Disaster Relief Updates

Many GCRI members have stepped up with donations and support in the wake of multiple hurricanes, as well as the California wildfires and Mexican earthquake.  See some of their efforts

GCRI’s United Philanthropy Forum Partners are invested in various relief efforts as well:

PEAK Grantmaking Webinar

Working Together: Effective Funder Collaboration in Disaster Grantmaking, October 24

Through a national partnership with the Council on Foundations and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy this webinar will offer lessons learned and practical tools to maximize funder collaboration for effective disaster grantmaking. Participants will also get to hear about a successful funder collaboration.

California Wildfires

Forum member Northern California Grantmakers has a helpful resource page on responding to the ongoing wildfires in Northern California.

  • Forum member Grantmakers Concerned With Immigrants and Refugees, which along with NCG is located in Northern California, also has a helpful list of resources on responding to the wildfires – including a list of immigrant-serving organizations that are helping the local immigrant communities being impacted by the wildfires.

Puerto Rico — FORWARD Puerto Rico Fund / Fondo ADELANTE Puerto Rico

  • The Forum’s colleague organization in Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Funders Network (Red de Fundaciones de Puerto Rico) has just launched the FORWARD Puerto Rico Fund (Fondo ADELANTE Puerto Rico). The Fund supports key nonprofit institutions that are working to achieve a better Puerto Rico in the short-, medium- and long-term. Initially, FORWARD Puerto Rico will provide funds to organizations that are assisting communities affected by the devastating hurricanes Irma and Maria. Subsequently, it will target its support to strengthening these organizations and ensuring their resilience and continued contribution to Puerto Rico. The Fund will also support work on issues of government transparency, inequality, and community economic development. The Funders Network is comprised of longstanding and prestigious Puerto Rican foundations with extensive experience in strategic grantmaking and deep involvement in the nonprofit sector. The Funders Network will administer the Fund without charging administrative costs, and will distribute the funds to nonprofits with a proven track record in Puerto Rico.  The Fund is housed at the Foundation for Puerto Rico, which has a designation of 501c3 of the US tax code, and is thus domestic.

U.S. Virgin Islands

  • The U.S. Virgin Islands were devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, but seem to have lost the attention of the media and the country. So a reminder that the CARE (Caribbean Assistance and Relief Effort) Fund has been established by the St. Croix Foundation for Community Development to address the basic needs of individuals and families directly impacted by the disaster, and to support the transition of hundreds of displaced students and families who are currently being (re)settled on St. Croix.

Center for Disaster Philanthropy Update

State of Disaster Philanthropy 2017 — CDP will be presenting a half-day convening on October 25 in New York, “From Hurricanes Sandy to Maria: Can Disaster Philanthropy Be More Strategic?”  On November 8, CDP and Foundation Center will be presenting a webinar on “Measuring the State of Disaster Philanthropy”  to discuss highlights from the 2017 report and data dashboard.

Recovery from the recent string of catastrophes is going to take billions of dollars and strategic cross-sector collaboration between funders, government, nonprofits, and humanitarian organizations. CDP has established four collaborative disaster funds to support long-term recovery challenges: