Disaster Relief

Specific Disasters
Support Organizations & Online Tools
Research, Reports & Studies
Articles, Opinion & Insight

Specific Disasters

  • West, TX Fertilizer Plant Explosion -- April 17, 2013

    The Cooper, Rapoport, and Waco Foundations, members of the Conference of Southwest Foundations, have together established The West, Texas Disaster Relief Efforts Fund, to be housed at Waco Foundation.  As of April 23, the foundations were working with City of West officials to determine an appropriate West representative to advise the allocation of resources based on the community's highest needs.  In addition to donating online, donations may be made by check, payable to Waco Foundation (1105 Wooded Acres, Suite 701, Waco, TX 76710). Please designate the gift for the West, Texas Disaster Relief Efforts Fund in the memo line. Contact Melissa Miller, Director of Communications and Donor Services, at Waco Foundation at (254) 754-3404 or mmiller@wacofoundation.org with additional questions about this fund.

  • Boston Marathon Bombings -- April 15, 2013

    Visit SDG's informational page about philanthropic response to the Boston Marathon Bombings.

Support Organizations & Online Tools

Local/Regional

  • The County of San Diego Office of Emergency Services is responsible for coordinating overall county response to disasters, which includes alerting and notifying appropriate agencies when disaster strikes; coordinating all agencies that respond; ensuring resources are available and mobilized in times of disaster; developing plans and procedures for response to and recovery from disasters; and developing and providing preparedness materials for the public.
  • The American Red Cross of San Diego County is the local chapter of the national organization providing more than 3.6 million people throughout San Diego and Imperial counties with food and shelter during emergencies, among other services.
  • San Diego Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster is part of a coalition of nonprofit organizations that respond to disasters as part of their overall mission.  It does not provide direct service deliver, but rather serves as a forum in which organizations share knowledge and resources throughout the disaster cycle—preparation, response and recovery—to help disaster survivors and their communities.
  • The San Diego Regional Disaster Fund, a supporting organization of The San Diego Foundation, accepts charitable donations following a natural or man-made disaster in the San Diego region and makes grants to support disaster response, recovery, rebuilding, and preparedness activities.
  • The Northern California Grantmakers Disaster Response and Preparedness Toolkit offers incremental steps for how to implement disaster preparedness procedures, as well as provides research on how philanthropy has dealt with past disasters and the lessons learned to help philanthropy prepare future disasters.

National/International

  • Through our affiliation with the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, SDG can quickly access a network of approximately three dozen other grantmaker associations throughout the country in order to connect our members to philanthropic and nonprofit organizations in areas directly impacted during times of disaster or other emergency.  Simply email SDG Executive Director Nancy Jamison at nancy@sdgrantmakers.org with your request to activate this network.
  • The Center for Disaster Philanthropy seeks to increase the impact of each dollar given by private donors to address disasters by providing objective insights, reliable updates, a permanent clearinghouse of information, and pooled resources.
  • The U.S. Agency of International Development's Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI) guides and informs the public, religious and community groups, diaspora, embassies, non-profits, corporations, and governmental organizations about the most effective ways to support international disaster relief.
  • To find a Red Cross shelter, download the Red Cross Hurricane app, visit the Red Cross website, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767), text "**REDCROSS" (**73327677), or check their local media outlets.
  • The Council on Foundations (COF) has a Disaster Grantmaking Tool on its website that's designed to educate grantmakers about the latest disaster news and response efforts as well as serve as a platform for grantmakers to share their own response activities.  COF's United States International Grantmaking website may also be useful to funders considering disaster relief grants outside of the U.S.  Finally, use the Council's Community Foundation Locator to find community foundations in affected areas to which you can send aid.  Search by region, state or zip code.
  • The Global Disaster Relief Fund of The San Diego Foundation facilitates grantmaking from US-based donors to international nonprofit organizations in response to a foreign disaster. The San Diego Foundation assesses needs and partners with appropriate intermediary organizations to direct resources to vetted, credible nonprofits on the ground in the area in need.
  • Business Roundtable’s Partnership for Disaster Response was the first clearinghouse of information on disaster preparedness and response for the business community.  While the Partnership was most active between 2004 and 2010, Business Roundtable remains a resource and advocate for cross-sector preparedness, response and recovery following disaster.
  • The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center has a Disaster Relief and Recovery Program intended to help businesses communicate and collaborate with each other and with the nonprofit and government sectors to make disaster relief, recovery, and reconstruction activities more effective.
  • The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a page of its website that lists resources to help individuals, employers and corporations interested in providing disaster relief through charities.
  • Philanthropy News Digest's (a service of Foundation Center) Disaster Relief web page has compiled information about the philanthropic response to major natural and man-made disasters as relief and recovery efforts unfold since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2011.
  • Good Intentions Are Not Enough is a website intended to provide the knowledge, tools, and resources necessary to ensure that disaster relief donations match the good intentions with which they are given.
  • The Entrepreneurs Foundation (EF) has developed a Disaster Response Resource Guide -- a toolkit intended to guide corporations of any size in establishing a disaster response plan that reflects the values of that corporation and is aligned with the strengths of the business.

Research, Reports & Studies

Articles, Opinions & Insight