These incentives are manufactured, packaged and dispatched across the world and I ask the question again is this the best that humanity can do to bring relief to those so much in need.  I have made a small donation to each which I hope will help to make a difference because with the lack of political will to solve the worlds problems it seems to be all that one can do.

Thank goodness for charities – warts and all!

Having blogged previously in glowing terms about the work of World Villages for Children describing it as one of my favourite charities for the work it does with deprived children in the Far East, I now have to admit to being naïve and gullible.  I further have to admit that had I carried out research at an earlier date, I would not have blogged as I did.  I now learn that both the American Institute of Philanthropy and the Charity Commission have enquired into the activities of this charity.  To cut a long story short, the charity appears to spend the greater part of its charitable income on administration and fundraising.  A Charity Commission report published in March 2002 reports that in 1999 only 28% of the total money raised was spent on charitable activity.  That is £1.34 million at a total raised of £4.8 million.  Since the Commission will monitor the future activity of the charity to ensure fundraising and administration costs are significantly reduced and the proportion spent on charitable causes increased, perhaps any long term fears are unfounded.

Now, a few weeks later, the same charity has sent a further catalogue of horror but of a different kind.  This communication detailed the cause of death of four innocent children in Africa and pointed out that with antibiotics, food and shelter these deaths might have been avoided.  Should I, in the light of this information, have expressed concern about receiving what appears to be an invoice, probably not!  What I should have been, and indeed was moved by, was the image of a collapsed child being eyed by a vulture.  Would that my donation could have been more!

But charities do have a responsibility for future as well as current beneficiaries if there are any.  I make that comment after receiving appeals from Care International UK and Mother Theresa Children’s Foundation.  I cannot fault the focus of their efforts to support sick starving orphans and destitute children in Africa or elsewhere but sending incentives in 19 x 11 cm cardboard boxes, the first containing a bead on a cord and some labels and the second a plastic Madonna does seem a little extravagant of resources.  No doubt both charities can show that the methods are successful but a lot of the world’s resources have been used and in the case of Care International two packs came to the same address.  

Of course, as usual the stories told are heartrending so one must respond.

Thank you letters are sometimes criticised as a waste of time and money.  I am not sure whether the Camphill Family have a box which if ticked does not result in a thank you letter, but I have just received one and I have to say that its language and its tone were very welcome.  It is good to be kept up to date with what is happening at the heart of a charity in which one has taken an interest.

The Child Survival Fund is one of those charities, without which, the existence of many children in parts of war-torn Africa would be dire.  I am quite happy to buy the stationery note cards which I have just received as an incentive because they are attractive but I do think that the charity could and should at least have mentioned its existence on the cards so that when I send them the word would be spread to a group of people.

·             Man’s inhumanity to man, for example torture, rape, genocide, fall out from armed conflict including use of child soldiers

·             Man’s inhumanity to animals, dancing bears, deserted dogs, overworked donkeys

·             Effects of natural disasters including earthquake, flood, hurricane

·             Disablement such as blindness, amputation (man’s inhumanity again)

·             A range of birth defects including learning disability

·             Diseases too numerous to list but including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, motor-neurone disease, AIDS, Parkinsons

·             Homelessness, displacement, hunger and lack of access to clean water.

Wherever there is a need a charity exists to try to do something about it.

Contributors to the site have from time to time complained about such practices as the mailing of incentives; disguising appeals as questionnaires; cost of mailshots (for example the use of too much paper); environmental impact (non biodegradable window envelopes); and the overuse of competitions.  Having spent a year looking at these documents one could be suffering from donor fatigue or what is sometimes called compassion fatigue.  The overwhelming sensation which I have experienced though is one of horror, horror that there is a need in the 21^st century for charitable activity of any kind.  The conclusion I have reached is a very simple one that the only way to judge a charity appeal is to ask two questions:

Is the charity fulfilling a necessary purpose? 

Is it a purpose that I feel sufficiently strongly about to support? 

Why should we be offended by what, if we look at the bigger picture, are in reality trivialities.  Every charity is run by a group of people who, in my experience, are genuinely concerned to make an impact by reducing the level of suffering which exists in the world.  Those people are all like me and from time to time display human frailties. If those frailties manifest as practices with which we do not always agree I do not think that castigation is the correct response.  We don’t need to feel angry or embarrassed or guilty.  I certainly feel only gratitude that there is another side to human nature. 

