About the Center for Disaster Philanthropy

The Center for Disaster Philanthropy is the only full-time resource dedicated to helping donors maximize their impact through expert resources, community-driven grantmaking and philanthropic consulting services.

Video about CDPVideo
Your Partner in Disaster Giving. (Warning: The video starts with a loud noise.)

We know disasters, so you don’t have to.

A pandemic, hurricanes, wildfires, floods and human-made crises continue to threaten the lives and livelihoods of billions of people worldwide. This creates a critical need for knowing when to respond and how to do so effectively and equitably.

Since 2010, CDP has been helping individuals, foundations and corporations increase the effectiveness of their philanthropic response to disasters and humanitarian crises.

Our Mission

We mobilize philanthropy to strengthen the ability of communities to withstand disasters and recover equitably when they occur.

Our Vision

We envision a world where the impact of disasters is minimized by thoughtful, equitable and responsible recovery for all.

With our emphasis on medium- and long-term recovery and equity-focused disaster giving, we:

  • Direct financial and technical support where it is needed most.
  • Provide expert and timely advice from professionals with deep disaster planning, response and preparedness expertise, and experience as philanthropists.
  • Offer educational resources so you can make informed decisions about where and when to give.

Disaster recovery is the process of improving individual, family and community resiliency after the occurrence of a disaster. Recovery is not only about the restoration of structures, systems and services – although they are critical. A successful recovery is also about addressing sources of inequitable and unjust outcomes, and individuals and families being able to rebound from their losses and sustain their physical, social, economic, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.

Theory of Change

  • Educate and inform. As the expert on all issues regarding the life cycle of disasters, CDP will be active throughout the year, widely disseminating our expertise through our website, the media, webinars and our partners.
  • Help donors collaborate. CDP will help funders learn, present opportunities for collaboration and help leverage their collective strength through funds and other activities.
  • Be a thought leader. We will provide leadership in transforming the way government and philanthropy respond to disasters.
  • Coordination. We will help philanthropists coordinate giving across sectors to achieve maximum impact, leverage and timing of gifts.
  • Increase effectiveness and impact. We will help to increase the effectiveness of donor dollars given for disasters.

We are committed to race and intersectional equity

Read our Race and Intersectional Equity statement.