| By Gavin Chait,
on 26 December 2006
|
 Just because you believe doesn't make it so There are three reasons for caution: the first is that it makes solving the world's most difficult development problems appear simple; second is that it creates a remote and emotionless void between the giver and recipient; and, third, that there is a massive assumption that the organisation you're giving to (mostly a third-party intermediary) knows who to give the money to and how to go about it.
Gifter.org, an online charity project, has launched the Million Dollar Blog Post as an initiative to raise funds for charity. Without in any way disparaging their intentions, the most important aspect of this is not creating the interest or drive. As Hugh Macleod says, in the inspirational gapingvoid.com, "The market for something to believe in is infinite." And nothing is more inspirational than the idea and belief that solving the world's most intractable problems is a mere mouse click away.
A few years ago I was at a dinner where, in a fit of vicarious generosity (after all, he wasn't giving away his own money) the host requested that we all put money in a hat so that he could give the proceeds to a good cause. I stuck up my hand and asked who he was giving the money to. The vague response was, "Oh, there were some street kids hanging about in the parking lot. I'll give it to them." Money is never more than a quick fix to economic problems at the best of times. Giving money directly to people who have lost the capacity to know what is in their own best interest is simply wasteful and may leave the giver feeling all warm and fuzzy but does little for the recipient, who is unlikely to invest it. This may sound harsh but the experience of most professional development agencies is this: if the poor knew what to do to help themselves they'd be doing it.
The responsibility of people who wish to do good is to do far more than simply give themselves a short-term and spurious feeling of "doing good" and ensure that any intervention in another human being's life really does produce tangible benefit for that person.
Gifter.org may be wildly successful at raising money. Bob Geldof with his Live Aid concert in 1985 raised £ 150 million for food sent to NGOs in Ethiopia. Much of the food and money went to local warlords who traded it for influence. The vast bulk simply rotted in warehouses for lack of the infrastructure to deliver it (and the will of the government who care more about power than the good of their own people). Good intentions mean nothing without the will and capacity to see it through.
Charity Navigator has just introduced online giving on their website. The real power of their initiative is that they, similarly to Whythawk, are a charity rating service. By donating via their site the donor can at least verify that the organisation they are supporting has the capacity, ability and track-record to deliver on their promises.
Without that third-party verification any fundraising initiative is so much hot air which makes the donor look good while doing nothing to alleviate poverty.
|
|
|
Add your comment
|
