Business: the rise and demise of our globalized world. From an international development standpoint, we are taught to challenge large businesses: to identify their potentially corrupt means of attaining wealth. However, with the creation of large corporate businesses also came many great things; comfortable lifestyles, lucrative employment opportunities, evolving technologies...aspects of our social society we are all quite dependant upon. With this rise in overall living standards came a rise in excess, (another word ‘indevians’ are weary about) but even excess does not have to be thought of as bad—excess money can mean charitable donations, philanthropic generosity and humans helping humans—This was the original jist of Aid: giving away excess to help those whom don’t have enough. So how is it that aid has now turned into a business, (the kind that makes us cringe)?
Aid has become a business—not the kind of business fostering the evolution of social society, economic growth and living standards, but the fraudulent kind that needs to be obliged to a transparent operating system and under public scrutiny. If people are giving their money, it should be imperative that they are able to track its progress all the way through to its beneficiaries. Because of the precarious reputation of aid distribution, people are becoming reluctant to donate, and official aid is at the lowest it has been the past twenty years.
I always struggle with the term "not for profit" when it comes to aid organizations. Somewhere along the line, a portion of the money that's being donated has to cover the salaries, marketing budgets, expenses, etc. of the organization...With that in mind, I think the future of AID will see more people donating their time and possessions (food banks, blood donors, etc)
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is also the economic downturn with so many more people struggling themselves that has caused a consequent downturn in donations. The formal business aspect of "aid" organizations allows them to provide assurance to their donors that their monies are being properly received and distributed - this in itself requires tools, qualified people, etc. and takes monies away from the eventual recipient. This should be seen as reassuring and not something to cringe at. Perhaps there are more ways to defraud people with the advent of electronic/online business but at the same time it has proven to be a tremendous benefit for what is now being called "mini-donors" where a simple text can send $5 or $10 to help a cause to quickly produce that wonderful feeling of "helping out" for the donor and just as quickly adding up to millions for the specific cause. Small kindnesses creating an awareness and a potential to give again . . . not all so bad!!
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