Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 Hurricane, hit Texas in August of 2017. It caused more than $125 billion in damage, according to the National Hurricane Center, making it the second worse natural disaster in U.S. history next to Hurricane Katrina. The traditional means of volunteer deployment and disaster response were not equipped to handle disasters of that size nor the frequency experienced last year. And despite the outpouring of volunteers, volunteer systems could not match needs fast enough. IBM partnered with Points of Light, the world's largest volunteer service organization, to better understand the break points of 2017's record natural disasters. Together, and through the application of Enterprise Design Thinking by IBM, we highlighted a series of opportunities to more effectively manage volunteerism and vastly improve the effectiveness of disaster response.

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Enterprise Design
Thinking for Disaster
Relief
January - February 2018

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IBM will work with Points of Light to investigate and
document the vision and opportunities to more
efficiently manage volunteerism following disaster,
using IBM’s Enterprise Design Thinking approach.
Points of Light wants to understand the diverse needs for managing volunteers following disasters across
the ecosystem of organizations promoting, supporting, coordinating, and utilizing volunteer services.
Prompt

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research
findings +
insights

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Here are some things you
probably already know…
1. Many systems, few integrations
2. Too much, and yet not enough information
3. Not all communities are created equal
4. There is a lack of coordination
5. “Co-opetition” is pervasive

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Let’s talk about
what else we heard…

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Relationships enable
disaster relief, but they
also create gaps in care.
Current relief hinges strongly on collaboration
between personal networks and relationships.
“[How do people
get involved in
disasters?] 98% of
the time it’s based
on some pre-
existing
relationship.”
- Technology Partner

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Balance of power
is delicate.
No one is in charge.
Everyone is in charge.
“Most of the obstacles
we deal with in disasters
have nothing to do with
software, it's always the
politics – the politics
between different orgs.
The non-profit
community does not
always play well
together […] everyone
wants to be in charge.”
- Disaster Relief SME

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Survivors & donors
Money matters. It is what keeps the lights on and
allows organizations to provide aid. But the
quantitative tracking of hours and volunteers can
overshadow the impact on the lives of survivors.
“No organization’s
interests fully align with
the those of a survivor’s.
They intersect, but they
don't align.”
- Technology Partner
-

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Community is the future
of disaster relief.
Faith and community-based groups are successful at
mobilizing and deploying large groups of volunteers
with little ramp-up time. There is little emphasis on
“rules”, just strangers coming to the aid of people
who need help.
“… So the whole
community behind
there, you know, have
been impacted.
So the church was
amazing. All the
churches were amazing.
The HOAs were
amazing.”
- Survivor

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You have to meet people
where they are.
Many organizations expressed a need to turn “one-time
volunteers” into “lifers.” Organizations should consider
where and how they can take advantage of volunteers’
existing patterns and habits.
“[We] take all these
people and shove them
into the affiliated model
[…] It’s a complete
failure, but we keep
doing it.
Only 3-7% will get a
call back because of the
human effort required.”
- Technology Partner

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When supply and demand are
unequal, individuals self-mobilize.
Spontaneous volunteers are ready to help before relief
organizations are ready to deploy them.
“A lot more people
would have died if not
for civilian boat
rescuers that we got
away with in Harvey.”
- Technology Partner

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Appendix

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Points of Light
The world’s largest organization
dedicated to volunteer service –
inspires, equips, and mobilizes millions
of people to take action that is changing
the world.
Through Point of Light's Global Network
of over 200 Affiliates in 35 countries,
and partnerships with thousands of
nonprofits and corporations, we engage
5 million people in 20 million hours of
service each year.

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IBM designers
JP Lynch
Eleanor Bartosh
Chris Hammond
Jesse Moon Mallory FryeHayley Hughes
Daniel Kuehn JP LynchDavid Avila Russell ParrishAdam Cutler
Hal Wurtz Fuer LiuYang Tang

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