Is Your Charity Ready for Their Disaster?

As we approach the 2nd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which yielded the largest philanthropic response in the history of the world, I am reminded of the unpredictability of the world we live in and the events that shape our lives and the work of the charities in our sector. On August 29, 2005, I can remember reading national news reports that proclaimed how lucky the residents of New Orleans were, as the hurricane seemed to have weakened when it met land, and had even passed by the city. And then, as we all know, the levees broke, and for way too many people, their lives would never be the same.

And despite the fact that we knew Katrina was going to be big, in many ways what eventually happened was a random act. There was no way to know that particular hurricane would hit that particular piece of land, and would lead to those types of unintended effects, with unprecedented governmental failures, all captured hauntingly on national television, leading to $4 billion worth of donations, and the inevitable scrutiny that followed. But bad things happen everyday. We don't know what or where or to whom, but we know they're coming.

And it doesn't have to be hurricanes of epic proportions. We see it every day, in every community. Things we didn't anticipate. Suddenly, one football player with the IQ of a walnut turns dog-fighting into the most compelling issue in the animal protection community. A supposedly sturdy bridge in Minnesota collapses. So does a mine in Utah. We get an earthquake in Peru. Global warming makes the carbon offset groups proliferate. In small towns, we see fires and new government cutbacks and libraries closing and so on.

While it's true that we can't stop many of these things from happening, we as a charitable community can do our best to be prepared for when they do. All of these events simply point out that no matter what type of charity you run, and no matter what your organizational priorities may be this coming year, you have to be ready for everything. And when that event you never anticipated does happen, what should you do, to ensure that your group is the one that donors turn to?

1. Be transparent about your finances. What specifically will you do with the money you raise? Vagueness and evasive answers are the sanctuary of the ill-prepared and the ineffective. Tell us exactly how much you need, how you will spend it, and how we'll measure that spending in the days after the tragedy.

2. Showcase your past results. Let your donors know your track record of success. Disasters are not a time for amateurs. When something horrible happens, we always see a flooding of the marketplace by new people. Some are well-intentioned but inexperienced; others are scammers hoping to capitalize on benevolent but uninformed donors. If you run a good group, you need to be able to demonstrate to donors, the media, and watchdogs why you've done this kind of work before and can succeed again, and therefore are a great choice for the new donor dollars.

Will you be ready? Something unforeseen and unimaginable is headed your way, whether you run an international disaster relief group or a small town food bank. I guarantee it. Maybe not today or next year, but when it comes, you won't have time for a strategic planning session with your board and some consultants. And you owe it to your donors and the cause you serve to be prepared.