GlobalGiving Flex Fund

The GlobalGiving community was challenged like never before in 2022. We saw war, famine, floods, and financial and political strife put pressure on people around the globe.

But we also saw our community show up like never before. Thank you. 

Two weeks before Russia’s massive invasion of Ukraine, our partners’ requests for support prompted us to launch the GlobalGiving Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund. Within eight days of the Feb. 24 invasion, we sent the first emergency grants to nonprofit organizations whose home cities became the front lines of the conflict.

From Kyiv to Kherson, these organizations stood by their communities. And from Albania to Zambia, nearly 200,000 people like you rallied and gave more than $66.7 million to support them.

But the needs presented by war and other calamities persisted—and they extended far beyond Ukraine’s borders.

In the Horn of Africa, more than 20 million people faced the worst famine conditions in decades. HODI brought resources to people who were suffering from the drought and struggling to get ample supplies of food and water for their households.

In Pakistan, with one-third of the country submerged in floodwaters, Al-Mustafa Welfare Society fed and assisted families who lost homes, crops, livestock—nearly everything—in the floods.

And when hurricanes threatened entire islands and knocked out power grids, the leaders in their communities were there to relieve, rebuild, and restore.

For Ariadna Godreau, director of our longtime partner Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico, Hurricane Fiona was a lecture on the status of the recovery from Hurricane Maria in 2017.

The impacts, especially on low-income, Black communities and single moms still waiting on 2017-era assistance, underscored the need for equitable access to recovery funds, housing, and policies to ensure climate justice.

“Despite the enormous challenges and the hills we have to climb, I feel hopeful that we’re starting to make real changes and can make more as we continue to work together,” Ariadna told us.

As the climate crisis makes compounding disasters the new reality, the community partners in our network keep working to prepare and respond. They have the courage, knowledge, and commitment. Our role is to trust in their expertise—and invest in it.

That’s the foundation of our mission: to fuel community-led change. And in 2022, we pursued more opportunities to share power, co-create solutions, and live up to all of our community-led commitments. None of our urgent work would be possible without your unwavering support.

Learn more about how you helped fuel community-led change in a reflection on 2022 and a preview of our collective impact yet to come. 

With gratitude for your partnership,

Donna Callejon
Executive Advisor + 2022 Interim GlobalGiving CEO

Victoria Vrana
GlobalGiving CEO

Links:

• Read GlobalGiving's 2022 Annual Report

Read a personal essay about how donations to the Flex Fund are powering our new urgent crisis initiative.

Ten years ago, I met a doctor I will never forget. He managed a small, cluttered medical clinic on a dirt road in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. I worked with communities there as part of a United Nations Peacekeeping mission. When a rebel group called M23 took over the Congolese city of Goma, they terrorized, killed, and raped innocent civilians. The doctor provided medical care to communities caught in the fighting between M23 and government forces. He did his work with a mix of sadness and determination.

Since I met the doctor, Congolese communities have continued to live through eruptions of violent attacks and human rights violations by various armed groups and by government forces. Recently, the M23 has resurfaced, bringing more fear and terror.

People in Congo are also facing one of the largest food crises in the world. The dire situation is considered Africa’s longest-running humanitarian conflict. But reliable and human-centered news about Congo doesn’t come easily. It never seems to make the nightly newscast—I have to search for it.

Media spotlight

Charts tracking global media coverage show where our attention goes in times of crisis and conflict. Not accounting for natural disasters, if you look back at the past five years, you’ll see a steady line of news coverage. Through the flare-ups of the war in Yemen and the protests that became violent clashes in Ethiopia, there was minimal change. There was a temporary uptick during the Taliban’s attacks on security forces in Afghanistan. And then—a spike—Feb. 24, 2022.

Over the past five months, Russia’s war on Ukraine has been the subject of consistent coverage from every major news outlet. With critical implications for communities worldwide, people are watching and worrying.

For many in the Western world, the invasion shattered a sense of security. It’s leading to comparisons with World War II when the Soviet Union bombed cities and targeted civilians. In Europe, WWII took millions of lives, leveled towns, and destroyed the economy. The Cold War that followed added a threat of nuclear conflict by the Soviet Union—and current Russian leadership has renewed that threat.

Outraged and heartbroken, people are stepping up to help.

Unmatched response

Just days after Russia’s war began, donations to GlobalGiving’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund dramatically outpaced those to any disaster response fund we’d launched in our 20-year history. More than for Hurricane Maria, the Syria refugee crisis, or the 2015 Nepal earthquake. More than our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, even.

The global response has been the greatest I’ve seen in 15 years of serving people caught in wars and humanitarian crises.

My team at GlobalGiving was on the phone with our partners in Ukraine while the invasion was imminent and the fear palpable. And we’ve been making emergency grants to power their incredible response in Ukraine and neighboring countries since the war started.

We are also supporting these community leaders in the long term by awarding early recovery and reconstruction grants. One example is the Zagoriy Foundation. Their team is working to ensure that nonprofits in Ukraine can sustain their operations and continue delivering important social services.

I am overwhelmed by the reaction of everyday people and companies around the world to fuel this response. Their care and generosity fill me up.

And I hope to see it again.

[Continue reading my essay on why every crisis deserves our attention and support here.]

Even before the current crisis in Ukraine, an estimated 274 million people around the world needed humanitarian assistance.

Twenty-seven million of them are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Twenty-five million of them are in Ethiopia.

Twenty-four million of them are in Afghanistan.

We should also be telling their stories and mobilizing resources to help meet their needs.

Your donation to the GlobalGiving Flex Fund is helping us respond to crises around the world that may be long-lasting but overlooked. We support the community leaders who are already providing critical assistance to people in their corner of the world. And thanks to your generosity, we can offer our support equitably and unconditionally.

Like the doctor I met so long ago, these local leaders are a symbol of hope amid hardship that is difficult for most to imagine. And you are giving them the fuel to continue their work—wherever they are. Thank you.

With gratitude,

Sandrina + the GlobalGiving Team