A New Way to Engage in Disaster Philanthropy
This September marks one full year of CAF America’s Global Relief Navigator, our innovative online platform for giving that enables donations to charities around the world providing disaster and crisis response. In developing this tool, we wanted to make it easier for those who want to help to connect with grantees providing urgently-needed relief around the world. Through our new tool, people looking to make a difference can donate safely and easily, knowing that their philanthropic dollars are directly supporting communities in need.
This past year was one of transformational change for philanthropy – the global contraction of civil society left many communities and individuals in the midst of disaster recovery and response without the support they urgently needed. For our charity partners, the Navigator has become a platform to showcase their response work and attract financial support.
Our Impact
By the Numbers
In the year since we launched the Global Relief Navigator, our donors have advised over $4 million worth of grant funding to more than 50 organizations responding to disasters and crises around the world. This support fueled a wide range of response efforts – from displaced persons assistance in Lebanon and Syria to hurricane/typhoon recovery in Vietnam and the United States.
We are grateful to all our donors who worked with us to fund responses to disasters and crises, many of whom responded to the unprecedented global flooding we saw in the past year. In Valencia, Spain, our grantees provided food, hygiene kits, clothes, as well as support for education continuity and psychosocial assistance. In northern Afghanistan, relief efforts covered both emergency response and resilient reconstruction in flood-damaged communities.
We also delivered long-term assistance to areas like Turkiye and Chile, where we funded schooling and education support for children in areas disrupted by previous earthquakes and wildfires.
Impact in Action: Partnering with the SAJIDA Foundation
In the third week of August 2024, heavy rainfall combined with upstream water releases triggered severe flooding across Bangladesh, particularly in the eastern region. Across eleven districts, the floods impacted nearly 5.8 million people, with over 500,000 people displaced into evacuation shelters. In response, SAJIDA Foundation launched a flood rehabilitation program with support from its donors through CAF America.
The initiative directly assisted 300 of the most vulnerable households – representing around 1,500 people in Cumilla, Noakhali, and Feni. All 300 families were aided in repairing their damaged homes and restoring WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) facilities, which significantly improved their living conditions and reduced health risks associated with the flood damage. Additional assistance was tailored to replacing and growing those households’ sources of income: 130 families regained livestock assets, 66 farming households received agricultural inputs to restart cultivation, and 104 microentrepreneurs revived their small businesses. This household-centric approach meant that every family received core assistance for housing and sanitation, while also accessing livelihood support aligned with their specific needs.
Over the past year, CAF America’s funding for SAJIDA Foundation has totaled over $650,000, including their flooding response efforts, as well as initiatives that support climate-resilient food systems and housing for the mentally vulnerable.
Looking Ahead
As we look to the year ahead, our core focus will be expanding philanthropic support for charities responding to disasters around the world. From hosting and attending key events to enhancing the Global Relief Navigator’s capabilities, we’re only just beginning our journey to strengthen disaster relief work, support responding charities, and uplift the communities most affected. The $4M sent to disaster relief has helped enable and support responses to flooding, quakes, and conflict-related crises across the globe. While the events causing these disasters won’t go away in the next year, grants to our vetted responders in over 60 countries can help reduce the damage.
Thank you to everyone who has been part of our Disaster & Crisis Relief program and who used the Global Relief Navigator over the past year. Your commitment drives everything we do in disaster response.
