Even with the economic downturn, philanthropic activities still remain strong. The biggest one in the news was U2 frontman Bono's Product RED campaign to fight AIDS.
Such programs are great because voluntary money pours in from tons of people. Everyone gives what they can, and it gets added to create one huge sum. They also call the world's attention to circumstances we must all be mindful of, and if that leads to positive change, the better it is.
Such programs are great because voluntary money pours in from tons of people. Everyone gives what they can, and it gets added to create one huge sum. They also call the world's attention to circumstances we must all be mindful of, and if that leads to positive change, the better it is.
Whats the motivation for people to give...four possible reasons that stand out are :
a) Make a contribution for change
b) Relieve the guilt of being relatively better off than others
c) Tax write-off
a) Make a contribution for change
b) Relieve the guilt of being relatively better off than others
c) Tax write-off
d) Earn points for Moralilty among peers
I feel it's a combination of all four, but more #b and less #a. If the priority was #a, then we'd be living in utopia. Instead, despite the billions donated to many causes, not much has changed. No doubt changes do occur, but they rarely survive once the money ends. There are counter-examples, but mostly, giving that is targeted at persistent and endemic problems (vs. temp issues like earthquakes, tsunamis) results in minimal transformation.
I feel it's a combination of all four, but more #b and less #a. If the priority was #a, then we'd be living in utopia. Instead, despite the billions donated to many causes, not much has changed. No doubt changes do occur, but they rarely survive once the money ends. There are counter-examples, but mostly, giving that is targeted at persistent and endemic problems (vs. temp issues like earthquakes, tsunamis) results in minimal transformation.
These are incredibly hard problems and money alone has never solved them. If you live in the US of A, you don't have to drive very far to see homeless people at traffic lights.....Today, while coming out from a diner near central Denver, my friend and I were startled by a homeless person asking for a buck....feeling sorry, we parted with the money.
Back home in my country India, tens of millions of people still remain in poverty after 60 years of government $billions channelled into welfare spending in budget allocations.
Why does money alone not work? To create sustainable action, the recipient must continue to make the same decisions they did after the money ends. This is not easy when you are the sole breadwinner who now has to decide between feeding the family or sending the kids to school, because the nonprofit that funded the tuition is now focussed elsewhere..
We the givers - we also make the choice of sending money instead of participating. We sit in our armchairs, in front of our laptops and donate our $s ...we all inevitably take the easy road, which is why change never remains - the hard problems are not solved because we hardly participate. Until we do, there will be little or no change.
Why does money alone not work? To create sustainable action, the recipient must continue to make the same decisions they did after the money ends. This is not easy when you are the sole breadwinner who now has to decide between feeding the family or sending the kids to school, because the nonprofit that funded the tuition is now focussed elsewhere..
We the givers - we also make the choice of sending money instead of participating. We sit in our armchairs, in front of our laptops and donate our $s ...we all inevitably take the easy road, which is why change never remains - the hard problems are not solved because we hardly participate. Until we do, there will be little or no change.
Recently, my organization, Infosys Tech Ltd, (Infy), a Banglore-based IT giant, rolled out an unprecedented policy to allow willing recruits to take upto a year-long sabbatical and work for a nonprofit within India or write open-source software. Those who sign up can pick from a list of non-profits and Infy would pay half of his/her salary.. simply brilliant idea..
If people/institutions/orgs ever decide to see meaningful change, a bias for action is the first step forward...
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