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Why really convinces people to support international aid?
Do people support aid to poor countries because they think is in their own personal and national self-interest? Or because they think it is the right thing to do?
Differently put: what stops people from supporting the less fortunate? Fear that their money will be wasted, or do they just not care?
What was the last time you donated to an international cause? What made you do it?
Topics:
aid charity generosity giving global issues
Zdenek Smith 100+
From my point of view it is difficult to see how my donation is actually used. Is my donation spent for the cause? Is it spent wisely? We can never be sure for 100% but given a certain credibility of the recepient we need to take some risks.
I am donating monthly (sponsoring a child) and then also to extra causes occasionally. I hope everyone with financial stability will donate regularly.
I think social media can enourmosly help increase donations to NGOs. I see online trend to create some kind of emotional connection between the donor and the recepient in order for the donor to feel good and in order to create a more permanent relationship. For example, one organization in Pakistan lets sponsored students to tweet about their school experiences so that their donors can see how much these kids benefit from their donations.
In another case, this article (http://mashable.com/2011/01/27/the-girl-store/) describes the use of online media to show how each donation can help a concrete girl to go to school instead of being sold into slavery (http://www.the-girl-store.org/).
Finally, some people are starting to use group events like birth day parties and weddings to donate on behalf of others. For example, for my daughter's birthday, we told the invited kids that instead of buying them goodie bags, we spend the money on a donation. We let the kids to choose what kind of donation they wanted to make (art supplies won).
Alanna Shaikh 100+
Mark Meijer 100+
Mark Meijer 100+
1 - What is the cause?
2 - How much can I trust that my donation will actually contribute to the actual cause, and not some manager's golden toilet bowl, some warlord's payoffs, or some doctor's yacht?
3 - Assuming my donation will end up contributing to the actual cause in one way or another, how much can I trust that it will be put to good use in an effective way?
4 - Assuming the majority of people's donations and work will be put to as good use as possible, how likely is that to actually further the cause, rather than sizzle away to no avail?
When I feel I can really contribute something worthwhile, even if only with money, I'll do so and have done so. But unfortunately, often times I don't, because of one or several of the above four points. And at least in my mind, I think it most often sticks on one or several of points 2, 3 and 4.
Points 2 and 3 are obvious enough, but here's an example for point number 4. I think for example that contributing to the cause of improved stability, living conditions, and wildlife preservation in various regions in Africa, could be a good cause. Check point number 1. But no amount of donations is going to help, as long as governments, corporations and people from all of the rest of the world don't change their politics, exploitations, and consuming patterns that affect most of the area. Fail point number 4.
Sometimes money isn't the solution to a problem, but the cause of it. Also, money is no cure for ignorance.