Giving Compass' Take:
- Nicol La Cumbre-Gibbs explores how philanthropy can best support locally-led recovery that centers community needs after a record-breaking wildfire season.
- How does flexible funding allow for long-term, variable recovery timelines that are responsive to the needs of communities impacted by wildfires?
- Ask a custom question to find other nonprofits focused on wildfire relief, recovery, and resilience.
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This summer, wildfires dominated the headlines. It seems no corner of the earth has gone unscathed, with firefighters in the U.S. having responded to over 57,087 wildfires that have burned more than 8,559,888 acres of land across the country so far this year.
This amount of land is larger than the state of Maryland – something that Sarah Lackritz, CDP’s Vice President of Brand and Storytelling, put into perspective during our recent webinar focused on the impacts of wildfires in the Pacific Northwest.
To explore how philanthropy can better support equitable, locally led recovery following the 2026 wildfire season, Sarah was joined by three experts:
- Carlene Anders, Executive Director of the Okanogan County Long Term Recovery Group and Executive Director of the Disaster Leadership Team
- Karol Collymore, Senior Director, Sport & Society, Social & Community Impact at Nike, Inc.
- Cari Cullen, CDP’s Program Officer, Domestic Funds
Below are some of the key lessons learned during this conversation.
Funders must ask impacted communities what they need, not just give them whatever we have.
As Karol Collymore stated, “Funding is the most important thing in that immediate aftermath. It is not sending anything else but money in that moment and then hearing your organizations on the ground tell you what they need.”
Even with the best intentions, funders should always look to local leaders for guidance before making assumptions about what an impacted community may need. As Carlene shared from a previous wildfire incident, “We had meaningful people want to really engage and bring Christmas to people, but they didn’t have homes. They brought Christmas stuff to them, and they had nowhere to put it.”
Ill-informed support can prove to be more of a hindrance than a help for community members. Instead, funders should engage with local leaders about what support is needed, and, if funders cannot provide something suitable, they should consider ways they can support more flexibly or engage further down the recovery pipeline.
Read the full article about funding locally-led wildfire recovery by Nicol La Cumbre-Gibbs at Center for Disaster Philanthropy.