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| Hurricane Ike. Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project |
The Minnesota Council on Foundations held a discussion on disaster response on Tuesday at the Red Cross – Twin Cities Chapter, to discuss how funders have stepped up to meet the challenges they’ve faced this past year brought on by the flooding in southeastern Minnesota, the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, as well as Hurricanes Katrina, Gustav and Ike.
The most common themes to come out of the discussion were communication and collaboration — both were key factors in providing assistance. Communication was important both with donors and collaborators. Funders need to be sure their statement of intent — what they are going to do with the money they collect — is crystal clear so that donors will not feel misled later. The importance of early and constant streams of communication with other funders and the community programs could not be stressed enough. This saves time and money especially to help prevent duplication of efforts.
After the crisis has passed, it is important to take a moment to write down the lessons learned and to share them with others. All of the presenters thought it was important to remain in contact with one’s network so that it is easy to mobilize resources should it become necessary again.
Presenters included Charlie Cook, LSW, of Emergency Behavioral Health Professionals and Louisiana Spirit; Hazen Graves, Attorney, Faegre & Benson; Karen Kelley-Ariwoola, Minnesota Helps-Bridge Disaster Fund and The Minneapolis Foundation; Julia Ross, Disaster Outreach Coordinator, Hennepin County; Karen Erlenbusch, United Way of Olmsted County.
Many resources on disaster grantmaking are listed on our website at www.mcf.org/disasters.
A couple recent articles from the Chronicle of Philanthropy about disaster recovery:
- Storm-Relief Costs Far Outpace Donations
- Big Relief Charities Not Ready for Major Disaster, Says Report
- Lisa Johnson, MCF’s manager of professional development and e-learning
