Center for Disaster Philanthropy

What Center for Disaster Philanthropy does

The Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) is a Washington, DC-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2010 that operates as an intermediary in the disaster philanthropy ecosystem. Its core function is to mobilize and manage disaster recovery funds on behalf of corporations, foundations, and individuals, then deploy capital through strategic grantmaking to nonprofit organizations supporting medium- and long-term recovery in disaster-affected communities. CDP addresses a structural market failure in which private philanthropy typically slows within 6-8 weeks of a disaster and largely ceases within 6 months, while long-term recovery requires years of sustained funding. The organization emphasizes an equity-focused, locally-led recovery model, prioritizing historically marginalized and at-risk populations across both U.S. and international humanitarian contexts.

CDP's product portfolio centers on three platforms: (1) managed recovery funds (both disaster-specific vehicles such as the California Wildfires Recovery Fund, Atlantic Hurricane Season Recovery Fund, Truist Foundation Western NC Recovery and Resiliency Fund, and thematic funds like the Disaster Preparedness Fund and Global Recovery Fund); (2) Expert Advisory Services providing consulting, Partner Connect vetted grantee lists, and disaster giving curriculum for foundations, donor-advised funds, wealth advisors, and corporations; and (3) educational and convening products including the Disaster Philanthropy Playbook, the State of Disaster Philanthropy annual research report, Grantee Perception Reports produced with the Center for Effective Philanthropy, webinars, and multi-funder coalitions (Strengthening Local Humanitarian Leadership Collaborative, Funders for Mutual Aid in Sudan, Coalition for Mutual Aid in Sudan). The underlying technology stack is operational rather than differentiated: Blackbaud for payment processing, Google Analytics and HotJar for website analytics, and standard TLS/AES encryption for data security.

The business model is a hybrid nonprofit revenue structure. Contribution streams include major foundation grants (notably a $60M gift from MacKenzie Scott and Yield Giving in October 2025 and $14.3M from the Truist Foundation for the Western NC fund), corporate philanthropy partnerships (Target, Columbia Sportswear, CREDO Mobile), and individual donations accepted via website, DAF, cryptocurrency, stock gifts, planned giving, and peer-to-peer fundraising. Expert Advisory Services generate fee-based consulting revenue from foundations, DAFs, wealth advisors, and corporations. Distribution is direct-to-donor via the organization's own website and direct enterprise engagement with institutional funders. In 2024 CDP awarded $15M in grants to 77 organizations across 31 countries, and the organization employs approximately 40 staff operating on a remote-first basis.

Name

Center for Disaster Philanthropy

Legal name

Center for Disaster Philanthropy, Inc.

Website

https://disasterphilanthropy.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Center for Disaster Philanthropy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit intermediary that mobilizes and manages disaster recovery funds, provides expert advisory services to foundations and corporations, and convenes funder coalitions to support equitable medium- and long-term recovery across the U.S. and 30+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Disaster Philanthropy Services

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services (6242)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Cash & Voucher Assistance (CVA) and Emergency Livelihood Support (BPAGAAAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus & Resilience Programming (BPADAEAK)

Keywords

• Disaster philanthropy services
• Disaster recovery grantmaking
• Philanthropic advisory services
• Funder coalition building
• Humanitarian recovery consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Major Foundation Grants: CDP receives large grants from foundations such as the $60 million gift from MacKenzie Scott and Yield Giving, Truist Foundation grants, and Patterson Foundation donations. These represent major funding sources for disaster recovery funds.
2. Corporate Philanthropy: Corporate partners support through cause marketing campaigns, employee giving programs, matching gifts, and dedicated giving pages. Partners include Target, Columbia Sportswear, and CREDO Mobile.
3. Individual Donations: Individual donors contribute through the website, retirement assets, planned giving, peer-to-peer fundraising, and mail-in checks. Donations support various disaster recovery funds.
4. Expert Advisory Services: CDP provides consulting services to foundations, donor-advised funds, wealth advisors, corporations and nonprofits to help them build effective disaster giving strategies, curriculum, and staff development.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CDP provides expert advisory services to foundations, donor-advised funds, wealth advisors, corporations, and nonprofits to help them build effective disaster giving strategies. It manages a portfolio of domestic and international disaster recovery funds on behalf of corporations, foundations, and individuals, deploying strategic grantmaking focused on medium- and long-term recovery. CDP also builds funder coalitions, conducts research and educational programming, and curates vetted nonprofit partner lists for funders.

