Giving Compass' Take:

• Here are four guiding principles that could help foundations work more strategically during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

• How can you adapt your charitable giving to fit the needs of communities during this unprecedented time? What strategies are donors most likely to change? 

• Read more about philanthropy in the time of COVID-19.

COVID-19 is undoubtedly the most defining global health crisis of our time and the greatest global humanitarian challenge the world has faced since the Second World War—both in terms of the toll it has taken on human life and well-being, and its impact on the economy. Therefore, our response to the pandemic also needs to be two-pronged—protecting ourselves and our communities from contracting the virus, while at the same time ensuring that stringent measures do not push large numbers of the population into acute poverty.

Now that the lockdown is gradually lifting, and recovery agendas are being fueled by governments world-over, philanthropic foundations have multiple important roles to play. We need to support relief efforts, enable people to go back to work, and kick-start livelihoods, while at the same time, adequately support the public health system.

Currently, we are seeing many donors shift their focus from issues like mission drift of their grantee partners—as they prioritised relief efforts in their communities—to the core work that needs to be done. This approach would need to continue post COVID-19 as well.

At The Rockefeller Foundation, we have made new commitments of at least USD 50 million globally, to enable our partners in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the United States to respond to the crisis urgently. We are also helping our partners to pivot their activities to supporting some aspects of the COVID-19 response. In India, we are making strategic investments in scaling the production of testing kits, to enable people to return to work safely.

Based on our experience of responding to the crisis in these different ways, here are four guiding principles that might be helpful to other philanthropic foundations as we all work through this period of uncertainty and change:

  1.  Be nimble
  2. Relook internal systems
  3. Take risks
  4. Invest in newer areas

Read the full article about philanthropists strategies by Deepali Khanna at India Development Review.