I'm going to show you one of the top reasons nonprofits have a hard time getting and keeping donors. It's an attitude. A belief that donors should respond to need without real connection to the need. That the need for connection is a kind of moral shortcoming on the part of donors.
You can see this clearly expressed in a post titled Poverty porn and fundraising at Owen Abroad, a blog written by Owen Barder, an aid worker in Ethiopia.
Yes, you read that right: "poverty porn."
Owen's issue is largely with fundraising programs that connect donors with beneficiaries on a one-to-one level. Programs like child sponsorship. The problems with this are:
- They cause the poor "to prostitute themselves by writing letters of gratitude to their sponsors."
- It's "wasteful of time and effort."
- It is "degrading to those involved."
While he concedes the fundraising effectiveness of these connections, he says it's the outcome of a deeper failing:
Their behaviour is the result of a broader problem, with the citizens of rich countries, who seem to be unwilling to sacrifice a tiny part of their income to help a fellow human being unless they feel some sort of personal connection with the recipient. This is charity of a Dickensian sort: not a system of social justice and protection, but throwing some coins to a beggar in the street and expecting to be lavishly thanked.
Before I comment, let me say that I don't know Owen, but I've had the privilege of meeting many others in his profession, around Africa and other parts of the developing world. These people are heroes. The work they do under tough conditions, their strength, ingenuity, and service ethic they demonstrate set them apart.
That said, Owen's beliefs about donors -- and he is not at all alone -- are utterly corrosive to nonprofit work.
Pardon me, but since when is human connection a form of prostitution?
Connection is central to the human condition. Without it, hatred, xenophobia, and apathy grow and thrive. With connection, it's a lot harder to start wars or perpetuate oppression. Personal connection across geographic and cultural boundaries shows us as fact what we know in our hearts to be true: We're not that different from each other.
Organizations that promote connection aren't just doing smart fundraising. They're helping their donors become better, smarter, deeper, more aware people. More connection means not just more money. It means more understanding, more caring, more real change of thinking and behavior.
I wish the professionals in the field would embrace connection between the poor they're working with and the rich who can fund the work. I wish they'd help invent even more ways to connect in deeper and broader and more meaningful ways. (And I know for a fact than many of them do believe in connection.)
Because as long as we think that connecting donors with the problems and lives of those we help as something shameful, a failure, a necessary evil, a sort of pornography, we are going to be three steps farther away from the solutions our world needs.
Thanks to Give and Take for the tip.
