Are you prepared for when disaster strikes?

Whether it’s Winter Storm Jonas that just finished dumping feet of snow across the east coast, an earthquake in Alaska or flooding in the Midwest, philanthropy is fast on the scene to help with relief and recovery. The newly-released Disaster Philanthropy Playbook is filled with resources and strategies to help philanthropy respond to such disasters. It’s a multimedia, interactive magazine that’s easy to access and use.

Available for free download online, the guide has compiled a wide array of strategies, best practices and lessons learned about how philanthropy has helped local economies, nonprofits and populations when disaster struck. It was published earlier this month by the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, whose sole mission is to increase the effectiveness of funders and donors who respond to disasters both at home and abroad.

Of particular interest to funders is a resource on philanthropy’s role in disaster planning and response, a 47-page book based on the experience of 62 Alabama tornadoes that killed 248 people in 2011. The massive storm system damaged or destroyed more than 23,000 houses in rural and urban areas in a single day. Sherri McGill, president of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, says this about philanthropy’s role, in her preface to the book:

“No doubt, we must be prepared to fund immediate relief. But that stage ends quickly. To help individuals and communities raise the capital they will need to recover and rebuild, we must be communicators of accurate information, for individuals, for the media, for mayors, church and civic leaders. If communities have not built the necessary infrastructure for receiving public and private capital designed to rebuild a community – housing is among the greatest needs – philanthropy must lead the effort to build that infrastructure.”

Explore the excellent resources that can help you prepare – before disaster strikes.

Claudia Y.W. Herrold