| Why was the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund created? |
| Recognizing the tremendous need for recovery and rebuilding along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, as well as the national and global desire to contribute to the affected region, President George W. Bush asked former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton to lead a major fundraising effort. Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton had previously worked together to raise funds in the aftermath of the Tsunami. |
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| What is the purpose of the Bush-Clinton Katrina Funds? |
| The purpose of the Funds is to provide critically needed donations, contributed by individuals and corporations, to assist the survivors of Hurricane Katrina in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi to rebuild and recover their lives. |
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| What is the focus of the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund? |
The Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund seeks to make a distinctive impact on the unmet needs of the affected region in the following areas:
- Financial self-sufficiency
- Economic opportunity
- Quality of life
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| What constitutes an unmet or undermet need? |
| Unmet needs are found where government and first-responder funding either does not extend or is insufficient for recovery and rebuilding. Applicant organizations are expected to provide strong justifications for the unmet or undermet needs they intend to address. |
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| Why are grants only being made now? |
| The Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund was set up to provide grants for medium to long-term recovery needs. The Fund has spent the last several months raising funds and creating the structure necessary to benefit both the people and communities in need. This requires a balance of getting the funds out quickly while making sure they are spent responsibly and for the needs for which they are provided. |
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| How can I ensure that my donation will be spent wisely and for the purpose that I intended? |
| The Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund is committed to the highest level of transparency and accountability as it distributes its donor resources. An audit committee will oversee all controls at the Fund and organizations receiving funds will be required to provide frequent reports on their use of resources from the Fund. The Fund will communicate regularly with its donors to ensure that they are kept abreast of all of the Fund’s contributions to the affected communities. |
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| Who can make a donation to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund?
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| Among the Fund’s nearly 60,000 donors are individuals, corporations, educational institutions, foreign government entities, private foundations and fundraising event organizers. Donations have ranged from as small as $16 from a child’s lemonade stand to as large as multi-million dollar gifts from family foundations, corporations and foreign governments.
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| I want to volunteer to help with relief and rebuilding in the region. Can I do that through the Bush-Clinton Katrina Funds? |
| In the weeks and months ahead a variety of organizations will be seeking volunteers to help in many different ways. Please visit USAFreedomCorps for more information on how they are helping with volunteer opportunities. |
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| Can my organization apply for a grant from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund? |
The Fund will not provide direct assistance to individuals or operate programs. Rather, it will work primarily through partnerships and collaborations with other organizations in the following categories:
- Intermediary grantmakers. Organizations with experience in grantmaking at the county/parish, state, and regional levels.
- Direct service entities. Institutions that operate directly (rather than as intermediary grantmakers) at the community, county/parish, state, or regional level (including national nonprofit agencies operating at those levels).
The Fund expects to conduct most of its grantmaking on its own initiative, by supporting projects selected in consultation with other grantmakers and government entities in the Gulf region. But it will accept unsolicited applications that focus on meeting unmet or undermet needs in the integrated recovery and rebuilding process. Organizations must demonstrate that the needs addressed in the project cannot be met through other sources of financing and that there is a high level of coordination with other interdependent pieces of community development. |
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| How long will the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund exist? |
| The Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund will exist until all of its resources have been distributed to the affected region. |
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