Good360, All Hands and Hearts, and the Good360 Disaster Recovery Council (which includes UPS Foundation, United Airlines, Restoration Hardware, CVS Health, Ecolab, Dollar Days, and Wrangler) commit to educating leaders at 25 of the top Fortune 500 companies on adopting a proactive, needs-based, resilient, and transparent long-term approach to disaster giving. Companies will be asked to pledge to utilizing a more effective approach to disaster giving that follows the principles from Good360’s Resilient Response Initiative. Good360 aims to ensure companies give thoughtfully and purposefully during and after disasters, building stronger communities that can better withstand future disasters.
Good360 and the GDRC will develop the curriculum and train trainers. 10+ GDRC members and Good360 staff will receive training to prepare them for meetings, events, and calls related to Resilient Response. Good306 will work with CSR leaders from 25+ companies to schedule advisory sessions. 100 CSR leaders are expected to be impacted through this initiative.
Companies will be asked to incorporate Resilient Response Initiative principles into their disaster giving strategies: (1) Proactively ensure plans are in place before disaster strikes. (2) Employ a needs-based approach by utilizing Good360 and other response partners to determine community needs. (3) Address immediate and long-term needs, staying in communities well after cameras leave. (4) Implement resilience-focused strategies to help communities to better withstand future disasters. (5) Be transparent about actions and accountable to promises made. (6) Educate companies, associates, colleagues, consumers, and the public on how to better respond to disasters.
Good360 will measure the progress of pledges based on key metrics (% towards long term, % of donations disposed of, % of donations within first few weeks of disasters). Good360 will follow up at six and 12 months to ensure the adoption of principles. Good360 will conduct advisory sessions with each company and hold two city-wide forums. Sessions will cover the following topics: pre-planning, needs and community engagement assessment, program funding and product procurement, post-engagement impact reporting, and social media featuring.
1st Quarter (Jan. 1 – Mar. 31) – Establish advisory curriculum, produce materials, review sessions with GDRC members and Good360 staff. Materials will include one-sheeters, Disaster Planning Timeline, Disaster Engagement PlayBook, and promotional materials for education at events.
2nd Quarter (Apr. 1 – Jun. 30) – Identify top company prospects, initiate initial contact, request pledges, set meeting dates, begin advisory sessions, collect feedback from participants. Companies may pledge before the sessions or as a result of the sessions.
3rd Quarter (Jul. 1 – Sept. 30) – Continue advisory sessions, modify curriculum and materials as needed, track results, and increase meeting schedule if needed to meet annual goal. Hurricane Season may impact discussions. 4th Quarter (Oct. 1 – Dec. 31) – Complete final advisory sessions, review results, and add final modifications to curriculum and materials. Work with CDP (along with companies receiving the advisory sessions) to measure changes in key metrics (% towards long term, % of donations disposed of, % of donations within first few weeks of disasters).
Studies by the National Science Foundation and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation show that 60% of unsolicited goods given after a disaster end up in landfills and 70% of giving occurs within the first two months. Only 5% of giving is allocated to reconstruction and recovery. Addressing immediate needs is critical, but the current giving paradigm does not effectively support long-term recovery. In fact, corporate and individual in-kind donations often complicate relief efforts. In Texas and Puerto Rico in 2017, unsolicited goods diverted manpower, blocked vital supplies at overloaded ports, and did not always meet needs.
There is a significant misalignment between how and when corporations give compared to the full disaster recovery curve. Corporations are often under pressure from stakeholders to provide resources quickly, but this can create huge gaps when support is most critical for recovery efforts. The real needs of a community and organizations serving that community are not determined for many weeks/months, and full recovery for an impacted community can take years (5+ on average).
As a result of over 90% of giving towards early response, areas impacted by Hurricanes Irma and Maria are experiencing longer than desired rebuilding efforts. Individuals and organizations have been forced to invest significant time and resources to finding workarounds to address unmet needs, while trying to retain volunteers over the exceptionally long rebuild periods. As a result, many critical long-term recovery projects are not started or finished due to lack of funding.
Corporations need to be made aware of the impact of a short-term focus on disaster response and recovery and given tools and guidance for improving engagement. When corporate partners understand the recovery stages and actual needs, in-kind donations can make a significant difference. Informed donors, working with local/national partners, can responsibly distribute excess goods for maximum impact and funding can be secured throughout the entire recovery period.