Our Approach

GlobalGiving is a top-rated (4-star) charity on Charity Navigator. We are also accredited by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. We’ve been recommended by experts in thousands of articles, including these:

The New York Times: How to Decide Where to Donate Your Money After Disasters

NPR: Local Aid Groups Are Key To Disaster Relief. So Why Are They Overlooked?

CNN: Haitian-Americans Look to Community Groups for Hurricane Relief
Most importantly, our nonprofit partners have reinforced the value of our approach time and time again:

“We’re thankful for GlobalGiving’s leadership in supporting local long-term disaster recovery, and we’re grateful for the trust and collaboration we have come to expect from the GlobalGiving team. GlobalGiving’s support enables us to say ‘yes, we can help’ to our neighbors who’ve heard ‘no’ far too many times. GlobalGiving’s approach is worth investing in; it should be considered a model for the future of disaster recovery collaboration.” – Imani Daniel, Executive Director, St. Thomas Recovery Team

If, at any time, you’re not happy with how your funds have been used, we also offer the GlobalGiving Guarantee.

All donations to GlobalGiving funds will support immediate relief and long-term recovery efforts in the region(s) affected by the specifically described disaster or crisis. Typically, money is first sent to help meet the most urgent and immediate needs, including the provision of shelter, medical care, food, and clean water. Once initial relief work is complete, money from a fund will be allocated by GlobalGiving for longer-term recovery efforts—largely led by local organizations. All of GlobalGiving’s nonprofit partners are vetted.

GlobalGiving has responded to +1,000 disasters since 2004 and often has long-standing relationships with nonprofits in disaster-prone areas. We also work with global organizations that specialize in emergency response and disaster recovery. Our partners provide a range of services in areas such as disaster recovery, health care, education, and economic development. GlobalGiving leverages its existing partnerships to provide relief to disaster survivors and, if necessary, vets and adds local partners to our networks in the area.

Here’s how disaster recovery at GlobalGiving works: the GlobalGiving community is made up of large and small nonprofits from 175+ countries. When disasters and crises strike, we are committed to connecting donors to vetted organizations responding to needs in the impacted communities from the initial emergency relief phase through the mid- and longer-term recovery. We often support international or regional first responders in the initial stages of relief. However, we believe local, community-led organizations are best positioned to assess and respond to needs in the medium- and long-term. We listen carefully to what these local leaders deem most critical. Our view is that community-led organizations possess critical knowledge about their communities and can nimbly and effectively navigate unique dynamics in their region. Getting funds to them benefits communities directly, quickly, and with longer-term impact. Learn more about our approach.

Read more about how this approach has helped:

In The New York Times Nick Kristof’s Blog: To Help Typhoon Survivors, Go Local

In Forbes: A Year Later in Japan: GlobalGiving and the Long Road

Philanthropy News Digest: The Power of Crowdfunding to Fight Ebola

Your donation can be on the ground within a week or less. (This is rare for most organizations that aggregate funds as we do!) Our commitment to support local nonprofits and medium- and long-term recovery means we are deliberate about how, when, and where we disburse donations. When funds allow, we continue to disburse funds over multiple years because recovery does not take place overnight.