NGOs on the ground also say it is critical that aid money is funnelled directly to local groups who are on the frontline of the response, and that cash is shared evenly, and not along sectarian lines.

“Aid agencies and philanthropic entities should consider the critical importance of Lebanon’s nonprofit sector and the country’s social enterprises,” said Beirut-born Maysa Jalbout, a board member of the Middle East-focused venture philanthropy organisation Alfanar.

Donors need to think not just about the immediate emergency “but rather for the long-term rebuilding of Beirut, and development needs of the most vulnerable people in the country,” she said.

UAE-based Jalbout, a senior fellow at Issam Fares Institute (IFI) for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, pointed to a significant opportunity for philanthropic organisations to collaborate and leverage their resources in order to better respond to the crisis.

“The need is so big that I truly believe partnership is the only way to go,” she said, adding to calls for a holistic social response to the disaster, rather than a focus just on infrastructure.

“Getting people back to work again, supporting families who have lost breadwinners, helping the elderly who have lost homes: these are difficult things to address. My hope is that they will be prioritised over short-term relief efforts, they require longer-term coordinated efforts.”

The UN, which has launched a $565m flash appeal in response to the explosion, is also looking to diversify its donors and is directly targeting the private sector.

Danielle Moylan, a spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the body that oversees UN emergency relief, said: “This kind of funding can be incredibly valuable to humanitarian appeals, as it can be more flexible with fewer conditions, as opposed to what a donor like a government would typically do. A philanthropic organisation or a business could really look at underfunded areas.”

One of the many diaspora organisations helping to generate non-governmental funds for Beirut is Impact Lebanon, which is London based but with global membership. The nonprofit, which fundraises and organises community initiatives to support people in Lebanon, smashed its initial target of $1m in just one day and as of 31st August had collected $8.3m.

The money raised by Impact Lebanon will be distributed, it says, among local NGOs and not to international or UN-related aid agencies. There is also a vetting process in place to ensure selected partners are registered and recognised, well-run, apolitical and non-sectarian.

Among the partners earmarked to receive a portion of the funds are Al Ghina, an organisation providing financial, medical and food aid for orphans, widows and families, and Nusaned, a humanitarian, community-based and volunteer organisation focusing on building rehabilitation.

Rouba Mhaissen, founder of Sawa for Development and Aid (SAWA), a Lebanese-based NGO working with Syrian refugees, stressed the importance of ensuring aid was evenly distributed.

“A large number of those affected by the blast are Syrian refugees, migrant workers, and underprivileged minority groups,” she told Philanthropy Age. “Failure to have an inclusive approach to the distribution of all this aid money could have serious long-term implications, including xenophobia and a rise in black market jobs.”

The UN’s Moylan said the blast represented “a tipping point” for Lebanon.

“Either the international community sets itself up to assist Lebanon, or it becomes yet another country tragically dependent, in the long-term, on aid. This is absolutely what we don't want to occur,” she said. – PA