This month, we mark one year since Hurricane Irma left devastation in its wake throughout the Greater Miami region and Caribbean islands. Local nonprofits and generous donors have played a significant role in helping Miami-Dade and neighboring areas bounce back. Even as the storm loomed, we were getting calls from local and national organizations and people simply wanting to help.
In all, thousands of donors from around the world came together to raise more than $6.4 million, of which we’ve awarded $5.4 million in hurricane recovery grants to help with relief and ongoing recovery work in Miami, the Florida Keys, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean islands most affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The dollars have helped rebuild homes in the U.S. Virgin Islands, support the distribution of hurricane relief food and supplies to Miamians who needed it most and aid long-term disaster preparedness in Puerto Rico. Here’s what we learned about grantmaking after a natural disaster:
Develop local partnerships ahead of time. Relationships with other organization and key community players is all the more important when a disaster strikes. Nurturing them and knowing who to call before a storm or other disaster is critical. The Florida’s First Coast Relief Fund, founded to help those affected by Hurricane Matthew in the Northeast Florida region, is a good example of the kinds of strategic cross-organization collaborations that can work in a crisis. Hurricane Irma exposed the clear need for Miami-Dade County to develop a coordinated community-based preparation and response strategy to complement governmental emergency management systems. While we didn’t have something formal in place at the time, we’re currently working on deepening our own relationships with other backbone organizations to ensure a more cohesive response both in fundraising and grantmaking.
Find out how prospective grantees operate. When it came to making local disaster recovery grants, we realized that although we knew what nonprofits did on a regular, day-to-day basis, we did not fully comprehend the role that they play (or were capable of playing) in times of disaster. The Foundation has since convened nonprofits around the table to better understand this side. In June, we brought together recipients of our hurricane relief funds to discuss needs, opportunities and ways to build up their capacity as a whole. The nonprofits then held their own simulation to practice their neighborhood-based disaster action plans. The sector as a whole needs to be better informed about each other’s roles to ensure appropriate referrals and to start fostering fruitful partnerships.
