The role of nonprofit organizations in community recovery after nondeclared disasters
Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are an important source of nongovernmental aid for communities during disaster response and recovery. Although much has been written about NPO capability to build community capacity, little empirical research quantifies the main mechanism by which NPOs are believed to address community needs: social capital. Moreover, what roles do NPOs play in recovery processes when federal assistance is limited? To explore lessons learned from prior nondeclared-disaster events, the authors describe six case studies from diverse community contexts. Innovations that support recovery in underserved communities are considered, and metrics for assessing the role of NPOs in socioeconomic recovery are explored. Recommendations address data limitations with near- and longer-term efforts to capture NPO activities and roles through systematic qualitative and quantitative methods.
- NPOs play a key role in disaster recovery, but the benefits within or across communities might not be evenly distributed, and this particularly disadvantages underserved populations.
- Qualitative data are lacking about the mechanisms by which NPOs enhance equitable, long-term economic recovery after nondeclared disasters.
- Comprehensive, centralized data on NPO activities in disaster recovery are generally unavailable.
- Metrics of NPO effectiveness in disaster recovery need to capture multiple dimensions (socioeconomic outcomes, recovery processes, community social capital, NPO capabilities, and equity in processes and outcomes).
