Diana Rothe-Smith

When disaster strikes, the most important thing for organizations to do is figure out their role in terms of the relief efforts, says Diana Rothe-Smith, director of disaster initiatives for the Points of Light Foundation and Volunteer Center National Network. As director of disaster initiatives for the organization, Rothe-Smith is responsible for the management of what she calls “spontaneous volunteers,” i.e., those people watching the news who are compelled to do something to help and often simply get in their cars and drive to the disaster area. “What we try to do is develop plans, procedures and policies to kind of get between