Introducing CDP’s new strategic plan

In a recent Forbes article on philanthropy, Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s board vice-chair, and CEO of the Humana Foundation, Tiffany Benjamin, said, “Philanthropy can support, pilot, test and scale innovative approaches to addressing community needs.” If an approach doesn’t work, philanthropists can quickly pivot to try something else.

At CDP, we could not agree more. 2023 brings a new three-year strategy for CDP, a desire to up our game and increase our actionable impact.

Guided by our values of integrity, humility, empathy, boldness and innovation, CDP seeks to strengthen all communities – especially marginalized communities – by increasing the total amount of dollars donated for recovery and building a network of donors committed to employing effective giving practices. We seek to set an example for philanthropy through outspoken advocacy and by demonstrating best practices in engaging with disaster-affected communities before, during and after grantmaking.

Over the coming years, CDP will deepen our efforts to develop partnerships with those outside the traditional disaster realm, identifying our commonalities in purpose and the threats disasters pose to development goals. We will aid donors in defining strategic disaster-ready approaches to philanthropic giving that center populations, address root causes, and support social justice and sustainable development.

CDP will remain informed, strengthening our knowledge base to ensure our practice, advocacy and recommendations to philanthropy are supported by rigorous research and a deep awareness of equitable recovery needs. We will seek to answer questions such as: How can philanthropy increase the thrivability of the communities it serves through greater attentiveness to the root causes and vulnerabilities that disasters exacerbate? How can philanthropy drive innovative change and accountability in the disaster response systems of those who hold the primary responsibility for recovery, specifically local, state and national governments? How can philanthropy serve as a partner to provide proactive recommendations to minimize the impact of disasters?

Lastly, we will invest internally to ensure that we have the organizational capacity and values-based culture to remain of service to the broader philanthropic community as it defines how to strengthen the ability of communities to withstand disasters, and to ensure our transformation toward becoming an anti-racist organization that prioritizes substance over statements.

Imagine a world where the impact of disasters is minimized by thoughtful, equitable and responsible recovery for all. CDP’s new strategic plan that builds on past successes and lessons learned is another step toward this reality.

We welcome you to join us.

Read our new strategic plan here.