Press Releases

Ford Foundation Releases Report on Philanthropic Response to 9/11

New York, New York - September 9, 2002. The Ford Foundation today announced the release of an independent report that examines the philanthropic response to 9/11, focusing on key aspects of the relief and recovery efforts in New York City. The report, The Philanthropic Response to 9/11, documents the actions of philanthropic, non-profit and corporate organizations and institutions and identifies lessons from this experience that will help strengthen the response to future emergencies. The report found that overall the sector performed well, particularly given the unprecedented nature of the crisis. "Despite lack of a reliable roadmap, philanthropic organizations, including donors and service providers, responded with unaccustomed speed and agility to the urgent humanitarian needs in both the immediate vicinity of the attack and in the wider New York region," the report says. Challenges that should be addressed to ensure an effective response in the future, according to the report, include the need to streamline philanthropic decision making to allow more flexibility in emergency situations and development of a simplified one-stop application process that would speed up response during a crisis. The report was prepared by Tom Seessel, an authority on the nonprofit sector in New York. More than 90 individuals were interviewed, including the chief executives of major independent and corporate foundations, the largest relief charities and uniformed rescue workers' funds, leading nonprofit service providers and intermediary organizations, government officials, and individuals and businesses affected by the disaster. "Several good studies on the philanthropic response have been released recently, including one by the G.A.O., and we hope this report will contribute to a broader discussion of what the sector and the country as a whole can learn from our experiences of the past year," said Susan V. Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation. Copies of the full report are available on the Web site. The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.

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The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.