Guided by the intent of Conrad N. Hilton and Barron Hilton, the Disaster Relief and Recovery program provides vital assistance to local and national organizations and networks dealing with the onset of a disaster or ongoing humanitarian crises. In addition to providing fast and flexible funding, our grantmaking portfolio supports institutions, catalytic partnerships and innovations that strengthen both the United States’ and the international community’s ability to respond to disasters.
We aim to be both immediate in our response as well as deliberate about the contexts, organizations, and scope of programs we sustain. Whenever possible, we invest in community-based organizations and networks to uplift local humanitarian leadership.
We allocate a minimum of 25% of our funding directly to national and local organizations as well as to efforts that engage people with lived experience to develop community-empowered solutions to disaster prevention and recovery. In 2026, 93% of our disaster funding supported local organizations, either directly or through intermediaries.
Disasters and their effects are rarely short-lived or isolated; therefore, our grantmaking includes projects that strengthen preparedness, allow for the anticipation and prepositioning of interventions and resources, and prevent or mitigate the impact of future crises.
We commit funding to a wide range of evidence-based programs and interventions, depending on the needs and resources in each context. For example, evidence shows that in most disaster settings, cash transfers are more effective and efficient than in-kind donations or food assistance. In those circumstances, we provide support to the humanitarian community through financial aid rather than food or other material goods.
Our grantmaking extends to four categories:
Earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia; flooding in Mozambique and Ecuador.
Conflict, displacement, and food insecurity in Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Iraq, Niger, and Somalia.
Spokane Complex wildfires in Eastern Washington; New York City flooding.
Includes preparedness projects, anticipatory action, early-warning disaster systems, research, and efforts to promote local humanitarian leadership and diplomacy. This is often not country or geographically specific.
