ABOUT US | National Disaster Interfaiths Network

OUR MISSION & VISION

NDIN is a consortium of subject matter experts who collaborate with faith communities and their partners to reduce disaster-caused human suffering through the exchange of training, research, resources and best practices.

OUR HISTORY

The National Disaster Interfaiths Network (NDIN) was founded in 2005 by a small group of executive directors and senior program staff from local, faith-based, long-term recovery organizations engaged in recent recovery efforts. Often called “disaster interfaiths,” dozens these organizations are located in local communities and states throughout the United States. In 2005, we began to meet regularly to mentor and provide peer support to our colleagues coordinating emerging local interfaith recovery efforts for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Since the 1990s, with the short-term resources and support of National VOAD (Voluntary Agencies Active in Disaster) agencies, disaster interfaiths have done exceptional work bringing together community groups and faith communities to coordinate local relief volunteers and long-term recovery leadership. Most importantly, we have worked together to offer hope in the aftermath of disaster. Disaster interfaiths achieve much despite limitations in disaster human services expertise, funding, and experience. Such challenges take their toll, however, and virtually all of disaster interfaith struggle to sustain essential funding and leadership beyond the early stages of recovery.

As a result of the impact of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on metro New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, followed by other best practices learned in subsequent Midwestern floods, California wildfires, the extreme 2003 and 2004 Florida Hurricane seasons, and the catastrophic events of Hurricane Katrina, a growing number of local and state disaster interfaiths have begun to commit to developing sustainable capacity for local advocacy, disaster chaplaincy, mitigation education, preparedness training, relief, and recovery coordination.

These disaster interfaiths often receive short-term support during active relief and recovery efforts for local and regional disasters. In the long-term, however, our colleagues report feelings of isolation and a need for peer support, guidance on identifying training, program best practices, and funding. We also have an emerging need for identifying technological tools and regular peer support for exploring administrative, fundraising, and governance challenges of leading interfaith disaster human service organizations.

To best address these common interests and needs of disaster interfaiths and their leadership, the National Disaster Interfaiths Network (NDIN) was incorporated as a non-profit 501(c)(3) in December 2007.

Articles of Incorporation

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Conflict of Interest Policy

This Conflict of Interest Policy (this "Policy") is designed to assist directors, officers and employees of NDIN in identifying situations that present potential conflicts of interest and to provide NDIN with a procedure which, if followed, will allow a transaction to be treated as valid and binding even though a director, officer or employee has or may have a conflict of interest with respect to such transaction.

I. Definitions

For purposes of this Policy, the following terms have the following meanings:

A “Conflict of Interest” is any circumstance described in Section II of this Policy.A “Responsible Person” is any person serving as an officer, employee or member of the Board of Directors of NDIN (the “Board”).

A “Family Member” is a spouse, domestic partner, parent, child or spouse of a child, brother, sister, or spouse of a brother or sister, of a Responsible Person.

A “Material Financial Interest” in an entity is a financial interest of any kind, which, in view of all the circumstances, is substantial enough that it would, or reasonably could, affect a Responsible Person’s or Family Member’s judgment with respect to transactions to which the entity is a party. This includes all forms of compensation.

A “Contract or Transaction” is any agreement or relationship involving the sale or purchase of goods, services, or rights of any kind, the providing or receipt of a loan or grant, the establishment of any other type of pecuniary relationship, or review of a charitable organization by NDIN. The making of a gift to NDIN is not a Contract or Transaction.

II. Conflict of Interest

For purposes of this policy, the following circumstances shall be deemed to create a Conflict of Interest:

a. Outside Interests.

A Contract or Transaction between NDIN and a Responsible Person or Family Member.

A Contract or Transaction between NDIN and an entity in which a Responsible Person or Family Member has a Material Financial Interest or of which such person is a director, officer, agent, partner, associate, trustee, personal representative, receiver, guardian, custodian, conservator or other legal representative.

b. Outside Activities.

A Responsible Person competing with NDIN in the rendering of services or in any other Contract or Transaction with a third party.

A Responsible Person’s having a Material Financial Interest in, or serving as a director, officer, employee, agent, partner, associate, trustee, personal representative, receiver, guardian, custodian, conservator or other legal representative of, or consultant to, an entity or individual that competes with NDIN in the provision of services or in any other Contract or Transaction with a third party.

