Donations - where your money goes: Donor Illusion

Charities attract donations by emphasizing the personal relationship between you and a needy beneficiary. But in fact, problems arise in recipient communities when singling out one person who benefits, to the exclusion of others.

In her story yesterday(listen),Ashley Milne-Tyte describes -

"...Tim Ogden edits Philanthropy Action, a Web site for donors. He says I got caught up in what he calls the donor illusion: the promise of a direct connection between a donor and an individual recipient.

TIM OGDEN: And it's an illusion that's created by the marketing, and it's created because it's a powerful one for attracting donations. But the reality is if you really care about doing the most good then there shouldn't be that direct connection.

Because he says charities need the flexibility to respond to the situation on the ground. That could mean using a donor's money for flood relief instead of buying a family a goat. Or simply not allowing money to be misused."

I had read a similar account on wikipedia earlier this week,

"Providing money directly to the families of sponsored children simply does not work, no matter how dire the circumstances. A ‘direct benefit' approach creates jealousy among community members that do not have sponsored children and fosters an ethos of dependency. So while sponsored children may receive some direct benefits – like school materials or a jacket for warmth – this in no way represents the entirety of our work in a community, and it was disingenuous for the Foreign Correspondent story to imply this."