Why Don't We Donate? - Terminological Inexactitude
Submitted by Ramalakshmi on Jul 17, 2009 | Tags:
Read the complete story at:
http://anirudhchandrakant.com/why-dont-we-donate There are umpteen questions popping up in our mind everyday, seeking an answer. Some of these are questions that either don't have an answer or may be I don't seem to have an answer. One of those was "Why don't people donate liberally?".
I was raising funds for an NGO and although some of those whom I approached donated, most of them did not lend a helping hand. I was perplexed and did not understand how people perceive volunteering and donating. This is an amazing article, which probably answers the question. A must read for any NGO.
http://anirudhchandrakant.com/why-dont-we-donate
If NGOs are backed by corporate houses, they can afford the branding initiatives. Most of the NGOs just cannot afford branding, since their budget does not permit them to. They rely on their volunteers and word-of-mouth marketing.
I agree that some of the NGOs lack vision and leadership. But, that is not the only reason why they do not get donations from the public.
Reasons why people do not contribute to NGOs is two fold:
1. While some of the NGOs genuinely help the needy, a majority of them swindle the funds in the guise of helping others. So, people tend to lose faith in all NGOs.
2. People have a difficult time parting with their hard-earned money. It would take a lot more than an effective leadership and branding to convince them to donate to a cause.
Just a few thoughts!
My thoughts...
there are so many NGOs worldwide (lets take India in specific). According to the Wikipedia, there are ~1-2 million NGOs in India. Now if we think about this, how many can donate to more than 1 NGO (assuming we donate to atleast one!) Generally we will be approached by more than 1 NGO to donate.
I have a thought, not sure how practical a solution it is, all common interest NGOs, all NGOs aiming for the same interest of the society, joining hands with each other, becoming 1 NGO instead of 100 similar interest NGOs. By doing this, we will not have such an exorbitant number of them. It is easier to have a centralised system for same interest NGOs...
All those who donate even Rs 10 would want to make sure it is used in the right way, as it is their hard earned money. If we have a considerably countable number of NGOs, I guess people may be more generous in donating.
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