Bold Decisions

Bob Ottenhoff has thought a lot about for-profit businesses the past two years considering that his three-decade executive career has been spent at high-profile national nonprofit organizations.

In his current nonprofit role, as president and CEO of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, Ottenhoff studies how communities, including businesses, respond to disasters. His Washington, D.C.-based organization helps donors make educated disaster-related giving decisions.

Ottenhoff says 90% of disaster relief is donated within 90 days of the disaster. That ignores the full life cycle of a disaster, he says, which goes way beyond three months. Ottenhoff believes the issue is especially acute for small businesses, which don't have the resources of bigger companies. He says this makes disaster planning more important for these smaller firms.