A MARC puts every agency a disaster survivor needs in one building for one to three days. The explainer covers what a MARC is and why it matters. This toolkit is the part you print the week you decide to hold one.
MARC Planning Guide
Twelve pages: the MARC in one page, a day-by-day countdown from decision to doors open, site selection, client flow, roles with headcounts, which agencies to invite for which needs, local considerations, a day-of run sheet, supplies, and what to do after.
Sample MARC Floor Plan
A gym-sized layout with numbered client flow: reception, damage verification, ambassadors, government and insurance tables first, nonprofits second, private casework, quiet room, children's area, resource corner, exit survey. Renumber the tables for the agencies you confirm.
MARC Forms Pack
Ten printable forms and templates: client registration, client passport, partner agency form with code of conduct, daily agency log, exit survey in English and Spanish, agency invitation, public announcement, half-page flyer in English and Spanish, opening and closing checklists, and partner debrief.
Kansas Edition
The planning guide with a Kansas agency table and a southwest Kansas page, plus the Kansas MARC Agency Contact List: federal, state, Kansas VOAD member and southwest Kansas organizations, built from the FEMA Kansas referral list and Kansas VOAD membership.
The floor plan
Government and insurance tables come first because FEMA status and insurance status decide what every nonprofit table can do. Casework is behind partitions. The children's area is visible from the waiting area. One way in, one way out, with the exit survey at the door.
Where this comes from
The toolkit condenses and localizes the Multi-Agency Resource Center Planning Resource (American Red Cross, Catholic Charities USA and The Salvation Army, June 2015, reviewed by FEMA), a 68-page national document with 28 appendices. The forms here are modeled on its appendices. Read it when you have time; it is the authority. The state contact lists start from FEMA's per-state referral lists and each state VOAD's membership roster.
- MARC Planning Resource and the Red Cross "MARC Basics" course: preparecenter.org
- Your state VOAD, via the National VOAD member directory: nvoad.org
- FEMA state and local referral lists, one per state: fema.gov
- FEMA IS-288.A, The Role of Voluntary Organizations in Emergency Management: training.fema.gov
Need another state?
The guide, floor plan and forms work anywhere. Only the contact list and the "who to invite" table are state-specific. Email us the state and the county and we will build the contact sheet from that state's FEMA referral list and VOAD roster.
Planning a MARC right now?
Tell us the disaster, the county and the date you are aiming for. We will help you adapt the invitation list and the floor plan, and we can stand up free volunteer sign-up for cleanup crews through Serve.Love.
Email team@serve.loveRelated Guides
- What Is a MARC? The explainer that goes with this toolkit
- Standing Up an LTR Where MARC registration data goes next
- Who Does What: Partner Roles Understand agencies before inviting them