A Guide for COVID-19 Donations

(As of 3/25/20)

This guide was developed by an individual within the PPE Coalition based on what he is seeing in the PPE market.

Overview

The market for PPE (protective personal equipment) supplies is extremely challenging. Fluctuating high prices paired with exceptional demand has placed much of the control in the hands of factory owners, who are able to dictate terms (100% up front, no shipping estimate until purchase order issued, etc.) and provide preferential treatment to the largest orders. This results in problems for hospitals, hospital systems, and state governments who are having severe difficulties accessing the PPE supplies they need.

In parallel, many private donors have come forward offering to pledge money to causes supporting procurement of PPE. This overview is intended to guide discussions about how to best route these donations according to the type of impact the donor is looking to make as well as they amount they are interesting in donating.

Levels of Need

Broadly speaking there are 4 levels of need:

1) Hyper local

Thousands of clinics, family practices, and other groups need small numbers of PPE supplies, ranging from 10 to 1k PPE items. These groups are hard to route supplies to and nearly impossible to secure orders for given their small sizes.

• Best existing solution (as of 3/25/20): donation of PPE from private citizens directly to the group in need.
• Example of solution: California PPE Project has connected donors of more than 14k masks with family physician practices.
• Who should donate: individuals with direct access to PPE.
• Challenges: reliability of donors with PPE, matching supply/demand is complex at hyper local level.

2) City / local

Community hospitals and local providers need larger amounts of PPE ranging from 10k to 100k but their orders still aren’t large enough to be placed with many suppliers. This is arguably the most challenging layer to be solved, as the needs are both too big to be provided with donated PPE and too small to be serviced by suppliers.

• Best existing solutions (as of 3/25/20): purchasing supplies on behalf of community hospitals and then donating them to hospital, or donating to non-profits purchasing supplies on behalf of hospitals.
• Example of solutions:

- ProjectN95 is working to aggregate demand of local needs and then coordinate the fulfillment of these orders.

- Operation Masks is a non-profit collecting donations to purchase supplies on behalf of local hospitals.

• Who should donate: individuals looking to contribute $100k-1M.
• Challenges: many donors are looking to write checks to hospitals and then let them finalize procurement details. While this helps relieve the financial burden, it does not simplify the coordination problems that stem from matching small procurement departments with PPE suppliers.

3) Hospital systems / large hospitals / state DPH

These entities are requesting 1M to 50M+ PPE items. The entities need to work orders through their internal procurement processes and require millions of dollars to finalize their purchase orders.

• Best existing solutions (as of 3/25/20): matching these entities with vetted suppliers who have access to millions in PPE items, donating to non-profits purchasing supplies on behalf of hospitals, or purchasing supplies on behalf of hospitals.
• Example of solution: Helena.org is a non-profit raising significant sums to purchase large supplies of PPE and distribute them to hospital systems that are most in need of PPE.
• Who should donate: individuals looking to contribute $1M-10M+.
• Challenges: many high net worth individuals, family offices, and entities with deep financial resources are attempting to leverage their own non-profits to coordinate financing and bulk purchase PPE — this reduces the overall purchasing power of the groups that have already raised millions of dollars. Additionally, many groups underestimate the significant challenges of identifying and vetting suppliers, purchasing and coordinating shipments, and managing distribution networks to get these supplies directly to the hospitals.

4) National

Entities like FEMA are seeking to procure 100M to 1B+ in PPE supplies. These entities are coordinating with the largest factories and suppliers in the world to bulk purchase PPE and navigate complex regulatory and national security concerns.

• Best existing solution (as of 3/25/20): match vetted suppliers with access to >100M+ in PPE with FEMA or applicable government body.
• Example of solution: FEMA recently circulated a document requesting information on the largest suppliers of PPE globally.
• Who should donate: donations are unlikely to be helpful at this level as the purchase orders are in the multi-billions. Any entity interested in donating large amounts should contact FEMA directly.
• Challenges: numerous including complex regulations, national security concerns, vetting of suppliers, and shifting supply chain dynamics and relationships on a global scale.