Donating money for a social cause is both easy and satisfying. Vinay Somani, of Karmayog, explains how to do this as a long-term activity to derive both personal satisfaction as well as help to improve society through your actions
Donating money for a social cause is both easy and satisfying. Vinay Somani, of Karmayog, explains how to do this as a long-term activity to derive both personal satisfaction as well as help to improve society through your actions
Starting your donation programme
Suppose you want to donate Rs 1 lakh a year. We suggest you select two organisations and donate Rs 50,000 and Rs 30,000 to each of these. Spread the balance Rs. 20,000 over 10 organisations (donating Rs 2,000 to each).
The reason for donating smaller amounts is for the learnings, so that you can finally find organisations with which you can have a deeper involvement. Interacting with over 10 organisations will give you a good overview of the social sector and will enable you to get plugged into that sector. Based on the interactions you will have with these organisations, you will be in a position to evaluate both the organisations and the sector. You will know about the specific needs of that sector and whether it is practical for you to try and fulfill these in terms of people, skill sets, service capability and time. You will also get a lot of valuable cross learnings from interacting with many organisations.
Slowly, you will also be able to define which sectors or organisations you want to support on a continual basis.
Learning while donating
There are many learnings about the social sector which are important to make meaningful donations:
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> To understand the needs of an organisation and how these can be addressed. For example, NGOs undertake a mix of service delivery as well as advocacy of rights, and both these are important.
> To understand the value of your money and what it can realistically achieve. For example, the expectations that you have for the value to be attached to your money should be matched by the value that the NGO you are donating to, attaches to that money.
> To understand the generic learnings about all social causes. For example, even a simple cause like education requires to be linked with other issues such as food, clothing, hygiene, family issues, health and toilets for it to be effectively tackled.
> Specific learnings about specific sectors or NGOs. For example, the education versus income dilemma wrongly connected with child labour.
> Learnings about the inter-connectedness between different sectors and organisations. For example, the fact that health (and not education) is the key factor that helps people to overcome poverty.
Self-awareness through donating
It is important that one is truthful to oneself about the motivations for donating money and supporting a cause. Otherwise, sooner or later, there will be a divergence between you and the NGO you support. Hence you should think through some of these questions:
> What gives you satisfaction? For example, transforming a child's life forever through education.
> What are the personal goals you want to fulfill? For example, to acknowledge the contribution of your school or college in shaping your life.
> Would you like your name or your family name to be prominently acknowledged? For example, through donation of equipment or institution of a scholarship.
> Whether you would like recognition and appreciation for your actions from your friends and peers? For example, through sponsorship of an event where they are invited.
> Whether you would like to increase your personal publicity. For example, through coverage by the media.
Understanding the other side
Organisations working in the social sector have stepped in voluntarily to plug the gaps to reach out to those sections of society, which the government and private sector have failed to reach. Most organisations are started by people who invest their own funds and time for a cause they believe in. This is one reason why most NGOs don't like to ask for funds, as they believe that people should understand that NGOs are providing an opportunity and avenue for service to society.u00a0
On the other hand, many donors feel that NGOs should be grateful for the support and funds that they provide.
Many people who donate or give funds, are actually perceived as 'takers' in the sense that they are bartering their money in exchange for respectability, popularity or fame.
It is important for donors to be aware of such perceptions.
Shaping your philanthropy programme
Use some of your personal and professional goals to help you decide which causes or organisations to support, as well to help identify your personal motivations for such actions. For example, a desire to be more spiritual, extending a hobby such as sports or music, aligning with issues that you are drawn towards such as children, the elderly and animal welfare.
In your existing environment, your personal goals may not get fulfilled, while your philanthropic activities can not only fulfill these, but also open up your world in new ways. Similarly, your professional skills such as financial or HR management can also be used to complement your philanthropic activities.u00a0
Developing a selection system
Once you have started to support causes and organisations, and have understood the social sector better, it is necessary to develop a system that you are comfortable with, to choose causes or organisations to support. Some examples on how you can make these choices:
>To a particular cause that you are emotionally or passionately connected to.
>Through references of people you know and trust.
>By invitation, once a year, through an advertisement released by you.
>Through your own research.
This will assist you to respond appropriately to requests for funding when approached at social gatherings, and will also enable you to make more effective and planned donations.
Preparing for disappointment
It is important to be able to tackle disappointments in a positive way.
Even if everything is done perfectly by the NGO that you are supporting, sometimes the desired results are not achieved. You should be prepared for such disappointment, and be able to continue supporting the cause or organisation, while also trying to understand the reasons for the setback, and how it can be overcome.
If you approach the act of philanthropy from the heart, and remember that philanthropy is about the 'giver' and not the 'receiver', you will remain unaffected and committed.
Overcoming mistakes
There are bound to be mistakes. Assuming that you may have made some wrong choices of some NGOs to support, for example, you did not like the trustees of the NGO, or you did not agree with their approach to solve a problem, or their stand on a particular issue, or their level of expenditure on administrative expenses, or the NGO turns out to be fraudulent (some which came up after the tsunami), or you find that the NGO is incapable of growth, it is important to be able to disengage easily from the organisation or cause. Hence, it is advisable to make one-off rather than recurring or long-term donations in the beginning.u00a0
Creating accountability
After you have donated to an NGO, we suggest that you go through their brochure, annual activity report, latest audited accounts, newsletters, white paper / research documents, surveys and studies, either from the organisation's website, or by requesting for copies of the same. If you cannot drop by and visit the NGO or attend any of their events and meetings, ask the NGO to send a representative to meet you. As you interact with people from the NGO, their volunteers and other donors, you will be automatically building accountability within that organisation.
Strengthening organisations
It is difficult for NGOs to collect funds for their corpus, as most people donate towards specific projects or purposes. The corpus of an NGO enables it to develop and strengthen its work and commitment to the cause and its beneficiaries, and also enables the organisation to tide over difficult periods such as the current economic slowdown.
We suggest you give a general donation that goes towards a corpus instead of towards specific projects. You will get a 50% tax benefit for any donation over Rs 500 to an NGO with an 80-G certificate.
Creating synergies
As a donor, you have a unique position of being closely involved with sectors and organisations that you support, as well as an outside, larger view of the whole picture. NGOs themselves find it difficult to build synergies with other organisations in the same sector, as they are usually completely involved in their own projects and programmes.
Donors can facilitate and build synergies within a sector, and thus help in reaching long-term and sustainable solutions to the problems being faced by that particular sector. In order to be able to develop both a connected and a detached view, it is useful for a donor to donate differing amounts of money to several organisations.u00a0
Think of a long-term objective of what you would like to achieve
Decide the amount of money you would like to donate over five years and 10 years, and what you would like the end result to be from this action, and whether this would be satisfying for you. Suppose you can donate Rs 40,000 per month every year for the next 20 years. This is equal to Rs 1 crore. This will help you to think of replicable and scaleable models to support.
For example, building public toilets in one village, and then expanding this to many villages, funding a mobile children's library for a district, and then expanding this to a larger area, funding a primary school that grows to become a secondary school and eventually a junior college or vocational training centre.
Conclusion
Every problem is both huge and complex, and the magnitude of the situation needs all of us to contribute to make a difference. Corporate funding towards social causes and NGOs is likely to be reduced this year; hence it is important for individuals to step in and make a contribution.
Even a small amount like Rs 100 makes a difference. When 1,000 people donate Rs 100 each, it totals to Rs 1 lakh. So, take out your cheque book and send at least Rs 100 to any of the NGOs-of-the-Month listed in www.karmayog.org
www.karmayog.org has sections on 350 social causes and lists 2,000 NGO profiles and needs
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