My Issues with Charity

I have a personal issue with charity. Don’t get me wrong. I think they serve a great purpose, and I even sit on the board for a wonderful organization (Wonders and Worries). There are many though that have a fundamental challenge they have yet to address, changing the game to affect the issue they are trying to help.

This is very apparent in charities that address poverty. While I support both of the following, I want to highlight these charities as examples of organizations that can do better.

Mobile Loaves and Fishes

One of the most respected and fundamentally good organizations to help provide food for the homeless. With a fleet of trucks, and hundreds of volunteers, MLFs brings food to the people, where they are in local communities. Yet, is this not just continuing the cycle? What incentive is the organization providing to the people it serves to break the cycle, and help them get jobs, income and the ability to purchase their food? With a steady schedule of handouts, and only verbal encouragement to look for opportunity- my $.02-- not much.

What if MLF had the people it served learn tangible and relevant skills in return for the food? Would that not provide a platform where the skills could be applied productively back into the local community and try to break the cycle? Just an idea.

Coats for Kids

Another worthy cause. Helping provide warm clothing for kids who could not otherwise afford. Again though, is this not just a handout? What incentive does this provide to help the families to change their cycle so that they could afford their own warm clothes in subsequent years?

What if CFK could help parents of kids who benefited learn seamstress skills? They could then help repair/fix clothing for extra money, and provide a bit of incremental income to purchase that jacket next year. Maybe not a big difference, but sometimes a small change is all you need.

These are just two examples of charities that could alter their models a bit and create more demonstrable change in the communities they serve. A couple of examples have been highlighted on Tech Crunch today. Check those out.

Can you think of others in your local community? Reach out to them and offer your thoughts and help. Collectively we can make a difference.

Social Media Construct to Address Poverty

Poverty is a serious issue. It is estimated that 33% of the world’s population live in poverty. 20% are estimated to live in true ‘abject poverty’- meaning always hungry. Not sure what poverty really means? Check out the Wikipedia or dictionary.com definitions. Bottom line, base life sustaining necessities are not adequate.

What is the face of poverty?

• It is the homeless vet on the street corner
• It is the child abandoned in India
• It is the unclothed family in Africa drinking from a puddle in the clay earth
• It is the child that enters the local elementary school each morning with the same set of clothes, because those are the only ones they have
• It is the family living out of their car, and taking scraps from behind restaurants to feed their family
• It is the woman living in the woods, asking for money to feed her baby at the stoplight

How can we make a collective difference?

My posit is that we can look to the same construct so many of us in social media preach:

• First: Connect
• Second: Engage
• Third: Influence (and influence the influencers)

Let’s see how this can work.

Connect:

At the end of the day, we cannot make a difference if we do not first truly understand the nature and magnitude of poverty. This is more than reading the on-line media. This is more than shaking the hand of the guy on the street corner, or worse yet throwing him your spare change.

Remember the old adage, ‘seek first to understand, and then to be understood’. Well, forget the latter, and just seek to understand. Reach out and connect. Spend some time at soup kitchens. Take and hour and visit with the person on the corner. Ask questions, listen, internalize. Do not try to direct or provide answers right then and there. You are not prepared.

Engage:

Engaging first internally (within yourself) is the most important part of the process. It marries the base knowledge you have gained from connecting with your passions. When you find that intersection, you can, and will, make a difference. Doing something because it is politically correct is good, but not sustainable. Doing something because you are passionate about it is sustainable, and provides a greater benefit as your heart and soul are now involved.

Next, engage externally. Link your internally found passion with the community around you. A great example in Austin (my local community) is The Miracle Foundation. Caroline Boudreaux found her inner passion and had engaged with communities in India to help orphaned and hungry children.

This becomes your own personal virtuous cycle.

Influence:

Exerting influence is the tipping point. It provides the catalyst where the impact you make is broader than the brute force you alone affect. Influencing those around you, and having their support causes a synergistic effect, where the ultimate result is greater than the sum of the parts.

The key to successful influence is by connecting and engaging those who are of like mind, and have journeyed through the same process. If they too have experienced that connect/engage process, the community you build will reward handsomely.