NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — As Middle Tennessee continues to recover from the tornadoes that swept through the state last weekend, we're learning about big changes to the way your donations will get to the victims after these sorts of disasters.
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee has long served as the clearinghouse for disaster relief in Nashville.
But moving forward, that will no longer be the case.
This comes after a NewsChannel 5 investigation raised questions about how the Community Foundation distributed money after the tornadoes in March of 2020. A new audit backs up the findings of our investigation.
Here's a breakdown of what's changing and what you need to know if you want to help disaster victims in the days and weeks ahead.
After the historic flooding in Nashville in 2010, Metro asked the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to be in charge of collecting donations after disasters and making sure that money got in the right hands so that it would help survivors.
And that's the way it's been done now for nearly a dozen years.
But at Monday's meeting of the Metro Audit Committee, we learned that's about to change.
"Davidson County grants though will not come from the Community Foundation," Community Foundation CEO Hal Cato told the committee. "The United Way will be responsible for making the grants in Davidson County."
Cato became CEO of the Community Foundation a little more than a year ago after NewsChannel 5 Investigates first raised questions about how the organization distributed money after the March 2020 tornadoes.
The organization took in more than $12.5 million in donations then, but our investigation revealed that the Community Foundation sent money to groups that never asked for it, and two years later, still couldn't account for a lot of the money and who received it.
So, last year, Metro Council member Courtney Johnston called for a full audit.
Now that audit, done by an outside firm, is finally finished, and it confirms what we had originally reported. It puts the Community Foundation in a not-so-flattering light.
"And from the way that the money was distributed, it did not appear that they (the Community Foundation) were prepared for that disaster," Metro Auditor Lauren Riley told the committee.
Auditors made several recommendations for disbursing disaster money going forward, including separating money for disaster victims in Davidson County from aid earmarked for other counties and when giving disaster aid to non-profits that are helping disaster victims, make sure they are aware that they must fully account for how that money is used.
"I do think, though that the findings that they pointed out are already being put in place," Cato told the committee at Monday's meeting in response to the audit.
And he promised that since he's taken over, methods at the Community Foundation are different now.
"You have my word, and I’m happy to share our new updated policies and procedures that we are putting in place to ensure that this doesn’t happen again," Cato said.
But despite his assurances, the city, we've learned, is changing things up and will no longer use the Community Foundation to disburse disaster relief.
"One of the reasons I wanted to do the audit was to make sure that we are partnering with people that are the best partners that we can partner with in order to be as responsive and as efficient and effective when we have a disaster," Council member Courtney Johnston said at the audit meeting.
Going forward the United Way will be in charge of deciding where financial donations go in Nashville after disasters and making sure it gets in the right hands.
The organization will use its "Charity Tracker" program to provide more accountability by closely tracking where exactly the money goes and how it's being spent.
Meanwhile, the Community Foundation will continue to collect donations and provide disaster relief outside of Davidson County by awarding grants to nonprofits providing disaster relief as it has done before.
The two organizations are working together now to raise money for the victims of last weekend's tornadoes.
And if you go to either group's website to donate to Middle Tennessee's Tornado Relief, you'll be given two options. If you want to give money to victims in Davidson County, you'll be directed to a portal on the United Way's website. To support those outside Davidson County, you'll be sent to another portal on the Community Foundation's site.
"I’m really excited about and I feel like we’re on the best foot forward to take advantage of each individual organization's strengths and now we can come together and work for a common goal so that we can respond to the people that need our help," Council member Johnston said of the changes.
One of the strengths of the Community Foundation has long been fundraising and Hal Cato tells NewsChannel 5 Investigates that his group will continue to raise money for Nashville after disasters and that money will then be transferred to the United Way. And the Community Foundation will have a representative on the United Way's committee that decides where the Nashville money will go.
This will all be spelled out in a new M.O.U. or contract that will be presented to the Metro Council for approval at its first meeting in January.
Brian Hassett, the head of the United Way of Greater Nashville, tells us that like the Community Foundation, they too give grants to organizations that help, rather than directly to disaster survivors. He says they work with more than 130 local partner agencies including the American Red Cross and Salvation Army. And the United Way he says will start sending money to these groups to help victims of the tornadoes this week.
RELATED REPORTING:
Audit of Community Foundation released
Metro Nashville leaders question city's relationship with the Community Foundation
NewsChannel 5 Investigates what happened to the millions donated after the 2020 tornadoes
