A Simple, Low-Cost Way for Nonprofits and Foundations to Curb the Coronavirus Crisis

A Simple, Low-Cost Way for Nonprofits and Foundations to Curb the Coronavirus Crisis

As the coronavirus spread endangers millions of lives around the globe, nonprofits and foundations are scrambling to find the best ways to help. We all have a lot to do, but the fastest, most efficient thing we can do now is to follow the lead of the global-health experts at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Staff members there like to say that when there is no vaccine, communications is a vaccine.

And that’s where the help of grant makers and nonprofits can make a huge difference. I recently had a call with a friend at the National Institutes of Health who said that the agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and local health and government officials need a big boost from nonprofits and philanthropy to amplify their messages.

Here’s why: We live in a crowded information space. On a normal day, it’s loud and dysfunctional. And this has been a series of exceptional days and weeks, with conflicting guidance and misinformation spreading fast. Right now, it’s a mess.

But if we use the voices and influence of philanthropy and the nonprofit world to amplify credible medical and health experts, we could make a difference. 

Click here to read the full op-ed.

Source: The Chronicle of Philanthropy