We contributed the below article to Charity Navigator‘s blog and newsletter. The full article can be found here.
Natural disasters and humanitarian crises are a recurring issue in many developing countries. Even the United States has been plagued with major hurricanes, tornadoes, and fires in recent years. With each passing year, organizations that serve these areas diligently prepare for the worst and hope for the best. For donors, it can feel overwhelming to research and choose an organization to support in the wake of a crisis. As one of Charity Navigator’s Top 10 Disaster Relief Organizations, we’re happy to share our best advice with you today on how organizations and donors can be good partners during humanitarian disasters.
At its core, a humanitarian response requires quickly developing efficiencies, sharing best practices among organizations/governmental agencies, and learning from past mistakes. At Hope for Haiti, for example, we adjusted our core programmatic approach after the Haiti Earthquake in 2010 based on what we learned during relief efforts. Following Hurricane Matthew in 2016, we were able to apply much of what we learned about logistics, donor communication, and balancing immediate disaster response with long-term recovery. We believe there is always room for improvement, and that’s why we’ve listed some things to consider when supporting relief efforts. To read our post on 5 Things To Consider When Supporting Disaster Relief and Recovery, please click here.