III. Gifts, Gratuities and Entertainment

A Responsible Person accepting gifts, entertainment, or other favors from any individual or entity that:

does or is seeking to do business with, or is a competitor of NDIN; or

has received, is receiving or is seeking to receive a loan or grant, or to secure other financial commitments from NDIN;

under circumstances where it might be inferred that such action was intended to influence or possibly would influence the Responsible Person in the performance of his or her duties. This does not preclude the acceptance of items of nominal or insignificant value or entertainment of nominal or insignificant value which are not related to any particular transaction or activity of NDIN.

IV. Procedures

Prior to action by the Board or a committee thereof (a “Committee”) on a Contract or Transaction involving a Conflict of Interest, a director or committee member having a Conflict of Interest and who attends the meeting shall disclose all facts material to the Conflict of Interest. Such disclosure shall be reflected in the minutes of the meeting.

A director or committee member who plans not to attend a meeting at which he or she has reason to believe that the board or committee will act on a matter in which the person has a Conflict of Interest shall disclose to the chair of the meeting (the “Chair”) all facts material to the Conflict of Interest. The chair shall report the disclosure at the meeting and the disclosure shall be reflected in the minutes of the meeting. A person who has a Conflict of Interest shall not participate in or be permitted to hear the Board’s or Committee’s discussion of the matter except to disclose material facts and to respond to questions. Such person shall not attempt to exert his or her personal influence with respect to the matter, either at or outside the meeting.

A person who has a Conflict of Interest with respect to a Contract or Transaction that will be voted on at a meeting shall not be counted in determining the presence of a quorum for purposes of the vote. The person having a Conflict of Interest may not vote on the Contract or Transaction and shall not be present in the meeting room when the vote is taken unless the vote is by secret ballot. Such person’s ineligibility to vote shall be reflected in the minutes of the meeting. For purposes of this paragraph, a member of the Board has a Conflict of Interest when he or she stands for election as an officer or for re‑election as a member of the Board.

Responsible Persons who are not members of the Board, or who have a Conflict of Interest with respect to a Contract or Transaction that is not the subject of Board or Committee action, shall disclose to the Chair or the Chair’s designee any Conflict of Interest that such Responsible Person has with respect to a Contract or Transaction. Such disclosure shall be made as soon as the Conflict of Interest is known to the Responsible Person. The Responsible Person shall refrain from any action that may affect NDIN’s participation in such Contract or Transaction.

In the event it is not entirely clear that a Conflict of Interest exists, the individual with the potential conflict shall disclose the circumstances to the Chair or the Chair’s designee, who shall determine whether there exists a Conflict of Interest that is subject to this Policy.

The procedures taken to review a Conflict of Interest shall be documented. Such documentation shall include:

• the size of the transaction relative to the like expenses of NDIN;
• the nonparticipation in voting on the transaction by the person having the Conflict of Interest;
• whether competitive bids were sought;
• whether the transaction is one‑time, recurring or ongoing.

V. Confidentiality

Each Responsible Person shall exercise care not to disclose confidential information acquired in connection with such status or information the disclosure of which might be adverse to the interests of NDIN. Furthermore, a Responsible Person shall not disclose or use information relating to the business of NDIN for the personal profit or advantage of the Responsible Person or a Family Member.

VI. Review of Policy

Each new Responsible Person shall be required to review a copy of this policy and to acknowledge in writing that he or she has done so by completing a Conflict-of-Interest Information Form.

Each Responsible Person shall annually complete a disclosure form identifying any relationships, positions, or circumstances in which the Responsible Person is involved that he or she believes could contribute to a Conflict of Interest arising. Such relationships, positions or circumstances might include service as a director of or consultant to a nonprofit organization, or ownership of a business that might provide goods or services to NDIN. Any such information regarding business interests of a Responsible Person or a Family Member shall be treated as confidential and shall generally be made available only to the Chair, the Executive Director, and any committee appointed to address Conflicts of Interest, except to the extent additional disclosure is necessary in connection with the implementation of this Policy.

This Policy shall be reviewed annually by each member of the Board. Any changes to the policy shall be communicated immediately to all Responsible Persons.

Privacy Statement

The National Disaster Interfaiths Network (NDIN) is committed to respecting the privacy and the confidentiality of information provided to it or which it collects.

