I gave $50,000 to an anti-slavery organization (Free the Slaves) for a project aimed at freeing a village In India from debt bondage. As a way of "making a connection" I asked them to provide quarterly reports during the 3 year program. I had to drag the quarterly reports out of them for the first two years. I also offered to give them $500 every quarter with the only requirement being that they would tell me how they used it. (In India, $500 will hire a worker for a year.) This was my attempt to keep a connection. After a year, they refused to continue the $500 a quarter program. In my experience, many charities want your money, and that's it. They don't want to "make a connection." Seems strange and counter productive, but I've had that experience repeatedly. Gave $40,000 to a school in Africa, plus the $500 a quarter deal. They spent the $40K on building new classrooms, but are very spotty about their quarterly reports.
Charities, including large charities like UNICEF, need to hold up their end of the "prosocial" bargain, as well as demonstrate a specific impact to their donors.
On Nov 11, 2013 Stan wrote:
I gave $50,000 to an anti-slavery organization (Free the Slaves) for a project aimed at freeing a village In India from debt bondage. As a way of "making a connection" I asked them to provide quarterly reports during the 3 year program. I had to drag the quarterly reports out of them for the first two years. I also offered to give them $500 every quarter with the only requirement being that they would tell me how they used it. (In India, $500 will hire a worker for a year.) This was my attempt to keep a connection. After a year, they refused to continue the $500 a quarter program. In my experience, many charities want your money, and that's it. They don't want to "make a connection." Seems strange and counter productive, but I've had that experience repeatedly. Gave $40,000 to a school in Africa, plus the $500 a quarter deal. They spent the $40K on building new classrooms, but are very spotty about their quarterly reports.
Charities, including large charities like UNICEF, need to hold up their end of the "prosocial" bargain, as well as demonstrate a specific impact to their donors.