Today, our team participated in the Council on Foundations’ webinar, “Philanthropy’s Response to the Ukranian Humanitarian Crisis.” We wanted to share some key takeaways from this session to help you shape or deepen your responses to this crisis. The recording will also be made available to those that participated in the session. We will add the recording to this post when it is available.
For context, there are already more than 1,000,000 unsettled refugees since the war started just over one week ago. There are also key economic sanctions on Russia that could affect business operations for a plethora of businesses.
Here are six key take-aways from the session:
1. Consider allocating some of your social impact funds to immediate relief efforts, both for your impacted employees and the 1,000,000 refugees seeking safe haven abroad.
2. Consider reserving some funds for long-term recovery efforts, as needs are yet to be quantified as the war continues. Funding “healthy democracy” efforts is likely to emerge as a long-term strategy.
3. A high-leverage and easy way for companies to support refugee efforts is to support supply distribution to those in need.
4. Work with vetted partners to ensure your resources (funding, product donations, etc) are getting to those that need them. Examples of intermediaries working in this space include USAID, the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (run through GoFundMe) and the International Rescue Committee. Contact UC@gofundme.org to learn more about potential partnership opportunities
5. Give space and structure for your teams to both vent and learn about relief efforts. Share a variety of resources with your teams, because a lot of this support is personal as well.
6. Make a public statement of support to reinforce your company’s commitment to human rights and core values.
Pledge 1% Member TripAdvisor got a special call-out for their commitment to refugee support. Take a look at their commitment and partnership with the International Rescue committee here.
We wish all of you and your teams a safe and secure Spring. Let us know if you have any thoughts or other ideas by sharing them below.
In solidarity,
Tim
