article posted on the
Center for Disaster Philanthropy's website
In the late summer and fall of 2012, UPS volunteers jumped in to help
affected families return to their homes as quickly as possible after
both Hurricane Isaac and Hurricane Sandy. But the connection between the
company and those in need goes well beyond hammers, nails, paint—and
even funding.
UPS has a rich history of partnering with nonprofits and impacting
communities by providing both grants and expertise. Following Hurricane
Sandy, for example, UPS donated $250,000 in logistical aid for urgent
response, $250,000 to the American Red Cross to meet sheltering needs of
those affected, and another $1 million in cash and in-kind support to
relief organizations for long-term recovery.
But before Sandy made landfall, Isaac had offered its own
opportunities. Consider St. Bernard Project (SBP), for example, a New
Orleans organization still working to return homeowners to their
properties from Hurricane Katrina—much less Isaac. Assistance from UPS
went beyond cash. Through the UPS Executive Loan program, SBP also
received six months’ worth of guidance and insight from an embedded UPS
supervisor. That expert, Jim Desormeaux, helped SBP improve and
standardize the organization’s logistics and warehouse system in a
manner that SBP calls “revolutionary.”
SBP already had been working to streamline the process of rebuilding
homes post-disaster, cutting down on red tape and maximizing
efficiencies. Strategic partnerships with UPS and others—such as Toyota
Motor Corporation and GlaxoSmithKline—have helped the organization shave
that time down to 61 days from 116. Each company has brought its own
version of best practices—and SBP, as a result, has become known for
best practices of its own.
“We think the best partnerships with corporations involve both
dollars and sense,” says Zack Rosenburg, who founded SBP in 2006 with
Liz McCartney. And those partnerships have led to a “really lean
machine,” helping vulnerable populations overcome numerous barriers to
getting back home. “What UPS has done for us is invaluable and
incalculable,” Rosenburg says, because of the ability to replicate
processes for other disaster-affected areas beyond New Orleans. SBP’s
Disaster Recovery Lab is a scalable version of the New Orleans model,
complete with a playbook, documentation and on-the-ground support.
Joplin, Mo., has been the first to benefit so far. “We’re not
proprietary with our processes and plans and models…. We’re in the
business of making an impact, not building our brand.”
Effective Response for Global Emergencies
The partnership with SBP, however, is just a portion of the UPS
story. In 2009, UPS and The UPS Foundation launched a multi-year effort
to provide financial grants, in-kind services, and logistics expertise
to organizations such as the American Red Cross, UNICEF, the World Food
Programme, CARE, and the Aidmatrix Foundation. Most of these
organizations are known for their disaster assistance and general
relief, but Aidmatrix works behind the scenes on supply chain management
for nonprofits.
UPS and The UPS Foundation committed $9 million over a two-year
period to enhance an effective response to global emergencies. The
company made the announcement at the Clinton Global Initiative’s 2009
Annual Meeting, where it was recognized for its CGI “Commitment to
Action.”
The donations included:
- A $500,000 cash and in-kind donation to enable the American Red
Cross to position supplies strategically so that it can respond more
effectively. The grant provides logistics, shipping, and warehouse
support.
- A two-year, $1 million commitment to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. The
grant provides support for UNICEF’s disaster preparedness program in the
Asia-Pacific region, where UNICEF works with 580 million children.
- A $250,000 grant to CARE to use the Aidmatrix technology so that it
can track relief supplies and hire a logistics professional to manage
CARE’s supply chain. The grant also includes use of UPS logistics
experts during the implementation of the improvements.
- An expansion of UPS’s relationship with the World Food Programme’s
Logistics Emergency Teams (LETs) initiative. LETs deploy within 48-72
hours of a disaster and stay for three to six weeks in the aftermath of a
disaster. Some 20 UPS employees were trained and available globally as
LETs responders.
- A $250,000 grant to Aidmatrix to expand and an additional $250,000 in donated transportation.
- A $50,000 grant to Safe America to continue encouraging families to conduct disaster and emergency drills.
Sharing Supply Chain Management Success
In the case of Aidmatrix, Michael Ross, global CIO and vice
president, delivery, says UPS has helped the organization “grow and
mature,” in addition to providing “a wealth of subject matter
expertise.” UPS also has been a great asset in helping Aidmatrix forge
other strategic partnerships, he says, “and we would be a different
organization without them.”
UPS helped found Aidmatrix’s International Transportation Program,
which enables relief organizations to access free and discounted
transportation services. But UPS also has supported Aidmatrix’s SCM4Good
platform, an integrated supply chain management and logistics software
solution for NGOs.
“What we really love about UPS is that they’re building capacity of
not just one organization, but of the entire community,” says Melis
Jones, Aidmatrix vice president, programs. “Just because we have a
different tax status doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be able to run
world-class tools. It’s been a great partnership.”
Targeted Grants and Long-Standing Alliances
Since 1951, The UPS Foundation has focused its resources on programs
that support safety, nonprofit effectiveness, economic and global
literacy, environmental sustainability, and diversity.
By targeting grants to improve logistics efficiencies in a time of a
disaster, UPS can apply the expertise that it has developed in its
business practices. Each day, the company delivers 15 million packages
in 220 countries. This focus also allows UPS to network organizations
that it has encountered through the years and allow for a streamlining
of operational efficiency during a large-scale disaster.
These grants come as The UPS Foundation has shifted its giving
strategy; the foundation no longer accepts unsolicited funding requests.
It receives proposals only from those organizations that align with the
giving strategy, and that have been identified through long-standing
partnerships, employee engagement, or internal research. Regions and
districts manage local needs by involving employee Community Involvement
Committees that create year-round spending plans.
The disaster logistics grants had broad-reaching results:
- 18,000 people receive delivery aid because of improved efficiencies with Aidmatrix’s transportation platform;
- 75,900 people were served by the American Red Cross through the financial support of UPS; and
- 2 million received food aid as a result of improvements to CARE’s
regional and local supply chain for food distribution. CARE saved $2-3
million annually in operational expenses.
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