Nonprofits Spent $504 Million on Disaster Relief in 2017, Report Says

Foundations and charities worldwide spent $504 million on responses to disasters and other humanitarian crises in 2017, $364 million of it from North America, according to a new study.

Sixty-four percent of the spending was for response and relief, 17 percent was for recovery and reconstruction, according to the report, by the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and the nonprofit-resource group Candid (formerly the Foundation Center and GuideStar). Only 4 percent was allocated for preparedness, resilience, and risk reduction.

The report draws on multiple sources, including Candid, the United Nations, commercial donor-advised fund sponsors, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Among other data from the report:

• The biggest institutional donor was the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, at $39 million, followed by the Lilly Endowment, at $35 million, and the Walton Family Foundation, at $30 million.
• The biggest recipients of philanthropic funding were the American Red Cross, at $80 million, followed by the Agencia Presidencial de Cooperación, in Colombia, at $38 million, and responders to Hurricane Harvey (multiple recipients), in Texas, at $35 million.
• Corporate giving totaled at least $275 million in cash and in-kind gifts, with $182 million of that amount dedicated to Hurricane Harvey.
• Total disaster-related spending, including government grants, foundation spending, corporate giving, and distributions from donor-advised funds, was $45 billion.
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency allocated $15.6 billion for U.S. disasters in 2017, an $11.9-billion increase over 2016.

Dan Parks is the Chronicle’s senior editor for digital and data.

Correction: The headline on a previous version of this article said the study was of U.S. charities instead of global foundations and charities. Also, a previous version of this article said that Presidencial de Cooperación received $38 billion rather than million.