The Measuring the State of Disaster Philanthropy 2024 report released today by the Center for Disaster Philanthropy identifies promising findings and opportunities for smart, strategic giving strategies that donors can adopt now to boost impact.

In 2022, as billions of people worldwide continued to navigate a new normal two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw historic disasters, from record-breaking floods to the start of a humanitarian crisis that continues today. How did philanthropy respond? What are key opportunities for donors to harness their giving to help communities thrive amid bigger, more frequent and more destructive disasters?

Key findings

In collaboration with Candid, CDP examined disaster giving in 2022, the most comprehensive publicly available data to date, by private and community foundations, corporations and public charities in the U.S. and abroad. Data showed:

  • Of the $126.7 billion in total giving, only 1.4% or $1.7 billion went toward support for disaster-related initiatives.
  • Disaster-related support from the top 1000 U.S. funders rose in 2022.
  • The proportion of disaster funding for reconstruction and recovery was higher than in recent years.
  • Complex humanitarian emergencies saw its highest share of total giving, primarily in response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
  • Many international grants were directly given to local and national actors.

Takeaways for donors

These findings highlight opportunities for donors to maximize the impact of their disaster giving:

Align philanthropic giving with disasters’ devastating impact

Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and humanitarian emergencies can destroy critical infrastructure such as roads, schools and power lines, cut access to basic needs such as food, water and health care, cause mass displacement, and cause mental and emotional trauma in affected communities. And yet, disaster-related philanthropic giving in 2022 remained critically low in proportion to immense needs.

Donors can help communities rebuild stronger after a disaster by intentionally supporting preparedness and risk mitigation as well as efforts that address root causes of vulnerabilities across all issue areas.

Read two more takeaways for donors and download the full report at the Center for Disaster Philanthropy website.