More than a year and a half into the COVID-19 pandemic, 54.55 percent of small charities operating in Argentina, Brazil, India, Russia, and South Africa are experiencing difficulty in addressing the needs of their constituents, a report from the Charities Aid Foundation of America finds.

Based on a survey conducted in August of 436 charitable organizations across the five countries, the report, Lessons in Disaster Philanthropy (20 pages, PDF), found that respondents in Argentina were most likely to say they were “thriving” (39.13 percent) or “surviving” (60.87 percent), followed by those in Russia (12.5 percent and 62.5 percent), India (11.81 percent and 55.56 percent), South Africa (6.78 percent and 44.07 percent), and Brazil (6.79 percent and 43.21 percent). Charities in South Africa were most likely to report that they were “experiencing difficulty” (49.15 percent), followed by those in Brazil (46.91 percent), India (30.56 percent), Russia (25 percent), and Argentina (0 percent).

The eighth in a series of surveys launched by CAF America in spring 2020, the report found that small organizations were more likely than large organizations to say they were struggling, with 54.55 percent of those with five or fewer employees experiencing difficulties, while seven in ten of those with at least twenty-one employees were surviving or thriving.

Asked how fundraising had changed between the first year of the pandemic (March 2020 through March 2021) and the second year to date (April 2021 through August 2021), respondents in Argentina, Brazil, India, and South Africa were most likely to say that donors’ capacity to give had declined, while those in Russia were slightly more likely to say that donors’ priority issue areas had changed.

The survey also found that a majority of organizations in Argentina (78.26 percent), India (72.03 percent), Russia (77.08 percent), and South Africa (64.91 percent) said they had increased their preparedness to respond to crises based on lessons learned from the pandemic, while in Brazil, only 25.33 percent said the same. According to the report, a recurring theme in the lessons learned was the need for “resilience funding” designed to help charities weather unexpected crises — unrestricted grants for infrastructure and capacity building that enable organizations to survive and provide community support during disasters. The report’s authors highlight two considerations for funders: that charities need long-term support — beyond immediate disaster response — as part of a broader resilience strategy, and that resilience funding won’t necessarily have an immediate, visible impact.

“At its best, disaster philanthropy not only addresses the crisis caused by a pandemic or natural disaster, but it also fosters resilience in communities as whole institutions and not only in the charities that serve them," the report states. "The holistic needs of vulnerable communities must also be met in order to build resilience and independence in the face of future disasters that are inevitable.”

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