Counting On Charity When Seconds Count

By Renata J. Rafferty
© 2008

’Round and ’round she goes, where she stops - nobody knows.

“The Wheel of Disaster” has been making an awful lot of stops since the start of this decade - hurricanes, tornados, terrorist attacks, wildfires and more -- with no clear end in sight. Where will the wheel stop next?

With natural and man-made disasters seemingly more commonplace - and a decrease in confidence that government can or will be able to provide adequate and immediate assistance in the face of a regional tragedy - how can you and your community prepare to protect or save itself?

“Through the charitable sector” would seem to be a natural answer. But based on the grumbling heard with each recent catastrophe, it seems that charity has not done a great job – or the expected job - in making all our boo-boos better.

In fact, with each new tragedy, the chorus of criticism raised against charity has become louder and louder. The dominant theme? Why wasn’t “charity” better prepared?!

The real question we should be asking is, “Will ‘charity’ be better prepared when the next calamity hits - and hits closer to my home?”

The fundamental flaw in this question, however, lays with the presumption that there IS such a thing as “charity,” and that it is a homogenized, well-organized force in our society.

The reality is that “charity,” or the charitable sector, or the nonprofit sector, or the NGO sector - whatever your preferred nomenclature - is a very broad term referring, in the U.S., to nearly one million secular organizations and approximately 500,000 churches. They are as disparate in size and discipline as to include Harvard University, The Georgia Aquarium, and The Coachella Valley Rescue Mission. The sector’s internal divisions represent a dicing by mission, size, funding, budget, social philosophy, social status, and geographic location, to name only a few distinctions.

But what charities have in common is they are all ultimately run by a volunteer board of directors. And many are managed by under-experienced staffs. Each will tell you it is scraping for survival, that dollars are harder to come by, that the growing glut of charities makes it harder for each one to do its own job. What they are really saying (but only privately) is that other charities are “the competition.”

On the surface, charity reps will never admit that the sector is anything less than one big happy family on the good ship “A Better World,” each organization pulling an oar and all pulling in the same direction. But below decks, what we really have is every man for himself.

There is no United Nations of charity, no structure for broad collaboration, or even communication. There is no one with the sector-wide authority to convene the Harvards and the homeless shelters and the churches all at the same table. There is no government agency with that power, nor is there one funding entity with the reach to force a “sit down.”

So we should not be surprised that “charity” did not respond more efficiently in New Orleans and elsewhere. But there is something we can do to influence local “charity” to position itself to respond as effectively as possible when catastrophe hits our own community.

More than money, it takes will - and someone to spearhead the process.

If you have the will to prepare your community for unforeseen disaster, here is a basic five-step plan for creating your community’s charitable response.

  1. The organizations in each category of charity, e.g. arts, human service, animal groups, emergency response, health, education, churches, etc., should convene as separate groups to “inventory” the assets and resources - human and other - each could bring to bear in the event of a disaster. The list may include space for shelter or warehousing, transportation vehicles, food, medical supplies, clothing, cell phones and walkie-talkies, web server, water, kennels, and so on.
  2. Representatives from each category of charity would then convene to share lists and compile a master inventory of assets and resources available in the local charitable sector in the event of a tragedy.
  3. This body would choose from among its participants an ad hoc planning group to work with public agencies (such as the cities and law enforcement) to determine how best all of these charitable resources could be most effectively applied in the event of a local disaster. It is critical that the charitable sector works and takes its lead from plans already developed at the local, county and state levels.
  4. Basic game plans would be developed outlining the charitable response for the major types of events most likely to affect that particular community (e.g. in Southern California it might be earthquakes where in Iowa it might be tornadoes). In each scenario, a specific role and responsibility would be identified for each category of charity. Category groups would reconvene separately to discuss and distribute responsibilities and tasks to specific organizations.
  5. A joint communication plan must be designed to call the charitable sector into action in the event of an occurrence - a plan for alerting every charity to the state of emergency and which disaster plan is being implemented.

Yes, there are challenges to creating a charitable response plan for each of our communities -- challenges that can all be overcome if we have the will.

First, the board of every charity in the area must adopt a resolution confirming its willingness and commitment to participate in the development and execution of a collaborative charitable response disaster plan, and instruct their chief executive or appointee to represent the organization in all charitable response planning activities.

At the same time, each board should insure that their own organization has an internal disaster plan in place, as well as confirm what assets and resources the charity could make available to the community in the event of a catastrophe.

Ultimately, the biggest challenge to developing a community charitable response disaster plan is inertia. Simply getting the ball rolling seems a mighty tall order.

All it takes, however, is one person, group or organization to step up and make the case for such a plan. Just one board needs to come forward and issue the invitation for other charities to get involved. And we all need to recognize that the sooner we get going the better.

A flu pandemic. The “Big One.” Terrorist attack. Where will the wheel stop when it rolls through this community? And will we - and charity - be ready?

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Renata Rafferty Is The Nation’s Leading Advocate For Informed Philanthropy And Is An Award-Winning Author, Columnist And Consultant On The Subject. She Provides Philanthropic Advisory Services To High Net-Worth Families And Foundations, And To The Financial, Legal, And Other Allied Professionals Who Counsel To Them. She Can Be Reached At www.raffertyconsulting.com, Phone (760) 776-9606, Or Through Your Financial Advisor.