1. Donor Data

a. Information that individuals provide to NDIN through online donations or mail

2. iNET

a. Information that individuals provide or that NDIN collects; email and contact information on all subscribers

3. n-din.org

a. We collect cookies

4. Membership Data

a. Information that agencies provide to NDIN through online data collection tools

With regard to individuals, if you choose to provide us with personal information about yourself, either through a form on one of our websites or by e-mail, we may collect and use that information (and have it updated when necessary) to contact you or to send you additional information. By registering or participating in any one of the above, you are subscribing to our e-mail communications – iNET. Users may unsubscribe at any time. By providing us the information, you are authorizing us to use it to achieve the purposes of our programs.

In an effort to make these websites more “user friendly” and useful, we track a small amount of information regarding site access and use. This includes what pages on our sites are accessed and when they are accessed. Such tracking does not determine or identify by name the individual using the website (the system only maintains the user information that users choose to provide). We utilize “cookies” as part of this effort. Cookies are a small file containing a string of characters which are written onto your computer’s hard drive through your browser that uniquely identifies your browser. We use cookies to improve the quality of our service by storing user preferences and tracking user trends. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, but you can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, some features and services on this site may not function properly if your cookies are disabled.

We do not sell, rent, trade, or otherwise transfer any personally identifiable information (such as home phone numbers or social security numbers) provided by our visitors or others to any unrelated third party or for commercial gain or profit, and as a matter of practice do not share it with governmental entities, law enforcement, or investigators. However, we may share it with related entities such as the National VOAD or the Federal Emergency Management Agency or as may be required under applicable laws or by order of competent authorities.

We will use information provided to collaborate with the voluntary organizations or emergency management officials to fulfill the purposes of HOWCALM®. This is limited to publicly available information such as facility addresses and phone numbers, and does not include individual information. The exception is with regard to homebound congregational members, so that evacuation/rescue information can be provided to emergency personnel, with such personnel then having the responsibility to perform such evacuation/rescue if necessary and appropriate. (NDIN cannot guarantee that such personnel will in fact perform such evacuation/rescue services.) Participants can choose to not participate at any time.

Although on this restricted user access website we use password protection and other technical security and organizational measures that we believe to be appropriate to protect the limited personal and/or confidential identifying information disclosed to us on our websites or otherwise, we do not guarantee that our security precautions will protect against, and we expressly disclaim any liability for, any loss, misuse, or alteration of your information or from your access to or use of our information.

Bear in mind that links provided from our websites may be to sites not under the control of NDIN and which may have different privacy policies. This privacy statement applies solely to personal information that is provided to or collected by NDIN, so we urge you to be careful when you provide any personal information to others or on other websites. NDIN accepts no responsibility or liability for misuse of personal information by any other entity or website.

Your use of NDIN websites constitutes your acceptance of the terms of this privacy statement as indicated. NDIN reserves the right to modify this privacy statement if deemed necessary. Your subsequent continued use of this website constitutes your acceptance of such revised terms.

NDIN will retain information provided or obtained for as long as is necessary to achieve the purposes of this agency’s disaster readiness, response and recovery, as well as to comply with applicable laws or orders of competent authorities.

If you do not want NDIN to further use (beyond the legal requirements noted above and beyond information that is publicly available) information previously given to us by you including on or through our websites to contact you, or if you wish to correct such information, please contact us at the address provided.

Terms of Use

Please read this disclaimer carefully before using this website. By accessing the website, you further agree to be bound by the terms and conditions below.

NDIN presents the information on our websites as a service to the public and to participants in national faith-based emergency management. We make no warranty or guarantee concerning the accuracy or reliability of the content at this site or other sites to which we link. No representations whatsoever are made herein. Our websites and the information and other material available on or accessible from our websites are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of title, non-infringement, or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. NDIN does not warrant that the websites’ services will be uninterrupted or error free or that any information, software or other material available on or accessible through the website is free of viruses, worms, trojan horses or other harmful components.

Under no circumstances shall NDIN be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential damages that result in any way from your use of or inability to use the website or your reliance on or use of information or materials provided on or through the website, or that result from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files, errors, defects, delays in operation, or transmission, or any failure of performance, or the acts or omissions of third parties.

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold NDIN harmless from any and all liabilities, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, related to any violation of these terms and conditions by you.

Links from our websites to external sites are provided as a courtesy and are not an endorsement or approval of the content or viewpoints of such external sites.

All trademarks of others as may appear on this website are trademarks of their respective owners. All copyrighted materials of others as may appear on this website are the copyrights of their owners. Any unauthorized downloading and distribution of any copyrighted material from this site or sites to which we link, without the copyright owner’s permission, is strictly prohibited.