A string of major disasters in 2026 have had devastating consequences. Earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia and floods and mudslides in Nepal have killed tens of thousands of people and injured many more. Countless people remain missing and hundreds of thousands of homes are damaged, with some entire neighborhoods destroyed.

The responses have been global. For Nepal alone, the United Nations Global Emergency Fund has allocated US$2 million, while the U.S. has committed over $3 million and the European Union has sent just under $3 million. Big humanitarian organizations such as Direct Relief and Save the Children have started fundraising campaigns to support the response efforts in Nepal.

Among the first to respond have been support groups set up by people originally from countries hit by disaster but now living elsewhere.

While small in scale, these diaspora groups are well positioned to respond quickly to disaster relief efforts. They have developed partnerships with community groups on the ground in their home countries. They also have a strong pool of donors – among the diaspora and beyond – based in the U.S.

I study philanthropy and nonprofits and research diaspora-led nonprofits. These organizations play multiple roles. They support other people in their immigrant communities in the U.S. and engage in the preservation of their cultures while living far from their homelands. Increasingly, they also respond to urgent needs in their countries of........

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