I am particularly impressed by a quotation in Camphill Family Life an organisation which cares for disabled people in such remarkable communities as the Botton Village in Yorkshire.  In the words of their founder “The integration of disabled people into society is not meant to happen because our society is glorious; rather it ought to happen because through their integration society will slowly progress to more human standards”.  This is a sentiment which could underpin all charitable activity.

Building Hope is the Newsletter of Habitat for Humanity which in numerous locations throughout the world works to provide improved living accommodation for some of the most deprived communities.  This Newsletter is particularly encouraging because it is not just about raising money for the various projects but also about encouraging volunteers to work alongside those who need to be re-housed, an excellent way of ensuring that the world gains a better understanding of the have-nots.

Child Matters is the Newsletter of UNICEF and I have been particularly moved by a simple description of the effects of dehydration in a child.  It is all so obvious and seeing the process detailed in simple words is highly effective.  One knows too that children are affected by both natural and man made disasters, earthquake, cyclone, political and humanitarian crises for example.  We hear a lot about the political unrest in various parts of the world but UNICEF gets beneath the surface to see at first hand the effects on children.  Did any news bulletin describing the recent conflict in Georgia mention the UNICEF centres in that country which care for disabled children?  I think not.  This is one example of many which this newsletter brings to our attention.

I have mentioned the Smile Train before as a charity which through simple surgery can transform the lives of children enabling them to live more normal adult lives.  In a report from the field a Smile Train representative provides graphic descriptions of the problems which are not only about birth defects.  It would be easy to become depressed by reading this document, indeed the writer makes the statement “now that I have completely depressed you” but he goes on to provide some positive information about future activities and one cannot but be impressed and grateful. 

These Newsletters are all moving, informative and heartening and I would encourage all charities to continue their use.  In front of me now, in addition to the ones already mentioned, I have ones from the RNIB, St Dunstans, Salvation Army, Action for Street Kids, The Refugee Council and Handicap International.  Acquire them, read them and if you can respond to them.

From Caford a blueprint of a water filter assembly as used to provide pure water in third world countries.

From Feed My People a facsimile of a bill of sale for a slave.

The causes are all worthwhile of course but these new ways of drawing attention to them were I thought out of the ordinary and therefore to be applauded.

This is what I have received in the last 8 months and the heap does not include the appeals to which I have responded or “blogged” about. (I am not sure that this picture will appear but it shows a huge pile of mail).

For those readers who are worried about the state of mind of someone who has retained all of this I would simply say that it has always been my intention to try to give proper attention to the appeals which I receive.  But you will see that I have not been very successful in keeping ahead of the game; especially as they continue to arrive daily.  I believe, however, that I can make a few comments which it would be very sensible for some charities to heed.

• Check your database regularly and do not send the same appeal letter, to the same address, on the same occasion.  I am sure this often happens because of slight variation in the address as recorded; but it should not be difficult to clean up this kind of error.
• Do not treat regular contributors in the same way as others.  Regular contributors already know something about your charity and do not need the kind of full explanation which often arrives.
• Don’t send coins.  It is totally unnecessary and we all understand the value of money.  Surely the time spent cellotaping them to the letter could be better used.
• Always give a donor the opportunity to decline a receipt.  If the bank can do it – so can a charity!  But the important issue here is the saving on postage and handling that would accrue.
• If you do find that incentives make your mailing more successful; please try to make them universally useful.  I certainly have no use for necklaces.  The gardening gloves which I received recently are much too small!
• Think very carefully about including half a dozen or more pieces of paper, when one or two would suffice.
• Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, over package incentives.  A small cardboard box containing a ball point pen is surely over the top!

Readers of my blog will know that I am very sympathetic to the attempts of charities to attract the Public to their cause and will also know that I believe that altruistic endeavour, which is at the heart of charity, is important to our society and I have not yet encountered a charity whose beneficiaries do not arouse my sympathy.  You are all trying to diminish suffering in one way of its many forms and I admire and respect what you do.  But please ensure that what you do has as little impact on the environment as possible.