According to the Insurance Information Institute, up to 40 percent of small businesses never reopen after a disaster. From Hurricane Katrina and Sandy to the recent fires in California, disasters just happen. We designed Recovery Pledge to connect caring consumers with small businesses in need. By stabilizing the sales small businesses after a disaster – we can stabilize the economic engines of cities and increase the likelihood of economic recovery.
There is a movement afoot here to shop local and support local businesses. Mom and pop shops are supported both civically (i.e., local procurement programs) and by residents looking to spend with their wallets and their hearts. Our goal is to build on these efforts by ensuring consumers can still purchase products and services from small businesses after a disaster to help them avoid bankruptcy.
Recovery Pledge will also serve as a data repository by documenting (i.e., quantitatively and qualitatively) the disaster recovery process in communities and regions across the U.S. Using the Guide to Actionable Measurement, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Recovery Pledge will measure its outcomes and impact on 1) small businesses, and 2) the communities that support them. Below is a quick summary of the measurement process:
Inputs: the resources employed to implement activities (e.g., consumer buying a certain number of recovery pledges, the value of those goods and services, the total capital infusion in a community);
Activities: the actions taken by the small business (e.g., product/service creation and delivery, equipment purchased);
Outputs: the direct and early results of the activities (e.g., small business retention post-disaster, main street revival, community tax-base stabilization);
Outcomes: the intermediate observable and measurable changes that serve as progress toward an impact for the targeted population (e.g., regional economic resiliency indicators, per capita income, employment);
Impacts: the ultimate sustainable changes sometimes attributed to an action or combination of actions (e.g., post-disaster economic recovery, community resiliency and sustainability).
The crowdfunding platform Indiegogo.com provided us with the unique opportunity to evaluate the idea of letting consumers take the lead in disaster recovery. You can view our campaign here: www.indiegogo.com/projects/consumer-driven-disaster-recovery Give me a shout if you would like to learn more!
Christopher Girdwood
www.recoverypledge.com
[email protected]
Phone: 517-230-5288
