As humanitarian crises have deepened worldwide, a collapse in funding, a lack of investments in logistics, and increased political pressure have all made it harder than ever to get aid to the people who need it most, both in the U.S. and abroad.

"The biggest challenge is all of the uncertainty that's out there," says Kathy Fulton, executive director for the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN).

According to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), humanitarian funding in 2025 fell to its lowest levels in a decade, driven in large part by the Trump administration's shuttering of the USAID, which for years served as one of the world’s largest humanitarian donors. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Paris-based international forum of 38 member countries working to promote policies that improve global economic and social well-being, further found that aid assistance fell globally by more than 23% year-over-year in 2025, marking the largest annual dip on record.

This has come at a time when humanitarian aid has never been more critical. In Gaza, aid groups have struggled to get food and fuel in as Israel has tightened access. In Sudan, a years-long civil war has forced millions from their homes, and left many on the brink of famine. And in Ukraine, ongoing Russian attacks on infrastructure have kept demand high for basic supplies like food, heat and shelter.

Underscoring all of this is the fact that logistics planning has consistently failed to be a point of emphasis for a large portion of nonprofit organizations, despite research that shows logistics account for anywhere between 60% and 80% of humanitarian response costs. A survey conducted by ALAN in 2025 also found that half of nonprofits face logistics challenges that slow down response times and raise costs each year, while 70% believe that better funding and stronger logistics relationships would make the biggest difference in improving the impact of their organizations.

Read More: A Race Against Time — Inside the Logistics of Humanitarian Aid

"I think we can spell 'logistics' now, and maybe we even understand what the supply chain is, but the need to dedicate team members or budget to it is still lagging," Fulton says.

The logistics behind humanitarian aid are far more complex and unpredictable than what's seen in commercial supply chains. As Fulton explains, the core process of the latter entails getting products from "point A" to "point B" through well-established shipping networks and warehouses. When it comes to transporting humanitarian aid, organizations constantly encounter volatility, and are often tasked with serving areas with damaged or nonexistent infrastructure, limited visibility into demand, and rapidly shifting access because of any combination of violent conflict, natural disasters and local political or legislative barriers.

Even so, the focus for most nonprofits remains ensuring they have what they need to perform their stated mission. Whether it's feeding people, providing medical care or supporting displaced populations, thin margins and uncertain funding often force relief organizations to concentrate the bulk of their efforts on gathering donations and resources on the front end, rather than figuring out the best way to distribute supplies on the back-end.

"Organizations operate from a position of scarcity, and they have to do as much as possible with as little as possible," Fulton explains. That makes it so logistics are treated as an afterthought, even as they represent the deciding factor in whether aid can be delivered quickly, efficiently and at scale.

The current political climate around humanitarian aid has only served to exacerbate those issues. Research from George Washington University's Global Food Institute details how more than 5,000 U.S. food assistance contracts were canceled in spring 2025, representing roughly $27 billion in investments. Those cuts immediately led to disruptions in essential food shipments and the shuttering of warehouses. Carefully constructed logistics networks collapsed virtually overnight.

Without those established networks, communication between organizations and their partners completely broke down, the GFI noted, and nonprofits no longer had reliable channels to coordinate on even the most basic of logistics questions.

"Organizations duplicated efforts, missed deadlines, or were forced to rely on backchannels and personal contacts to stay updated," the GFI said, adding that in many cases, breakdowns were so severe that aid organizations were left without clear visibility into where supplies were, how they were being moved, or whether they would arrive at all.

As funding dries up and the need for humanitarian assistance increases, getting aid to the right place at the right time is just as important as securing it in the first place. But without sustained investments in logistics and coordination, even the best-supplied humanitarian programs risk falling short before help ever reaches the people who need it most.