A strategic approach to Disaster Recovery

When it comes to?disaster response, Good360 advocates for an approach that gets the right goods to the right people at the right time.

We know that this is not an easy thing to do in every disaster. In fact, research from Good360 USA, who have been leading the way in disaster recovery for 35 years, shows that up to?60 percent of all product donations are thrown away or not used as intended because they’re not the right goods at the right time. Preventing this kind of waste was one of the driving forces behind the launch of Good360’s Resilient Response initiative.

Historically, emergency managers have looked at disasters through a life-cycle framework with four distinct phases: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

This useful framework?offers emergency officials a simple way to categorise their work accordingly, from prevention efforts through the long-term recovery process.

As we look at?what donors need to do to maximise the impact of their aid, we found that we could not only leverage the traditional framework, but also take it a step further. In order to more completely encompass activities and best practices related specifically to in-kind giving during disasters — Good360’s core area of focus — we have introduced a?revised disaster giving framework.

“The lifecycle of a disaster is a marathon,

not a sprint.”

Our additional?guidelines offer an expanded view of the needs of impacted communities, especially as they relate to getting the right product donations to the right people at the right time.

Here is the Good360 framework for giving funds, goods and time during disasters. The lifecycle of a disaster is a marathon, not a sprint and we have divided it into six stages so businesses and everyday Australians can play a role to assist sustainably and not all rush out to help in the response stage which is the natural reaction, but is also often the most problematic.

Continue reading over at the Good360 blog