COVID-19 Response Fund

Ever since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a COVID-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020, people worldwide have been contemplating the coronavirus’ immediate and long-term impacts on their physical and mental health, personal lives, communities, and livelihoods.

The same month as the WHO declaration, we launched our COVID-19 Response Fund to support containment, response and recovery activities for those most affected and to save lives, prevent and reduce human suffering, and restore dignity to affected populations.

CDP's flexible, adaptive approach deploys contributions to thoughtfully and rapidly address urgent issues while constantly monitoring and reassessing individual and community needs in the U.S. and worldwide. Share on X

As of August 2024, we have distributed more than 200 grants totaling $44,693,297 to more than 170 organizations working in the U.S. and abroad, including grants to fund projects in collaboration with other CDP funds.

(Photo: New American Pathways)

The CDP COVID-19 Response Fund focuses on supporting nonprofit organizations in the United States and abroad. In the U.S., the fund has focused on assisting low-income households including those living in poverty; small businesses; immigrants; older adults; people with disabilities; Black, Native American, Indigenous and other communities of color; other at-risk and underserved communities more vulnerable to the physical health and safety, psycho-social, educational and economic impacts of the pandemic. Internationally, our COVID-19 response work focuses on similar issues and populations in terms of the primary and secondary impacts of COVID19, with additional focus on internally displaced populations and refugees, religious and ethnic minorities, women, children, malnourished infants, the extreme poor and other underserved and at-risk individuals, families and communities. Our goal is to identify and help address the most urgent, pressing needs and ensure medium- and long-term recovery from the effects of COVID-19 and build individuals’, communities’ and government’s capacity to prevent, mitigate and withstand future impacts. CDP is constantly analyzing the evolving context across the globe and working closely with industry experts, governments, nongovernmental organizations and other partners to track both current and emergent needs, and to ensure that we fund programs that have maximum impact for those most in need. Focus areas initially included supporting health care and other frontline workers, quarantined and especially marginalized individuals, and small businesses. We also funded much-needed hygiene promotion activities (WASH) and community-based care. Over time this support has evolved, in line with the changing context and needs, and we fund a wide range of program activities such as vaccine promotion and administration, combatting misinformation and vaccine hesitancy and building vaccine confidence, supporting children and teachers with the shift to online teaching, including ensuring children are safe and protected online, and providing training and support to ensure the hardest hit economically are able to re-enter the workforce and re-establish their livelihoods.

This fund supports this disaster:

COVID-19 Coronavirus

Supporting health care systems/infrastructure

We continue to provide: training and equipment for frontline and community health workers; health service facilities in camps for refugees and internally displaced people, surge medical teams and equipment to hospitals and clinics in areas where there is a supply shortage or triage is needed; and logistical and material support for testing and vaccination sites and health care facilities. We also provide support to our partners to work with governments around the world on improving coordination efforts and drafting new health care policies that reduce the risk and address the impacts of COVID-19.

Ensuring mental and physical health

Providing support for ongoing health care needs, access to care for chronic conditions, and providing accurate information on vaccines and how to protect ourselves and each other are critical to maintaining the overall health of individuals, families and communities and preventing the spread of the virus and therefore sickness and death.

Mitigating economic impacts

We continue to provide funding for training and support of vulnerable individuals and families who have lost their livelihood; wage earners and workers in the gig economy; farmers and pastoralists; small, community-based businesses and/or entrepreneurs driving local economies; and social service organizations that provide economic opportunity programs for disproportionately affected populations as they see the needs for their services grow.