Strengthening giving for disasters and humanitarian emergencies

In 2025, the growing frequency and severity of disasters and humanitarian emergencies intersected with shifting policy agendas and funding cuts that constrained capacity across key government aid agencies. Against this backdrop, philanthropy is being called upon to fill gaps in humanitarian aid and disaster funding.

The Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s (CDP) State of Disaster Philanthropy (SODP) 2025 report explored giving and practices in this field, responses to ongoing changes and uncertainty, and strategies to strengthen disaster philanthropy. Here are a few of our findings, based on Candid data¹ for 2023 (the most recent publicly available data), interviews with leaders from 16 organizations worldwide, and what we’ve observed and learned from working directly with donors and community partners.

The share of giving for disasters declined in 2023

In 2023, of the $135.3 billion in philanthropic giving, $1.2 billion, or 0.9%, went toward disasters. This share—which includes funding for response and relief, reconstruction and recovery, preparedness, and resilience, risk reduction and mitigation—is down by 0.5 percentage points from 2022, even as more philanthropic support is needed as disasters grow in size, frequency, and complexity.

‘Low-attention disasters’ remained under-resourced

Catastrophic disasters drove much of giving for disasters in 2023, including the wildfires on Maui, the earthquake in southern Turkey and northern Syria, and the earthquake in Morocco. While the scale and devastation of such disasters regularly result in a strong response from philanthropy, other “low-attention disasters” are often severely under-resourced.

In 2023, disasters receiving less attention and fewer resources included tornadoes in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma and severe storms that affected the Red Lake Nation. Outside the U.S., philanthropic support for humanitarian emergencies was also uneven, with Gaza receiving significant funding, while support for other crises, including Sudan, Haiti, and Afghanistan, was limited.

Giving for disasters is focused on the short term

We know low-attention disasters are especially impacted by the way philanthropic funding is heavily concentrated in the days and weeks following a disaster. One philanthropic leader we interviewed put it like this: “People respond to disasters when it happens and the media moves to the next thing very quickly.”

Yet, there is a significant need for long-term equitable recovery and reducing the vulnerability that creates the conditions for a disaster. In 2023, as in previous years, response and relief efforts proportionally received the most funding among disaster assistance strategies—48.5% of the total.

Although representing small proportions of funding in 2023, reconstruction and recovery (12.7%) saw its largest share since 2018 and the share of funding for resilience, risk reduction, and mitigation (6%) tripled from 2022. While small, these shifts suggest philanthropy’s growing commitment to supporting communities before a disaster occurs in addition to the immediate aftermath.

What philanthropy can do in 2026

Although philanthropy won’t be able to, nor should it be expected to, fill all gaps left by government cuts, here’s what our research revealed that donors can do:

Leverage resources and strengths to do more—both before and after a disaster occurs. Based on conversations with philanthropic leaders, these strengths include being able to operate quickly or flexibly, thinking long-term, and investing more in minimizing the impacts of disaster.

One U.S.-based interviewee captured this sentiment well: “It feels like a sprint between each one, but I think what gets lost so much on philanthropy is that it’s really a marathon and thinking about how do we invest in the marathon that we need—a community is not going to become resilient overnight.”

Yes, it’s important for grantmakers and philanthropists to show solidarity by providing immediate support when a disaster occurs, but they’re also uniquely positioned to contribute over the long term to ensure the next disaster or crisis is less harmful.

Support local organizations. Investing in the marathon also means trusting and investing in people and organizations close to disasters and humanitarian emergencies who have the skills and wisdom to lead effective relief, recovery, and mitigation efforts and will likely remain in their communities for years to come. Philanthropy can begin strengthening existing or building new relationships with such organizations before a disaster occurs to identify where your support is most needed and how it can reinforce local priorities.

Coordinate and collaborate. Shifts in government priorities, funding cuts, and uncertain socioeconomic conditions will likely continue in 2026. In this climate, the need for philanthropic funding, partnership, and action will only grow. Grantmakers and philanthropists should seek out opportunities to coordinate and collaborate, leaning into their connections and engaging new stakeholders.

Our research confirms that grantmakers and philanthropists can make giving for disasters and humanitarian emergencies more effective in 2026 by providing targeted support both before and after a disaster occurs.

Photo credit: All Hands and Hearts

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1. Data is from Candid’s database as of April 2025. The data set includes cash grants, grants to individuals, program-related investments, and in-kind gifts with a monetary value from private and community foundations, corporations (including corporate giving programs), public charities, and other grantmaking organizations and individuals in fiscal year end 2023. ↩︎