fund to assist those impacted by this storm in Manatee County.

Relief Efforts at The Miami Foundation

The Hurricane Relief Fund- This fund will support recovery and rebuilding work driven by organizations on the ground.
Irma Caribbean Strong Relief Fund — This Fund will support relief efforts in small Caribbean island nations and territories, including Antigua & Barbuda, U.S. Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.
Irma Community Recovery Fund — This Fund will support relief efforts for Florida’s marginalized communities, ensuring residents in poverty have access to critical services and resources

NetHope Emergency Response Working Group
Hurricane Irma has devastated parts of the Caribbean, knocking out communications that are vital for residents and first responders. NetHope has activated its Emergency Response Working Group to the region, and we are actively raising support for the communications needs of those affected by, and responding to Irma.

SWFL Hurricane Relief Fund
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation has joined forces with the United Way of Lee, Hendry, Glades and Okeechobee Counties to create a giving fund to help in the aftermath of those affected by Hurricane Irma. 100 percent of the funds donated through the Southwest Florida Community Foundation will be used by the United Way to provide emergency funds to directly help people displaced from their homes and those suffering loss due to the hurricane and floods.

Tampa Bay Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund
This fund is a strategic collaboration of the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg, Pinellas Community Foundation, United Way of Citrus County, United Way of Hernando, United Way of Pasco, and United Way Suncoast. 100% of the funds collected through this effort will be directed to address immediate and mid- to long-term recovery needs through grants to select nonprofits.

Additional Resources

Best Practices in Disaster Grantmaking: Lessons from the Gulf Coast
Philanthropy New York shares disaster grantmaking best pratices and strategies indentified by nonprofits, community foundations, and governmental agencies.

Creating Order From Chaos: Roles for Philanthropy in Disaster Planning and Response
The Jessie Ball duPont Fund published this guide in 2015 to outline the best roles for funders in a disaster, culled from its many decades of experience in responding to the needs of communities and nonprofits beset by disasters, human and natural alike.

Disaster Philanthropy Playbook
A compilation of philanthropic strategies, best practices and lessons learned that helps communities think through how a disaster will affect them and plan and prepare to respond when it happens. It is centered on 15 strategies, including community and economic recovery; education; health and behavioral health; aging and disabled populations; arts and culture; environment; and others. The Disaster Philanthropy Playbook is a joint project of Center for Disaster Philanthropy and Council of New Jersey Grantmakers in association with United Philanthropy Forum.

Disaster, Older Adults and Philanthropy
This article from Grantmakers in Aging details why disaster-related death rates are so much higher older adults and how philanthropy can help.

Disaster Planning and Recovery for Nonprofits, Charities, and Libraries
The Resilient Organization, developed with the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, is a holistic guide to IT disaster planning and recovery. This e-book is intended for organizations that are preparing for a disaster, as well as those that need to rebuild and maintain operations after a disaster.

The Long Haul: Lessons From Charitable Responses to Previous Disasters
Michael Seltzer, Baruch College Distinguished Lecturer and Director of The New York Community Trust Leadership Fellows program, gives six essential perspectives on disaster recovery.

Measuring the State of Disaster Philanthropy: Data to Drive Decisions
The Center for Disaster Philanthropy has partnered with Foundation Center on an interactive dashboard, which provides an analysis of disaster-related funding by foundations, governments, corporations and individuals. The data presented illuminates funding trends, exposes some of the imbalances in where and when contributions are made to help donors make more strategic decisions about their investments in the full life cycle of disasters, including preparedness and recovery efforts.

HURRICANE HARVEY

How to Help

Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund
The Greater Houston Community Foundation
After receiving an overwhelming number of inquiries from citizens and companies who want to help, Mayor Sylvester Turner has established the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund that will accept tax deductible flood relief donations for victims that have been affected by the recent floods. The Greater Houston Community Foundation is administering the fund.

Hurricane Harvey Disaster Relief Fund
The Dallas Foundation
The Dallas Foundation has also established a fund that will support nonprofit organizations providing aid to Hurricane Harvey victims.

CDP Hurricane Harvey Recovery Fund
Center for Disaster Philanthropy
In response to the needs that will arise following this devastating storm, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy has established the CDP Hurricane Harvey Recovery Fund that will focus on medium and long-term rebuilding needs. We expect the long-term needs to be rebuilding homes, businesses, infrastructure, meeting the needs of young children, supporting mental health needs, and boosting damaged agricultural sectors.

Best Friends' Relief Fund
This fund brings emergency assistance to animals in the wake of disasters. Donations to this fund are used exclusively to support lifesaving work wherever and whenever a catastrophe occurs.

