Archive for the ‘Giving’ Category

10 Things I Don’t Need

Friday, July 24th, 2009

I was reading a report on the living conditions of disabled people in Zambia: In a survey of 39 households, the average number of items possessed by each household was 9.5 basic items – not much by way of ‘worldly goods’ and you can bet that each item is essential.

Looking round my house, it is almost impossible to count how many individual items I have but it’s easy to find 10 items I do not need. If I asked 10 colleagues, friends and families for 10 items they do not need and sell them at a car boot sale I bet I could raise £150. Four people organising a boot sale (with items from ten of their friends) could raise £600. This is slightly more than the COINS Foundation paid this week to repair a water pump at a school in Zambia.

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Charity might begin at home – but where is “home” anyway?

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

It was recently pointed out to me that there are many who could benefit from Community Development projects here in the UK. The statement was followed by the short question, “Why Africa?” It is an excellent question which affords the opportunity to make a point which is fundamental to the thinking of the COINS Foundation.

But first, I want to point out that the COINS Foundation does, and will continue to fund projects in the UK. However, it would be disingenuous not to make clear that we do intend the majority of our work to continue to be in Africa.

The way I see it, the magnitude and severity of the problems in the developing world, far exceed those found in the UK; and because ‘globalisation’ is bringing those issues ever closer to us, the expression, “Charity begins at home” is becoming increasingly inappropriate/meaningless. I believe we should expand our thinking to appreciate that the poor, wherever they are in the world are effectively our neighbours now.

Posted in Aid, Charity, Giving | 3 Comments »

The Reith Lectures

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Michael Sandel, Harvard Professor of Government, delivered a beautiful lecture entitled Markets and Morals as part of the BBC’s Reith Lectures this week.
Sandel considers the expansion of markets and how we determine their moral limits. In this age where “Markets have might so Markets are Right” Sandel reflects on the effects of applying market principles to all systems. He asks  us to examine the ‘mark’ left by markets and asks if the influence is always a good or moral one.

Whilst he doesn’t specifically talk about the effect of substituting paid workers for volunteers, his arguments have compelling implications  for this trend. I am interested in this because right now we are trying to engender a ’spirit of community’  in a region of northern Zambia where we are attempting to research the needs of the community and motivate them to form and engage in voluntary groups  to debate the needs of their region and help develop a prioritised plan for sustainable community development.

There is a pressure and a great temptation to ‘incentivise’ the very poor people of this community to participate in the programme by offering small payments. Instinctively I want to resist this. Sandel in his lecture gives some interesting angles on why our instincts might be right.

Posted in Aid, Giving, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Emotion-Driven Business?

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Hopefully that title won’t ring true with you; yes, I suppose, business decisions are sometimes based on emotion but any entrepreneur will tell you that if you employ the heart and not the mind then you won’t get far. In fact any great entrepreneur will tell you that good business is about using your mind to make sound judgments and the heart has to be firmly set to one side. (note Gadhia’s point,”. . . If on the other hand you have a budget proposal for an activity that will not deliver any ultimate customer benefit the decision must be a straightforward no.” Such a statement would chill any fundraiser’s heart. Especially if they have a morning of calls to businesses on their ‘to do’ list!)
But it begs the point; why is it that we base so much charity giving on emotions? If sound business investment should be a clear intellectual process, why not our ‘investment’ in good causes? (Let’s set aside the tricky question of whether corporate giving delivers “any ultimate customer benefit”!) We know that relying on our emotions means that some days we’re going to decide to give a little and on other days perhaps even less if at all. We could argue that people will die because today we’re not feeling as if giving is the right thing to do.

Many people seem to think they require an almost electrical ‘emotional jolt’ before they can step into action. And it does seem to be a requirement - no emotional jolt – no donation! Sadly, it is by no means guaranteed that even the people who’ve had these experiences will actually manifest any long-term change in their lives.  I suspect that many, if not most, live exactly the same as they did before; so tell me; how much real use is our emotional thrill to the developing world?

These people in need don’t have time for you to be having a good day, they need help now. Don’t wait until you’ve got your heart in gear, sit down, think logically about the problems that you see around the world and figure out what you’re going to do about them.

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