Resource Exchange Patterns between Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (Voads) : A Multi-Level Network Approach to Improve Disaster Response Capacity

Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs) depend on interorganizational networks to rapidly deliver services to communities during times of crisis. These networks allow VOAD members to share resources before, during, and after disasters. Empirical research repeatedly indicates that routine interactions and exchanges between organizations predict coordination and collaboration during disasters. Rarely, however, do organizations systematically assess routine pre-disaster exchanges and use the data to improve their disaster response networks. This study seeks to fill this gap by presenting a cyclical five-step network intervention framework in which organizations use assessments of multilevel routine exchanges to improve disaster response networks. During a pilot project with Nebraska VOAD members, we created a network survey designed to collect multilevel resource exchange data. Here we use these survey results to illustrate how organizations can use our network intervention process of identifying, intervening, and improving to enhance disaster response capacity. State-level VOADs can use this approach to understand: 1) how their exchange networks function, 2) which organizations are exchange ‘pillars’ across multiple networks, and 3) which organizations could be better integrated into exchange networks. By evaluating resource exchange networks before and between disaster events, VOADs can adapt their networks to better assist communities during disasters