NOLA Pay It Forward Fund: Hurrican Harvey
Greater New Orleans Foundation
Activated by the Mayor of New Orleans in partnership with the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the NOLA Pay It Forward Fund: Hurricane Harvey will provide resources for the early relief and rebuilding efforts of those communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

Hurricane Harvey Relief
GlobalGiving
This fund will initially support first responders and survivors’ immediate needs, and also direct funds to local organizations to provide long-term support and build stronger response capacity.

Hurricane Harvey Community Relief Fund
Texas Organizing Project Education Fund
Rebuilding in areas impacted by Harvey will be most challenging for marginalized communities. Nearly a quarter of Houstonians live in poverty, approximately 550,000 people, and there are about 575,000 immigrants in the Houston metro area. TOP will work to ensure that Harvey's most vulnerable victims have access to critical services from first response and basic needs to healthcare, housing and transportation.

Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund
AARP Foundation
Recognizing the immediate and longer-term challenges so many will face in the coming days, weeks, and months – especially people over age 50 who have been affected – AARP Foundation created a relief fund to support the victims devastated by Hurricane Harvey. To meet their needs, AARP and AARP Foundation will also match – dollar for dollar – contributions up to a total of $1 million. Working with the AARP state offices in the affected areas, we will direct 100 percent of all funds raised to organizations providing relief and recovery support to disaster victims.

Houston Chronicle: How to Help Victims of the Texas Storm
The Houston Chronicle offers a list of local, national and global organizations that are accepting donations to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Texas Tribune: How to Get (and Offer) Help After Hurricane Harvey
The Texas Tribune has compiled a comprehensive list of resources on how to help with Hurricane Harvey relief and recovery, including where to make charitable donations.

Our Members' Efforts

IPA members are encouraged toshare ways they are supporting the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts by contacting Lissa Silotto.

Buckingham Foundation
Buckingham Companies and Radio One collected approximately 55,000 pounds of donated goods on two separate semi-trailers for a total of approximately 110,000 pounds (55 tons) of goods. The Salvation Army truck collected roughly 2,000 pounds, including donated clothes, duvets from The Alexander Hotel, and items Red Cross was unable to take. Total amount of monetary donations collected was $20,000 for the downtown site. This includes a $10,000 donation from Buckingham Foundation, $6,000 donation from Kite Reality Group, $1,500 from Buckingham employees (in which Buckingham Foundation will match in addition to their $10K), and other random checks and cash donations while on-site.

The Clowes Fund
The Clowes Fund has made a $10,000 emergency grant to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund at the Greater Houston Community Foundation.

Henry County Community Foundation
The Henry County Community Foundation (HCCF) has set up a disaster relief pass through fund to provide assistance to the Houston, Texas, community who were hit with devastating destruction in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Donations can be made to HCCF and earmarked for disaster relief. These contributions are tax deductible and will be passed on to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund at the Greater Houston Community Foundation and to help maximize the impact of philanthropic support. In addition to providing for immediate needs, these contributions will help rebuild communities and the lives of those affected by this tragedy. Contributions can be mailed to the Henry County Community Foundation, P.O. Box 6006, New Castle, IN 47362 or can be donated online.

The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust Support to Code 3
The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust is providing a $40,000 grant to Code 3, a nonprofit animal welfare organization that is on the ground in the affected areas rescuing and transporting animals.

Strada Education Network
Strada Education NetworkS a national nonprofit dedicated to improving lives by strengthening the pathways between education and employment, announced its commitment of $1 million to support Hurricane Harvey disaster relief efforts.

Programming to Learn More

A fter Hurricane Harvey: Specific Challenges Facing Immigrants and Refugees
Following Hurricane Harvey, the immediate needs of Houston's immigrant residents are generally no different from other displaced residents; however, they also face particular circumstances that can prevent them from accssing assistance and that impair their ability to rebuild their lives and communities. Join Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, Philanthropy Southwest, and Center for Disaster Philanthropy for a webinar on September 18 to learn about unique post-hurrican challenges facing immigrants and refugees, particularly those who are low-income and limited English proficient. RSVP and watch the webinar at the link above.

Hurricane Harvey Recovery: How Donors Can Help
In response to significant flooding in Texas and potentially parts of Louisiana, the Council on Foundations and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy hosted a webinar on August 29 on how to allocate resources—human, financial and technical—to meet the needs of Hurricane Harvey-affected communities. Watch the webinar recording at the link above.

Additional Resources

Disaster, Older Adults and Philanthropy
This article from Grantmakers in Aging details why disaster-related death rates are so much higher older adults and how philanthropy can help.

Additional Disaster Response Resources
This IPA resource page includes a variety of disaster response materials, including an Informal Guide to Disaster Recovery developed by IPA following the 2008 Indiana floods; an Indiana Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COADs) Guidance Manual; and a Disaster Plan Template for Community Foundations.

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