Product overview

The Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) offers a portfolio of philanthropic services centered on disaster recovery and preparedness rather than a traditional software product. The core offerings include: grantmaking through specialized recovery funds targeting specific disasters (hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes) and cross-cutting themes (preparedness, global recovery); Expert Advisory Services providing consulting and real-time guidance to help donors give effectively during disasters; the Disaster Philanthropy Playbook as an educational resource; Partner Connect lists providing vetted nonprofit organizations to funders; and coalition-building initiatives that mobilize collective funder action. CDP's services emphasize medium- and long-term recovery, equity-focused giving, and support for locally-led organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CDP Recovery Funds Managed domestic and international disaster recovery funds that channel donations from corporations, foundations, and individuals into strategic grantmaking for medium- and long-term disaster recovery. Active funds include the California Wildfires Recovery Fund, Atlantic Hurricane Season Recovery Fund, COVID-19 Response Fund, Disaster Preparedness Fund, Disaster Recovery Fund, Global Hunger Crisis Fund, Global Recovery Fund, Israel and Gaza Relief and Recovery Fund, Middle East Crisis Fund, Midwest Early Recovery Fund, Sudan Humanitarian Crisis Fund, Truist Foundation Western NC Recovery and Resiliency Fund, Turkey & Syria Earthquake Recovery Fund, and Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Recovery Fund.
• Expert Advisory Services Consulting services that help foundations, donor-advised funds, wealth advisors, corporations, and nonprofits build knowledge and strategies for effective disaster giving. Includes real-time disaster giving support, Partner Connect lists of vetted nonprofit organizations, disaster giving activation, disaster giving curriculum, and staff and leadership development.

Quantifiable outcome

• $15 million in grants awarded in 2024 to 77 organizations across 31 countries
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• BlackbaudcoreTechnology or IntegrationBlackbaud serves as CDP's payment processor for online donations, handling credit card transactions and payment fulfillment. CDP's privacy policy references Blackbaud's privacy policy for payment security questions.
• Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCDP President and CEO Patricia McIlreavy joined CGI 2024 Annual Meeting to announce launch of the Coalition for Mutual Aid in Sudan. CGI provides platform for CDP to convene and align philanthropic resources.
• Strengthening Local Humanitarian Leadership (LHL) Collaborative MemberscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition of funders and philanthropy organizations working across interconnected humanitarian and disaster issues to increase direct support to local leaders. CDP serves as backbone organization.
• Funders for Mutual Aid in Sudan CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGroup of philanthropic actors committed to strengthening locally led humanitarian response in Sudan with focus on mutual aid infrastructure. CDP coordinates resources and learning among coalition participants.
• Target, Columbia Sportswear, CREDO MobileminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate cause marketing partners who have developed campaigns with CDP to channel resources toward disaster recovery. Includes roundup/point of sale campaigns and branded partnerships.
• Northern California Grantmakers (NCG)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCross-sector collaboration to improve disaster resilience in California, supporting a 2023 philanthropic initiative with training, collaboration, and government agency partnerships like Cal OES.
• Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to conduct Grantee Perception Reports, seeking honest feedback from nearly 300 grantee partners to help improve CDP's grantmaking practices.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• GlobalGiving: GlobalGiving is a nonprofit crowdfunding platform that connects individual donors with disaster response and recovery projects worldwide. It is the closest direct peer to CDP's role as a disaster-philanthropy intermediary, with overlapping donor audiences and a similar focus on vetting and curating grantees for disaster response.
• Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP): CEP provides research and advisory services to foundations on grantmaking effectiveness — a direct analog to CDP's Expert Advisory Services. CDP already partners with CEP for Grantee Perception Reports, confirming the comparable role in shaping funder practice.
• Network for Good: Network for Good is a fundraising and donor-management platform serving nonprofits and individual donors, with a strong disaster-relief giving vertical. It is comparable to CDP in routing donations to disaster-affected communities and supporting the donor-to-grantee pipeline.

Broad incumbents

• Giving USA Foundation: Giving USA publishes the annual report on U.S. charitable giving and serves as the canonical research resource for the philanthropic sector. It overlaps with CDP's State of Disaster Philanthropy publication and serves a similar research-and-education function for institutional funders, though across the full sector rather than disaster specifically.
• Candid (formerly Foundation Center + GuideStar): Candid operates the GuideStar database of nonprofit information and awards the Platinum Transparency seal that CDP holds. It is comparable as an institutional infrastructure player serving both funders and nonprofits, with overlapping transparency and due-diligence missions.
• Council on Foundations: Council on Foundations is a national membership association for grantmaking institutions, providing research, convening, and advocacy. It overlaps with CDP's coalition-building and advisory functions at a broader sector level rather than the disaster-specific niche.
• Independent Sector: Independent Sector is a national membership organization of nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs that conducts research and advocates for the charitable sector. It shares CDP's role in educating funders and producing sector research but at the whole-sector level.
• Charity Navigator: Charity Navigator is the largest evaluator of U.S. charity financial health and accountability, having awarded CDP its four-star rating. It is comparable as a sector infrastructure player shaping donor confidence and information flow, though as an evaluator rather than a grantmaker.

Emerging players

• National Center for Family Philanthropy: NCFP provides education and advisory services to family foundations and high-net-worth donors on strategic philanthropy. It overlaps with CDP's advisory offering, particularly for family-foundation clients seeking disaster-giving guidance.
• NetHope: NetHope is a consortium of international NGOs that uses technology to improve humanitarian and disaster response. It shares CDP's disaster-focused mission and convening role among major humanitarian actors, though its member organizations are typically implementers rather than funders.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/funds4disaster
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCpbZJxiQzk6KNB925HZvneg
• Facebookfacebook.com/funds4disaster
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-for-disaster-philanthropy
• Instagraminstagram.com/Center4DisasterPhilanthropy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Center for Disaster Philanthropy