The Role of Nonprofit Organizations in Public Service Delivery: Lesson Learned from Hurricane Katrina. Paper/Presentation

When Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005 nonprofit and community based organizations were the first responders in providing relief and recovery services to the stranded residents when emergency plans at all levels of government came up short. In fact most recent studies show that nonprofit organizations contributed successfully to the relief effort irrespective of government obstacles, and with no direction or support from government. The Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath have revealed significant weaknesses in the American federal system to deal with emergency planning and response without mutual cooperation and partnership with nonprofit organizations. On the basis of lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina, the proposed paper will begin with an explanation of how nonprofit organizations at all levels of government responded to the crisis. This will be followed by a comparative analysis of the efficiency and effectiveness of well-established and well financed nonprofits nationally with religious-based charities and with nonprofit organizations that spontaneously emerged across Louisiana in response to specific relief and recovery needs created by the Katrina disaster. The paper will conclude with suggestions on how to conceptualize the role of nonprofit organizations in public service delivery in the twenty-first century and the public policy implication of this role on the future of nonprofit organizations in the United States of America.