Explained: When does the DEC close an appeal?
The DEC brings together 15 leading UK aid charities at times of humanitarian crisis overseas, to raise funds quickly and efficiently. We are supported by a Rapid Response Network of national media and corporate partners across the UK, who help us raise the alarm to the public.
We have three criteria which must be met before we start the process of launching a national fundraising appeal. You can read more about our appeal criteria here.
DEC appeals have a set lifecycle, so that we can make the biggest impact possible, while also ensuring we are ready to respond to the next crisis that meets our criteria. However, our member charities and their local partners often continue working in affected communities and addressing the longer term needs.
Q&A
DEC appeals are designed to be time-limited emergency appeals, boosting our member charities’ ability to respond to a crisis at scale. The purpose of a DEC appeal is to support members to scale up their emergency response immediately and for two years from the day of launch. This is sometimes increased for larger scale or more complex disasters.
All funds raised through the appeal must be spent in this window and closing our appeals within the timeframe helps DEC member charities and partners to plan their future work appropriately. Once an appeal has closed for donations, member charities continue to spend remaining funds to support the affected communities for the full two years.
As an appeal comes to the end, they wind down DEC funded programmes, something that is planned very carefully in consultation with affected communities and local partner organisations. In some cases, allocating more funds can disrupt the remaining programme delivery, affecting their ability to phase out support.
The DEC's design is focused on emergency response, and DEC appeals are not ongoing fundraising causes, as this is the remit of our member charities and their continuing work around the world.
The work we support is immediate, and funding provides a swift and coordinated response which focuses on saving and protecting lives in a crisis.
When the DEC’s emergency funding ends, our member charities will often continue to work in country and through their local partners to continue delivering support using public donations, grants from institutions or other funding. This means they can continue supporting and addressing the longer-term needs of communities in the months and years ahead.
Depending on the country and crisis, our member charities will often continue working with communities that DEC funds were supporting. DEC charities work closely with their local partners, community groups and sometimes authorities, to help affected communities respond to future crises.
This support can be delivered through training sessions on areas like safeguarding and violence prevention, as well as training healthcare workers, farmers and other members of the community with key skills.
This helps to empower local partners to continue work, even when DEC funds have been spent, and if members do not continue operating in the affected areas with their own funding sources.
In many instances, our member charities will have their own appeals open for crises that the DEC launched for, and these may remain open after the DEC has stopped receiving funds.
Additionally, many of our member charities will have ongoing projects and programmes in the areas and countries affected by the crisis. Donations to our member charities help them to carry out vital longer term work.
The first phase of the response (Phase 1) runs for six months, focusing on emergency aid delivery: food security, shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene through clean drinking water and hygiene kits, and delivering medicines.
The second phase of a DEC response (Phase 2) is usually around 18 months, depending on the nature of the crisis. This phase focuses on recovery and reconstruction, as well as providing emergency aid where still needed. Typically, Phase 2 focuses on things like recovery of people’s livelihoods, strengthening local capacity through training initiatives, and permanent shelter reconstruction.
This work continues for two years, although is occasionally increased for larger scale crises. Throughout both phases, member charities adapt to the evolving needs of communities and use a ‘flexible funding’ approach, ensuring the right support is being provided at the right time.
The DEC utilises and encourages a flexible approach to humanitarian funding within our appeals. Our experience tells us it is crucial to remain versatile to needs as they evolve and change.
Our member charities can request changes midway through their programmes, and changes can be made to locations, target groups, activities and more as the circumstances in a crisis continue to evolve.
Our member charities request changes based on feedback from communities or after completing needs assessments. Occasionally, they will also change their programmes based on security issues, or if a significant event has happened in the area.
This approach ensures that funds are spent quickly and effectively, as well as ensuring accountability to the affected communities and helping their needs be best served.
Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is work conducted to make disasters less likely to happen, or less damaging when they do happen. Usually DEC member charities undertake DRR work during the ‘recovery’ part of the response (Phase 2), although occasionally during Phase 1, depending on the nature of the crisis.
Member charities continue to deliver DRR initiatives and support after DEC fundraising appeals close and programmes have ended. This is a crucial way in which humanitarian interventions can provide durable solutions and assistance for affected communities in the future.
Money raised through DEC appeals is distributed between our member charities, which they use to fund activities supporting communities affected by that specific crisis.
Allocations are made throughout the lifecycle of an appeal. As a rule, we make sure no member charity receives less than 3% or more than 20% of funds available to allocate. When an appeal closes to the public and fundraising ends, remaining funds are allocated to our members, remaining restricted to the crisis it was donated towards.
This helps avoid the potential for returned or unspent funds. Members inform the DEC if they’re unable to spend the money within the response timeframe, and if so the DEC reallocates funding to other member charities.
At a time when the DEC does not have multiple open appeals, donations can be directed towards our emergency fund. Whether it’s a natural disaster, a disease outbreak or a crisis fuelled by drought or conflict, we cannot predict what the next DEC appeal will be for.
However, the emergency fund helps to allow our member charities to provide aid where it is needed as quickly as possible when a DEC appeal is launched, providing a head start whatever the crisis may be when the time comes.
