While the recent catastrophic wildfires in southern California are finally contained, the havoc and devastation they wreaked will take years to overcome. The fires displaced thousands of residents from their homes and damaged or destroyed more than 15,000 homes, businesses and other buildings. In times of crisis like this, there are myriad ways donors can respond with help and support, including private foundations granting directly to individuals (GTIs).
Supporting Current Grantees
Your first priority might be nonprofits you’ve previously funded, such as through your private foundation, or donor-advised fund. Consider checking in with them to see how they’re faring:
- Have the fires altered or hindered their organization?
- Can they continue to serve the same constituents and communities?
- Can they administer the same programs?
- Are they able to achieve the same results?
- What do they need from you and/or other donors?
- Are there things other than money that you could provide?
Aside from this check-in, here are some considerations for re-evaluating and reframing your support for your current charitable beneficiaries:
- Extend current funding. Consider funding the nonprofits for another six months or a year in recognition that financial stability is critical.
- Offer untied funding. Loosen restrictions or change payment schedules on your current gifts and make any new donations as unrestricted as possible. Foundations can also consider converting specific project grants to general operating support.
- Simplify reporting. Foundations can lower or remove reporting requirements to help reduce grantees’ administrative burden so they can focus on more pressing issues.
- Invest in capacity building. Consider providing funds for renovation or rebuilding if your grantees’ physical premises were damaged by the fires. You can also contribute to their infrastructure development by providing professional support, such as software consultants to solve IT malfunctions or financial expertise to address liquidity issues.
Supporting New Recipients
If you’d like to expand your support to new recipients, you have multiple options to consider. Here are some of the ways you can help:
- Act locally. Fund regional relief organizations that are addressing the wildfires.
- Provide direct support to those who need it most. If you have a private foundation, in times of emergency and hardship like the California fires, you can make grants directly to individuals and families instead of granting to a charity—and as long as certain procedures are followed, you don’t need to seek prior approval from the IRS. This capability enables those with foundations to help people keep food on the table, pay bills and recover from losing their homes.
- Prioritize frontline workers and the most vulnerable. Fund childcare and other support services for the frontline firefighters, as well as seniors, people experiencing homelessness and other vulnerable groups.
- Fund emergent needs. In addition to funding urgent needs such as food, clothing and temporary housing for those displaced, consider supporting long-term change such as investments in community rebuilding and improving statewide emergency preparedness measures.
- Consider debt relief. As bills pile up for those displaced by the fires, erasing onerous medical or student debt can be as powerful an intervention as donating funds, and it can be very cost-efficient for the donor.
- Make program-related investments (PRIs). As long as it’s for a charitable purpose, private foundations can make loans, loan guarantees and equity investments to both nonprofit and for-profit companies alike. PRI loans, which count toward the foundation’s 5% minimum distribution requirement, can be used to help companies gear up to build more emergency shelters and temporary housing.
The work of private philanthropists is always important, but in times of crisis, your giving is especially powerful, particularly if other funding sources become less reliable. You can respond quickly to disasters and emergencies and take bold action to address needs that may be too small or too local to attract the attention of larger funders.
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