Giving for COVID‐19 relief tops prior disasters, but gaps remain

• Date: 01 November 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30875
• Published date: 01 November 2020

NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR NOVEMBER 2020

6© 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

Nonprot Research

Giving for COVID-19 relief tops prior disasters,

but gaps remain

A new report from Candid and the Center for Dis-

aster Philanthropy nds that donors have provided

an unprecedented amount of philanthropic disaster

giving to meet immediate needs and services arising

from the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

and abroad. But gaps in funding remain, the report

shows, pointing the way for funders to support an eq-

uitable long-term recovery for communities that have

been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

According to the report, Philanthropy and COV-

ID-19 in the First Half of 2020, more than $11.9

billion in philanthropic funding was awarded for

COVID-19-related programming—far more than the

levels of support given in response to other disasters,

such as Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Dorian

and the Australian bushres—combined.

According to Grace Sato, director of research at

Candid, the data show that the philanthropic sector

mobilized quickly and generously as the pandemic

spread across the globe.

“Although not a complete picture of the global

philanthropic response, this report offers some insight

into funding thus far and can help inform foundations

and private donors in their future pandemic-related

giving,” Satao said in a statement announcing the

report.

In terms of grant dollars directed to COVID-19

response, corporate giving has led the way: The

business sector has provided some $7.9 billion to

pandemic relief, a healthy chunk of which came from

online search engine giant Google, which has devoted

more than $1.2 billion in cash and in-kind support

to COVID-19 relief.

Wealthy individuals have also committed sizeable

amounts—for example, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey

has pledged $1 billion himself—and many individual

donors who direct their giving through donor-advised

funds have increased their payouts in response to the

pandemic.

Independent foundations, too, have responded

generously, with the Bill & Melinda Gates Founda-

tion and Open Society Foundations topping the list

of funders in that category.

The CDP data jibe with that from other researchers

as well. For example, a recent survey conducted by the

Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana Univer-

sity Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, found that

around a third of all U.S. households gave directly

to charitable organizations, individuals, or business-

es in response to the COVID-19 pandemic during

the initial months of the crisis. And nearly half of

households gave indirectly— for example, by ordering

takeout to support restaurants and their employees,

or continuing to pay individuals and businesses for

services they could not render.

Although the outpouring of support has helped

nonprots face the many challenges brought on by the

pandemic—notably, a drop in fundraising revenues

and volunteer support due to social distancing pro-

tocols, coupled with a substantial increase in demand

for services—the report identied several ways in

which funders were missing the mark. For example:

• Despite their commitment to providing exible

support for grantees, few grant awards analyzed for

the report were specically identied as general sup-

port, which provides the most exibility for nonprots

to use the funds as needed.

• Only 5% of grant dollars that specied recipients

identied Black, Indigenous or other communities

of color as beneciaries, even though these groups

have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

• Public health organizations received nearly all

health-related funding, while less than 2% went to

mental health organizations—even though experts

point to stress as a critical factor among groups

shouldering the economic, social and health impacts

of the pandemic.

The report recommends funders take several steps

to support the most vulnerable populations as the

pandemic progresses, including:

• Support local groups with a focus on communi-

ties of color, older adults, disabled persons and other

vulnerable populations.

• Provide unrestricted support to give current

grantees the exibility to use funding where it is

needed most.

• Allow current grantees to shift restricted grants

(See GIVING on page 8)