January 10, 2011 | Read Time: 2 minutes
A series of posts about the misconceptions created by charity Web sites continues today.
Misconception No. 2: Aid is simple and straightforward
In an effort to attract donors, many charity Web sites have oversimplified how nonprofits work. Here are some of the messages some sites present to donors:
- The best way to improve a poor child’s life is to send him or her money every month.
- If people are hungry, send them food.
- All poor people are entrepreneurs who can successfully work their way out of poverty with a just a simple microloan.
- If a child needs surgery, the only solution is to fly in a team of doctors.
In reality solving these problems is not as simple and straightforward as the charities suggest. By continually presenting charity work as simple problems with simple solutions, we are training donors to think nonprofit programs are easy to pull off. Charities worry donors will be scared off if they hear about the complications that could arise or the number of different solutions available.
What’s more, by presenting everything as a simple problem with a simple solution, it makes it seem like anyone could go out and solve the problem; and that’s exactly what many people are increasingly doing. Why give money to an international nonprofit when you can wander into any village and pick out a few children to sponsor on your own? If surgical brigades are so great and you have experience in nursing or first aid, why not hop on the next plane to Haiti and help out? If food distribution is the answer, why not take up a collection of food from your neighbors and hand it out in person?
Everyone who has worked on an international aid project, and even on some poverty-fighting efforts in the United States, has seen average people or even movie stars show up to do exactly these things, often with unintended consequences. We need to start openly discussing the complexities of aid so that the average person has a more realistic idea of what it takes to lead a successful project.
If your organization is hesitant to put this information on its main Web site pages, then consider having a blog where staff members can share their thoughts and ruminations. Pepy Tours, an American nonprofit group that works in Cambodia to give donors a chance to travel and do good at the same time, does an exemplary job of this in its Lessons I Learned blog, written by Pepy’s founder
What changes can be made to your organization’s Web site to help donors better understand the complexity of aid? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
