Emergency Response for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

March 17, 2020

Disclaimer: This post is reflective of our company while under the name Pledgeling and the listed information may be outdated. Please refer to our main company website on Pledge for current information and resources.

Updated (as of 3/19)

Donate to COVID-19 relief efforts today:

Global medical response

  • UN Foundation is supporting the WHO's global response efforts
  • Heart to Heart International is distributing urgently needed equipment and medication
  • Partners in Health is focused on containing the spread in the world's most vulnerable countries

Global research & technology coordination

  • PATH is helping governments strengthen emergency systems
  • NetHope is supporting its member NGOs share resources and best practices in their response to COVID-19
  • Gates Foundation is supporting the development of vaccines and getting new treatments to market quickly

Kids affected by school closures

  • No Kid Hungry is providing meals to students without access to school meals
  • First Book is providing books & hygiene kits for kids
  • Baby2Baby is distributing diapers, wipes, school supplies and more to school districts

Los Angeles nonprofits:

San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits:

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During this unprecedented time of uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to pause and connect with our community - both digitally and locally - about the ways companies can help.

Business leaders across the country and around the world are more occupied now with business continuity plans than giving, so here is some information that might be helpful to you and the health of your teams.

At Pledgeling, we have been fielding a lot of questions from our clients on the best and realistic ways they can help. This is a critical moment for partnership and collaboration across the public and private sectors like never before - truly a moment for magnified impact with the business community pitching in where possible.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT - Now is the time to cultivate a culture across the new work paradigm for empathy and employee engagement.

How Pledgeling can help - Our Employee Wallets can be customized to look and feel like your brand, and support connectivity across a remote workforce by aligning with the causes that matter most to your employees and your brand.

Connect with our team to learn more.

CUSTOMER & AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT - You can easily engage your customers in cause-marketing campaigns through our suite of tools, from text-to-donate to fundraising pages and round-up for donations at checkout.

Connect with our team to learn more.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

Here are two main areas to show your support for the prevention of COVID-19 and serving the communities most affected by this pandemic:

1) Support the public health response

In the US, our recommendation is to support the CDC Foundation. The Center for Disease Control has tapped the CDC Foundation to:

  • expand testing and data capabilities to better prevent, detect and respond to COVID-19
  • deploy emergency staffing with the skills required to meet the needs on the front lines at the state and local level
  • fund and deliver critical home essentials, such as food and medical needs to quarantined and isolated individuals
  • develop education and awareness campaigns to advance prevention and reduce stigma
  • build capacity and infrastructure for global response efforts and other immediate needs as they evolve

From a global perspective, we recommend supporting these organizations with an international reach:

  • International Medical Corps: International Medical Corps is taking an agency-wide approach to their response, providing their 7,000+ staff members in more than 30 countries with clinical guidance and planning documents designed to help them screen patients, enhance infection prevention and control (IPC), and protect health providers. They also have developed specific training materials to help staff and healthcare providers better respond to the virus.
  • Direct Relief: Direct Relief is coordinating with public health authorities, nonprofit organizations and businesses in China and the U.S. to provide personal protective equipment and other items to health workers responding to coronavirus (COVID-19). Direct Relief is also staging personal protective equipment with regional response agencies across the world, including in the Caribbean and South America through the Pan American Health Organization.

2) Support vulnerable communities

Community foundations

  • Since this is a crisis affecting every community around the world, the role of community foundations has never been more critical. They are probably the best equipped to support a variety of regional needs. If you’d like your business to support COVID-19 relief efforts, supporting your local community foundations is a way to get involved hyper-locally.

Other nonprofits

  • Food banks, meals on wheels programs, senior assistance programs, and more. Mass closures of public schools means children will lose their access to potentially the only meal they receive every day.

3) Make a donation to Pledgeling's Coronavirus Relief Fund in direct support CDC Foundation, Direct Relief and International Medical Corps. Donations made below will be split evenly amongst these amazing organizations.

Pledgeling is here to support you during this critical time. Please reach out to covid@pledgeling.com and let us know how we can best help you.

Feel free to share your ideas in the comments below. The above list will be updated to serve as a comprehensive resource for our community.