OBX Community Foundation creates Trusted Partner Program
By: Mark Jurkowitz at the Outer Banks Voice
Back in January 2024, the Outer Banks Community Foundation (OBCF) began a process of examining its role in disaster preparedness. Knowing that its primary post-disaster role is as fundraisers and grant makers, the focus, as President and CEO Chris Sawin notes, was “on how to leverage social media to engage with our community proactively—before the next storm strikes.”
Then in February, the organization attended an Emergency Management workshop on the subject of disaster preparedness. After the event, Sawin realized there was a clear role for the organization.
“Nothing travels as fast as money, you can fly supplies, you can fly food…but there’s nothing as versatile or fast as cash,” he said. “So I came away thinking our way, our little lane has value.”
In late September, as the extent of the devastation in Western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene became clear, the OBCF helped disseminate the message about the urgent need for support and to inform the local community how to contribute effectively.
Acknowledging that it was only a small fraction of what was needed, Sawin said that “Internally, we worked with our donors to channel $56,000 in grants to five organizations on the ground in Western NC, helping to meet critical needs. We will be evaluating additional grants over the next several weeks.”
That process of evaluating its role in times of crisis has now led to the creation of the OBCF’s new Trusted Partner Program, a disaster recovery program for the Outer Banks predicated on posing one central question to people—before a disaster hits.
The Trusted Partner Program is not about asking for money, it’s about asking people to be ready in case of a disaster, explains Sawin. And the simple question the program asks people is: “When the next disaster hits the Outer Banks, can we call you?”
“I would love it if we had 500 individuals and businesses who said, ‘Yes, you can contact us,’’’ he adds.
For those who answer ‘yes,” OBCF will contact them to share three types of information: how to donate; how to help to spread the word that assistance is needed; and how affected individuals can apply for assistance through OBCF and its partners.
The OBCF President stresses the importance of providing trustworthy information during a disaster. “The goal is to let folks know we’re going to vet those organizations that have boots on the ground because we don’t have chainsaws. We don’t fix roofs. We are funders…We’ve got a lot of conflicted sources of information” and the idea is to “inspire some sort of trust that what we’re telling you has been vetted, what you’re gonna get from us is trustworthy.”
As to the need for urgent dissemination of information in the event of a disaster, Sawin estimates that, “You’ve got about five days [after a disaster] to get the world’s attention. And the reality of our digital world is we can access the whole world…So if you got five days and you can have not just one person firing a flare into the sky to let the world know…but 20,000 people doing that all at the same time, the impact on fundraising will be much more. So that’s what we’re asking people to do.”
For the business owner that flare might take the form of putting a message on the sign out front; for the vacation rental companies, it could be using their social media managers to get the word out, he notes.
Additionally, people can sign up for disaster recovery updates by visiting obcf.org/trusted. When someone signs up, they will receive a welcome message. But OBCF stresses that it will share messages about fundraising or applying for recovery funds only when disaster strikes.
“We felt it was important to make a clear pledge to those who signed up to be contacted after a storm, we would only reach out in cases of urgent need,” Sawin said.
About the Outer Banks Community Foundation: The Outer Banks Community Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization committed to fostering philanthropy and supporting local causes. Through its charitable funds and grant programs, the Foundation strives to enrich the quality of life for residents of the Outer Banks.
