Hello.
I hope everyone’s weekend is going well. I am going to take this time to
discuss and reflect on a topic that particularly struck me as interesting and
seemingly so obvious, yet it is a topic which most people are not aware of:
this would be the topic of simply donating at the right time and to the right
organization. When any type of philanthropist, whether it be a child donating
the spare change in his piggy bank or a billionaire making a
multi-million-dollar contribution, just the feeling of knowing that they are
contributing for the greater good and doing something selfless warms their
heart with the feeling that they are directly helping a cause greater that
their own-or, so they think. Within just the first week of class, something
that struck me as so shocking, yet so obvious that I could not believe I did
not consider it within my entire life, was the fact that when we blindly donate
to a nonprofit organization, it does contribute to a good cause, but often we do
not know where and what the money goes toward. As we touched upon the first
week of class, if you donate a sizeable amount of money to, say, Feeding
America, is your grant going directly toward food for the hungry? Perhaps it is
simply going into paying for their electric bill. Maybe there was another
organization that could have used the money to aid in a greater cause; one that
would have helped to stop hunger altogether, rather than providing temporary
relief. These are a few of the many factors we must consider when making a
donation of any size to any organization or cause.
Within
discussion in class and personal reflection outside of class, a huge factor which
stuck out to me which we do not consider when making a donation, specifically
to a disaster relief effort, is the timing of the donation, or, rather, the
optimal time to truly make a contribution. For instance, as we discussed in
class, there seems to be an economic cycle which follows each and every natural
disaster. This cycle begins with a spike in donations immediately following the
event as a result of the media featuring the cause on nearly every news
station, high-profile online website, and other means of digital influence. Soon
after this initial “spike” in donations (approximately 2-3 weeks after the
occurrence of the event), however, the media simply moves on to the next big
story and a resulting plummet in donations follows; meanwhile, the disaster
relief efforts typically carry on for months or sometimes even years. This is
the truly optimal time to make a donation in the case of a disaster relief
effort. An example of this lies in the relief efforts in response to Hurricane
Maria (as we briefly discussed in class). The so-called “initial spike” in
donations has long since passed; however, half the island of Puerto Rico is
still currently without power. Without the proper capital to fund these relief
efforts, the recovery of the island will drastically slow down, and perhaps
even stall. It is instances such as the Hurricane Maria relief efforts in
Puerto Rico which demonstrate that we must donate with our brains more than our
hearts. The correct time to do this varies, but we must donate when donations
from others are beginning to decline.
The
amount of common sense we lack as a society in terms of philanthropy startles
me. As I stated earlier, the fact that I had never previously thought of any of
the topics discussed in class caught me by surprise. The general population
should absolutely be more exposed to the topics which we have discussed in
class. An online article from cbsnews.com (to which I have attached the link) is
something I found particularly interesting. It talks about how-more often than
not-it is more helpful to donate cash than an item to disaster relief efforts;
sometimes an item can actually enhance the problem. An example of this was in
2004, when an island in Indonesia received so many clothing items in relief of
the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The clothing items came in so often and so
frequently that officials were forced to leave them to rot on a beach and
eventually burn them. This-as stated previously-simply created a new problem
and slightly prolonged relief efforts. This idea of there being more than one
dimension to philanthropy or, rather, a simple donation to any random nonprofit,
is something which I believe the public is not exposed to nearly enough. The
average philanthropist should be educated to the topics which we are currently
discussing, especially to the idea of Strategic
Philanthropy. Before I conclude, I would like for all of you, the readers,
to ask yourself these questions whenever you consider making a donation of some
kind:
- Is this a cause which I am passionate about?
- Did I do my research on this organization/cause?
- Is this organization/cause trustworthy? Does it have a good reputation?
- What would my donation be going toward?
- Is it better to donate to a local nonprofit or rather a large, nationally-known organization?
- Is it more sensible (in this case) to donate items or capital?
- Is this truly the organization/cause which will make the most out of my donation? Is there another organization/cause out there in which my grant would be put to better use?
- How much of a difference would I truly be making if I donated to this organization/cause?
- Am I donating in tandem with my brain and my heart?
These are all questions we must ask
ourselves in order to make as much of a difference as possible. In reflecting
on this topic, my hope is that the general population becomes more educated
about strategic philanthropy, and the idea that blindly donating to any charity
or nonprofit may not be the smartest thing.
Article Links:
- “Best intentions: When disaster relief brings anything but relief”: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/best-intentions-when-disaster-relief-brings-anything-but-relief/
- “Want to Help Hurricane Harvey Victims? Experts Say Donate Cash”: https://www.npr.org/2017/08/29/546866561/responding-to-harvey-will-be-long-term-issue-plan-cash-donations-to-match
- “Hurricane Harvey: Where the Money Goes When You Donate to the American Red Cross”: http://time.com/money/4920070/hurricane-harvey-where-the-money-goes-when-you-donate-to-the-american-red-cross/
- “Should You Donate to Disaster Relief? In response to Harvey, we may do more good by ditching empathy as a moral guide.”: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/partisan-pitfalls-and-moral-misperceptions/201708/should-you-donate-disaster-relief
