For years before Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the Gulf Coast, scientists, engineers, and journalists warned that New Orleans’ levees might not withstand the inevitable “Big One.” Yet government officials at every level ignored the warnings and cut the programs designed to fortify the city’s defenses. So when disaster finally struck in late August 2005, government agencies were woefully unprepared to deal with the devastation. Into this breach waded nonprofits and businesses. The American Red Cross, for instance, spent more than $2 billion and deployed 220,000 volunteers to assist 1.2 million families, reports a Congressional committee.1 Smaller nonprofits like PRC Compassion also sent their best. This group of ministers distributed more than 62 million pounds of food, clothing, and other aid. Likewise, businesses large and small raised funds and donated profi ts to the relief effort. General Electric, for example, donated $22 million in cash, goods, and services, and raised an additional $50 million for the Red Cross, reports the Philanthropy Journal.2 In total, private donations for Katrina relief came to $3 billion— the most ever donated for a single event in the United States—with corporate donations making up about one-third of that sum. Yet the private sector’s unprecedented outpouring…