Charitology
Tool · For donors

Disaster Response Guide

What responders and researchers advise about giving after a disaster, a planner that splits one gift across relief, recovery and preparedness, and a calendar reminder to give again when the news has moved on.

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Give well after a disaster

Six things to know, a gift planner and a recovery reminder.

What responders and researchers advise

  1. Give money, not goods

    Money lets responders buy what is needed when it is needed, often from local businesses, which helps the local economy recover. Goods nobody asked for have to be shipped, sorted and stored, and that work pulls people away from survivors. Send goods only when a relief group asks for them.

    Sources: FEMA, Center for Disaster Philanthropy, CDP on in-kind gifts.

  2. Give through experienced responders and local groups

    Choose organizations with a record of disaster work and people on the ground. Look for local ones too: the Center for Disaster Philanthropy notes that marginalized people often turn to schools, community nonprofits and faith groups. Your state’s Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) and its emergency management agency can point you to trusted groups. In the 2016 Grand Bargain, major aid donors and agencies committed to support local and national responders.

    Sources: FTC, FEMA, Center for Disaster Philanthropy, The Grand Bargain.

  3. Recovery takes months and years

    Gifts surge in the first days, but recovery can take months or even years, and rebuilding can take decades. In 2023, reconstruction and recovery received 12.7% of the disaster giving tracked by the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and Candid. Consider keeping part of your gift for later.

    Sources: FEMA, CDP on recovery, CDP on the first days, State of Disaster Philanthropy 2025.

  4. Check before you give

    After disasters, the FTC warns donors to watch for scams. Check that a charity is registered with the IRS and with your state. Be careful with crowdfunding: the money goes to the organizer, not straight to the people named, and gifts to individuals aren’t tax-deductible. Don’t let anyone rush you, and steer clear of anyone who insists on cash, gift cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrency.

    Sources: FTC on disaster giving, FTC on crowdfunding, FTC on charity scams. See also: Look up a charity.

  5. Fund preparedness and prevention too

    Work that reduces the harm of the next disaster pays off. A National Institute of Building Sciences study estimated that federally funded mitigation grants produce about $6 of benefit for every $1 spent. Yet in 2023, resilience, risk reduction and mitigation received 6% of the disaster giving tracked by CDP and Candid. On the depth scale, relief meets today’s need, and prevention stops the next disaster from hurting as much.

    Sources: NIBS, Mitigation Saves 2019, NIBS summary, State of Disaster Philanthropy 2025. See also: The depth scale.

  6. Skip strings you don’t need

    Earmarking a gift for one disaster, place or item can strand money where needs are already met. Less than a week after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Doctors Without Borders stopped accepting gifts for it. It went on to receive about €110 million against a forecast need of €25 million for 2005, and asked donors to let it use the rest for other emergencies. Only 1% asked for a refund instead. Unless you have a reason to restrict a gift, let responders put it where it is needed most.

    Sources: Doctors Without Borders, The Grand Bargain. See also: The Restriction Reflex.

Plan your gift

Split one amount across the three phases of a disaster. Moving one slider rebalances the other two so the total stays at 100%. The defaults are a starting point, not a rule: they put more toward recovery than disaster giving does today and keep a share for preparedness.

The first days and weeks. Depth: Relief.
Months to years from now. Depth: Repair.
Before the next disaster. Depth: Prevention.

  • Relief now

    Experienced responders with people on the ground, and local groups helping survivors today.

  • Recovery later

    Local organizations rebuilding homes, livelihoods and services, and funds that make recovery grants to them.

  • Preparedness

    Preparedness, risk reduction and mitigation in places likely to be hit next.

Remind me to give to recovery

Recovery needs money long after the news moves on. Choose a date and download a calendar file. It is made in your browser, and opening it adds the reminder to your calendar app.

Six months from today unless you change it.

How it works

The guide opens with six points drawn from disaster responders, regulators and researchers, each with its sources. Then the planner splits one amount across three phases: relief now, recovery later and preparedness for the next disaster. Move any slider and the other two rebalance, so the total stays at 100%. The reminder makes a calendar file for a date you choose, six months out unless you change it, so the part of your gift meant for recovery has a moment to happen. The file is built in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere.

Why the planner splits by phase

The three phases sit at different depths on the depth scale: relief meets the need today, recovery repairs what was lost, and preparedness prevents the next disaster from hurting as much. All three are needed.

Disaster giving follows attention. Thomas Eisensee and David Strömberg found that U.S. government disaster relief depended partly on whether other news crowded a disaster out of the headlines. That is the Story Bias. Gifts surge in the first days, but recovery can take years, which is the Short Horizon. In 2023, according to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and Candid, reconstruction and recovery received 12.7% of tracked disaster giving and resilience, risk reduction and mitigation received 6%.

The default split is 50% relief, 30% recovery and 20% preparedness. It is an editorial starting point, not a finding: it puts a larger share toward recovery than disaster giving does today and keeps a real share for preparedness, so no phase is left out. Change it to fit what you know. If responders say their needs are met, give flexibly rather than to one disaster, which is the Restriction Reflex in reverse.

What it isn’t

It isn’t a recommendation of any organization, and it doesn’t know the details of a particular disaster. Responders on the ground do, so follow their requests when they differ from the defaults. The guidance comes mostly from U.S. sources, and the scam checks point to U.S. registries. Calendar apps treat reminder files differently, so check that the event and its alert appear where you expect.

Sources

  1. Volunteer and Donate · Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2026
  2. Cash: The king for disaster donations · Patricia McIlreavy, Center for Disaster Philanthropy, 2023
  3. When In-Kind Donations Are Not Kind · Regine A. Webster, Center for Disaster Philanthropy, 2017
  4. Disaster Recovery · Center for Disaster Philanthropy, 2026 · Undated resource page, accessed October 2026.
  5. From relief to recovery: A strategic approach to disaster philanthropy · Patricia McIlreavy, Center for Disaster Philanthropy, 2024
  6. New Center for Disaster Philanthropy Report: Disaster Giving Declined Slightly in 2023, But Support for Long-Term Recovery and Resilience Efforts Increased · Center for Disaster Philanthropy, 2025 · Source of the 12.7% (recovery) and 6% (resilience, risk reduction and mitigation) shares of 2023 disaster giving.
  7. Help the people affected by flooding in Texas — not a scammer · Federal Trade Commission, 2025
  8. Donating Through Crowdfunding and Fundraising Platforms · Federal Trade Commission, 2025
  9. Before Giving to a Charity · Federal Trade Commission, 2025
  10. Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves: 2019 Report · National Institute of Building Sciences, 2019
  11. Protecting Against Natural Disasters: NIBS Unveils New Report on Mitigation · National Institute of Building Sciences, 2020 · Source of the $6 benefit for every $1 of federally funded mitigation grants.
  12. One year after the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster · Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), 2005
  13. The Grand Bargain – A shared commitment to better serve people in need · ALNAP, hosting the agreement signed at the World Humanitarian Summit, 2016
  14. News Droughts, News Floods, and U.S. Disaster Relief · Thomas Eisensee and David Strömberg, Quarterly Journal of Economics 122(2), 2007