Our guest blogger this week is Ben Smilowitz. In his first year of law school Ben saw the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina and realized a need existed for someone to demand public accountability and provide an open line for survivors ” emergency workers and volunteers to report gaps during disasters…so he started the Disaster Accountability Project. DAP has become the leading nonprofit that provides long-term independent oversight of disaster management systems.
His perspective is valuable, and The Gathering wants to share his thoughts with you.
The recent natural and man-made disasters in Boston” Texas the upper-Midwest China Iran/Pakistan and Bangladesh underscore the importance of disaster planning. Although costly effective and speedy responses and well-planned recoveries can make the difference in saving lives alleviating suffering ” and reviving communities.
Community foundations in and around disaster-impacted areas are uniquely positioned to convene regional stakeholders and serve as magnets for the typical post-disaster flood of donations. Within a day of the Boston bombing and Texas explosion” The Boston Foundation and Waco Foundation launched or joined fundraising efforts that quickly became the main fundraising hubs for each disaster. This fundraising model helps ensure relief and recovery is locally controlled and fosters community participation. Those administering and overseeing these local funds are more likely to have the first-hand information needed to determine which efforts deserve funding ” reducing wasteful duplications and dangerous service gaps.
Contingency plans are useful in situations where a local foundation is temporarily knocked off-line by power outages or staff shortages. Sister/brother relationships between foundations in different geographic regions are one way to ensure continuity. After Hurricane Katrina” ” a group of foundation executives parachuted into Louisiana to create the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation (now Foundation for Louisiana) as a local receiver and disburser of funds. The inclusion of survivors and community members as directors or advisory members of these local funds can increase local buy-in and public trust.
Similarly” in the context of international disasters locally controlled responses are much faster and more efficient and effective than those originating overseas. We know time is of essence and we may only have 72 hours to find survivors under rubble after an earthquake. Hundreds of thousands or even millions can become homeless overnight and need shelter food/water ” and healthcare. Should we invest in shipping shelters across time zones or instead support local civil society organizations that have the capacity to provide services in a neighboring community?
Disasters can be horribly disempowering: Loss of life” homes and jobs; debilitating injuries; and devastated communities. Empowering survivors to make post-disaster decisions is integral to a successful recovery. In fact a local response/recovery is the best way to ensure help is demand-based and avoids many of the logistical headaches when so many well-intentioned relief supplies are unneeded or duplicative. Furthermore ” investing in the civil society of disaster-stricken communities increases the likelihood that recovery will include aspects of mitigation and disaster risk reduction to prepare for future events.
Unfortunately” the Boston and Waco examples are not the norm and current post-disaster fundraising trends unintentionally empower the decision-making and priorities of organizations based thousands of miles from most disasters over those of the directly impacted. Donors offer few incentives for relief groups to be more transparent and accountable ” as most aid organizations know that their Charity Navigator and Guidestar ratings are based on their tax compliance instead of the effectiveness and efficiency of their real-time efforts in particular disaster zones. We all know disasters are more nuanced than looking good on paper.
Disasters have become feeding frenzies for thousands of relief organizations large and small” respected and newly formed. With heart-wrenching pictures on their websites groups solicit funds regardless of their current position to deliver services in affected areas. Potential donors consistently lack sufficient data to make informed decisions about where to direct resources and differentiate between organizations that are re-granting focused only on recovery ” and those with long-standing relationships and many “boots on the ground” in the disaster zone.
I started Disaster Accountability Project to change this disaster fundraising paradigm. We can maximize the impact of disaster relief by incentivizing transparency and creating donor demand for better real-time information. Our SmartResponse.org is collecting pre and post-disaster data on the capacity and activities of civil society and other organizations in disaster vulnerable areas so the public can have immediate data about which organizations (both local and international) are on the ground and have ability to deliver services. While it is important to generously support direct aid” ” it is also critical to support dedicated oversight to ensure aid is working.
Feel free to email Ben at Ben@disasteraccountability.org.