Donors Need Emergency Help – II
Yesterday we wrote about the difficulty, during natural disaster calamities, for donors to assess which relief charities might put their donation to work most effectively.
From Matthew Sherrington, now at EveryChild in London (and formerly at Greenpeace USA) here is a very informative description of the way disaster relief fundraising is coordinated in the UK. Does anyone think this might work in the US?
Dear Agitator,
There’s a bit of a disconnect between your wanting donors to humanitarian disasters to give from the heart and “leave the brain out of it”, and your proposed solution of country-by-country reviews for donors to consult. Seems like too much work to me, for both someone to compile, and for donors to plough through. However, your point about wanting to ensure donations are used most effectively is of course spot-on.
An alternative solution to your problem is the set-up here in the UK – the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), www.dec.org.uk which is a consortium of thirteen humanitarian agencies. When a disaster is deemed massive enough by the committee members, (which unfortunately also means one getting massive media attention), the DEC kicks in as a coordinated appeal, supported by endorsed air-time appeals by broadcasters including the BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7390971.stm
Member agencies don’t (indeed, can’t) advertise for funds because the DEC takes that on. Rules stipulate that the member organizations’ own appeal income is pooled for the period of the joint appeal. And monies raised are allocated to members according to their ability to operate and spend it on the ground in response to that emergency. The DEC-funded response is collectively evaluated too. That’s about the sum of it – you could check the exact procedures with the DEC directly.
But the concerned general public knows where to go, hopefully with confidence that money will be spent appropriately through the most effective organizations on the ground. Inter-agency competition is put to one side for the period of the joint appeal, in the interests of maximizing response to the emergency first. In return, the DEC doesn’t subsequently market to donors itself.
You can check out the current Burma appeal, and a record of past appeals, including the £390 million (about $800 million) raised for the 2004 Asia Tsunami.
If you check out the sites of consortium members, you should see their home page appeals are all identified with the DEC appeal. For example:
I’m not sure anything similar exists in the US.
Best wishes,
Matthew
Director of Fundraising & Marketing
EveryChild
matthew.sherrington@everychild.org.uk
One response to “Donors Need Emergency Help – II”
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I am not convinced it will work in the USA but it sounds like the kind of collaborative effort Lodestar Foundation is interested in rewarding.
May 13, 2008
Lodestar Foundation Launches The Collaboration Prize – An Inaugural Competition Celebrating Partnerships Among Nonprofit Organizations
$250,000 Awarded to the Collaboration That Best Puts Cooperation Above Competition
PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Lodestar Foundation, an organization dedicated to maximizing the growth and impact of philanthropy by efficiently and effectively leveraging philanthropic resources, today announced The Collaboration Prize to recognize nonprofit collaborations that achieve exceptional impact and significantly eliminate duplication of efforts. The annual Prize was created and is funded by The Lodestar Foundation in association with the Arizona-Indiana-Michigan (AIM) Alliance.
Designed to inspire cooperation among nonprofits, The Prize will be awarded to one collaboration that demonstrates through quantifiable evidence that it has achieved exceptional impact and significantly eliminated the duplication of efforts through programmatic collaborations, administrative consolidation or other joint activities. The collaboration must be composed of two or more organizations that each would otherwise compete for clients, financial resources and staff.
“A core mission for the Lodestar Foundation is to create financial and programmatic efficiencies among nonprofits – making sure philanthropic dollars achieve their maximum impact,” said Jerry Hirsch, The Lodestar Foundation Chairman. “The Collaboration Prize is an excellent way to reach this goal. We hope to uncover the most successful techniques and business models that will heighten the productivity and effectiveness of the nonprofit world.”
The Prize recipient will be chosen by a Final Selection Panel, which will be chaired by Sterling Speirn, president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and will include representatives of both the nonprofit and business worlds, as well as representatives of AIM. All submissions will be reviewed for eligibility by La Piana Associates, the nation’s leading management and consulting firm dedicated to helping nonprofits and foundations become stronger and more effective through collaboration.
“Collaboration has the power to change the way nonprofit organizations function – optimizing human and financial resources to more efficiently conduct business,” said Speirn. “I’m privileged to chair the Final Selection Panel for The Collaboration Prize – rewarding nonprofits that are working together in innovative ways and encouraging others to do the same.”
Finalists and Grand Prize Details
The Final Selection Panel will recognize up to eight finalists and The Prize recipient will be announced in March 2009 during the Spring Forum on Nonprofit Effectiveness, held by the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation at Arizona State University. The $250,000 prize must be used for charitable purposes, such as enhancing the winning collaboration’s continued service to its constituents or clients.
The most outstanding models will be compiled for study and use as blueprints by academics, nonprofit leaders and grantmakers in order to advance the practice of nonprofit collaboration.
Eligibility and Nomination Details
Eligible collaborations must be among two or more nonprofit organizations that each would otherwise be competitors. The collaboration must have begun at least 18 months prior to nomination and must have been in existence no longer than eight years prior to the date of nomination.
Nominations for The Collaboration Prize will be accepted from June 1, 2008 until 5 p.m. EDT on July 21, 2008. Nominations may be submitted by an individual who is familiar with the collaboration, but is not an employee of any entities involved in the collaboration. Board members may complete nominations in support of organizations they serve.
Please visit http://www.thecollaborationprize.org for a full list of eligibility requirements, nomination forms, general information and answers to frequently asked questions.
About The Lodestar Foundation
The Lodestar Foundation is a grantmaking organization devoted to maximizing the growth and impact of philanthropy by efficiently and effectively leveraging philanthropic resources. Based in Phoenix, Arizona, the Foundation funds nationally and internationally to organizations that support its mission. The Lodestar Foundation was established in 1999 as a support foundation of the Arizona Community Foundation. Please visit http://www.lodestarfoundation.org for more information.
About AIM
The Arizona-Indiana-Michigan (AIM) Alliance is a collaboration composed of The Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation at Arizona State University, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, and the Johnson Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership at Grand Valley State University (Michigan). The work of the AIM Alliance started in 2003 and is dedicated to furthering the sector by improving nonprofit management practice, generating and sharing scholarly and practical knowledge, increasing communication and collaborating on research.
Contacts
The Lodestar Foundation
Lois Savage, 602-840-4800 ext. 20
lsavage@lodestarfoundation.com