Hurricane Harvey Opens Flood Gates of Corporate Donations

Hurricane Harvey’s extensive flooding and devastation set records. Corporate and individual donations to relief agencies in response to that destruction may also set records.

The total amount of corporate donations already runs into the millions of dollars. In addition to donating funds to relief organizations and charities, companies are donating their products, waiving fees, providing shelter to storm refugees, matching donations from customers and transporting emergency supplies to Texas.

The Aetna Foundation announced donations of $100,000 each to the American Red Cross and the Community Foundation of Greater Houston, and another $50,000 to Team Rubicon, a veteran-run disaster relief foundation.

Amazon will match donations made on its website up to $1 million, with funds going to the Red Cross. Facebook will match money raised on its platform, up to $1 million, for the Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s Hurricane Harvey Recovery Fund.

The Walmart Foundation said it will to contribute at least $1 million in cash and product donations to relief organizations. Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Dow Chemical, which all have facilities in the Houston area, pledged $1 million. The list goes on. Home Depot, Lowes, PepsiCo and Starbucks are just some of the other corporations donating substantial amounts to relief agencies.

The publisher of the Houston Chronicle, Hearst, announced a $1 million donation to the Greater Houston Red Cross, with another $1 million available to match employee donations.

Companies Help in Many Different Ways

Other companies are waiving fees, donating their product and soliciting donations from customers.

Through its Urgent Accommodations program, Airbnb waived service fees through Sept. 25 for people in disaster areas who need temporary accommodations, including relief workers and volunteers. It’s also asking hosts to offer space for free. Hundreds of hosts complied.

The Anheuser-Busch brewery in Cartersville, GA., “traded in hops for helping hands” and halted beer production to produce cans of water.

Southwest Airlines asked its fliers to donate frequent flyer points to relief workers and volunteers and announced it is donating 5 million points itself. United Continental said its customers who give at least $50 will get 250 bonus miles and those who donate more can get up to 1,000.

Among corporations sending their products to storm-damaged areas to be distributed for free include Duracell (batteries), Chobani (yogurt) and Walmart (bottled water).

Celebrities Pitch In Too

Celebrities also contributed. A.J. Watt, a defensive end on the Houston Texans professional football team, launched the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund with a goal of raising $200,000. The fund has already raised more than $9 million and is still growing, largely supported by professional athletes and team owners, including Chris Paul and Tennessee Titans owner and Houston native Amy Adams Strunk who donated $1 million. Ellen DeGeneres donated $50,000 and presented a check for $1 million to the A.J. Watt fund on behalf of Walmart. Miley Cyrus donated $500,000 to the fund.

In other donations to hurricane relief, the Houston Astros pledged $4 million and the Houston Texans pledged $1 million; Sandra Bullock and Rachel Ray pledged $1 million each. Kim Kardashian and her sisters pledged $500,000.

Furniture Stores Became Evacuation Shelters

Houston businesses were helping hurricane victims. Whataburger, a Houston fast-food restaurant pledged $2 million. Most of pledge is dedicated to food, clothing, medical bills and other expenses of their own employees

While most Houston businesses shut their doors, Jim McIngvale opened his two furniture stores to storm evacuees, according to media reports. The stores quickly reached capacity after he announced their openings on Facebook. People sat on his chairs, rested on sofas and slept on mattresses. McIngvale, known as “mattress mack,” also provided them three meals a day.

The companies understand that doing good is good business. Studies show that charitable donations improve customer loyalty, employee morale and brand awareness. Consumers, employees, and community stakeholders are more likely to support companies associated with good causes.

Volunteers Make a Difference

In addition to the extraordinary outpouring of donations, the Hurricane Harvey rescue efforts were a testament to the value volunteerism and individual initiative. Thousands of individuals including high school students donated their personal services and equipment to rescue people and pets stranded in the flooded areas. Some drove their trucks with boats attached from hundreds of miles away and worked endless hours. The volunteers supplemented and enhanced the remarkable efforts of the paid first responders, including the Coast Guard, fire and police departments and EMTs.

Bottom Line: Hurricane Harvey opened the flood gates of corporate donations. Besides giving cash, some businesses donated products, waived fees and asked customers to give donations. How much their actions are motivated by a desire to get good publicity or are driven by purely philanthropic urges isn’t clear. It doesn’t really matter. The benefits of storm relief donations will help needy individuals and families recover. Moreover, storm-devastated areas will continue to need substantial financial and volunteer help as they struggle to recover.