Giving Compass' Take:

• Michael Voss interviews Regine Webster and Brian Howell about what is coming next in the COVID-19 pandemic and philanthropy's response. 

• What role can you play in preparing for the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic? 

• Find COVID-19 funds to support. 

MICHAEL:  And in what ways is the current pandemic similar to other past disasters we all may have witnessed in our lifetimes, and what makes it unique?

REGINE:  I fear that it is more unique than it is like other disasters. There’s no disaster that has touched all of us. And there is no disaster like this that has uniquely touched the most vulnerable in our community, be they low-income or communities of color. We can’t even cut an onion for dinner at my home without talking about COVID-19. The pandemic is really affecting every one of us.

You know, there’s this triple threat or triple elements to the COVID-19 crisis, be it the public health impacts, social and economic. And all three of those are quite troubling in, you know, what the future may or may not look like for, again, those vulnerable communities, low-income communities and communities of color. So it’s really incumbent upon us to bring, attention to philanthropy about where, when and why to be tactical and where, when and why to be strategic within the life cycle of this particular event.

I’ll highlight in terms of funding flows, that, this pandemic has absolutely spurred the generosity of both the American people and American philanthropic network, but it’s also brought forth the generosity of the entire world, and you can identify just billions of dollars in donations that have gone to this pandemic. Those dollars have come in quite quickly. And that’s one way I would say this pandemic is similar to other disasters, in that there is a rush at the onset of the event to provide funding for the future.

Brian, as Regine already mentioned, it’s likely we’ll be seeing the impact of COVID-19 for some time. And we have seen the effect of the flow of philanthropic dollars. But how can philanthropists help address the long-term needs of those effected now and in the future?

BRIAN HOWELL:  Well thanks, Michael. You know, I think we all could agree, COVID-19’s had an enormous impact on all of our lives. Given what Regine was just sharing with us, donors really want to be thinking about where to give and also what to give to make the biggest difference. So we’ve partnered with the CDP to put together, a comprehensive list of charities helping with COVID-19 relief across many support areas, including food and shelter, medical support, mental health, supply delivery, and logistics, small business assistance. And to date, I mean, we’ve seen a tremendous support of those effected by COVID-19 at Schwab Charitable. I’m happy to report that since mid-February and through, I think it was June 12th, the number of grants directed to the charities recommended by the CDP for COVID-19 relief have risen more than 200 percent.

Read the full article about the COVID-19 pandemic at Stanford Social Innovation Review.