Let’s Question The Motives Of People Who Run Charities

Ted Obvious writes from Port-au-Prince: Let’s be cynical about charity for once, let’s question the motives of people behind it.

I know, I know, it sounds like blasphemy for the proud members of the politically correct brigade who pride themselves on feeling the pain of others when natural disasters strike in places otherwise ignored by everyone. In Haiti, by the way, there are several thousand aid agencies and charities operating at the moment and it takes nearly half of the money raised for the relief effort to cope with the aftermath of that devastating earthquake in January 2010 to pay for their upkeep.

Are these charity and aid workers sincere in their desire to help the victims of the disaster? I guess they are, otherwise why would they be paid good money and work four days a week, spending the other three sunning on the beach and generally horsing around. (As the saying goes in Haiti, if you have an erection you park it well for days on end and not waste it.) It’s not their fault really that only several dozen houses have been built since the earthquake struck and 1 million people are still living in tents. Haitians, so that you know, are so used to poverty that they like it. Just like the 1 billion people in India, who would never swap poverty for a prosperous life, for religious and other reasons beyond our comprehension.

But still staying on the cynical frequency: let’s imagine for a moment that all the money that had been raised by charities in the last, say, thirty years, would have actually found its way to the people it was intended to help, like the sick and the hungry in Africa, for example, would we be noticing the difference now? Imagine, in Britain alone in the past 30 years around £200 billion were raised for all sorts of good causes around the world, including saving the children in Africa. That’s just Britain, mind you. That alone would have probably been enough to save the whole of Africa and turn it into a prosperous continent to live on.

But no, things today are as bad in Africa as thirty years ago. Some even say that they got worse these days. So the question that raises its ugly head is this: where has most of that money gone? Could it be, I ask myself, that most of it was spent on administration, personal gain of local rulers and, I’m sorry to say, on paying handsomely all sorts of subcontractors, like advertisers, transport companies, accountants and an occasional scribbler? Advertisers have been making good money on charities because some of them have promotional budgets totalling tens of millions a year, to keep the awareness of their cause alive, so to speak. You must have seen those weepy ads on the box about dying kids in Africa over the Christmas period. That’s a lot of money spent, by the way. Could have actually been used to save these kids instead of raising awareness of their suffering.

The thing is that charity has long ago turned into big business, because the whole premises of some good intentioned people raising huge amounts of money without any scrutiny projected on them is just perverse. In the past it was the Church that was helping the poor and the needy and the sick and whatever you think about religion, priests in their vast majority are not interested in money or self-promotion, unlike all those charities. But once the whole activity was snatched from the Church, it all became more progressive and liberal and leftish. And when liberals and progressive get into the frame, expect misuse of funds and personal enrichment to feature prominently on the horizon – and well beyond it.

I suppose it’s time that someone started asking charities all sorts of questions. Like that eternal one: what’s in it for you, guys and girls?

–End–

15 Comments

1. Bigpete says:

   February 25, 2012 at 2:03 am

   That question has been asked regarding the  ‘encouragement’ of Charities to become involved with the NHS. HUGE MONEY - HUGE CONTRACTS. One such disgusting charity in my opinion, is a well known cancer charity - we help you with your cancer type of thing.  They are spending millions on advertising-PR- HOSPITALITY to hospital knobs – NHS MANAGERS ( hahhahahaahaaha) to help people with cancer?  well that is by the by –  they actually are investing in secured access to vunerable people to help raise funds for their cause… which is .. well there is no real benefit to the patient just a leaflet and a cup of tea to talk about your cancer. Make no mistake these are huge businesses who
   are using it as a tax free – slave labour – money making scheme.  Think about  it charity shop workers are free – council tax – other tax incentives.. but the shop manager gets a whopping 40 thou per annum. then you have all the other ADMIN costs.  I never give to charity at all now. My eyes were opened by my friend who went abroad to help people in real need. waste of time and money! she came home in disgust. Do I feel guilty? me? huh you are joking. It is about time Africans took care of themselves , they have huge resources, they are the longest surviving humans, they have become slaves to the global market place and the banks.  they owe money for food they have not eaten  they have guns and use them…  let them alone to sort out their own mess. they can hunt and fish and grow food like they used to do to survive.
2. Anonymous says:

   May 9, 2012 at 9:47 am

   Could have done without the political bias. It is so difficult to not shoehorn your opinion into an article?
3. Lin says:

   May 20, 2012 at 9:20 pm

    I so agree!  And there is a Scriptural Proverb that these things come from the wrath of Yahweh. And if we then help them when they do not recognize it is punishment for their Voodoo and mixed worship, then Yahweh has to do it (the punishment) all over again.
   It is said that Haiti is 80% Catholic, 20% protestant and 100% Voodoo.  Yahweh hates mixed worship and Catholicism if full of mixed worship.
4. Josh says:

   July 2, 2012 at 2:15 pm

   You figured us out! You discovered or dirty little secret. We do charity work because it pays so well. LOL

   But seriously, I suppose I do have selfish motives about volunteering. It makes me feel good about myself when people thank me for helping them. It is true.
5. Abhinandan says:

   July 3, 2012 at 8:15 pm

   “Just like the 1 billion people in India, who would never swap poverty for a prosperous life, for religious and other reasons beyond our comprehension.”- can you validate this statement?
   Have you been to India? Or have you met an Indian or even tried to learn what the Indian culture is?
6. FoolontheHill says:

   July 5, 2012 at 4:33 pm

   I’ve watching several non-profit organizations for the last decade, among them the WMF – the foundation behind, or rather, over Wikipedia, and it’s like you said: a niche for parasites who learn to pretend and talk the way they’re expected but only care for money.
   Those people take the work of volunteers and the money of donors for their own profit. They live in the most expensive places of earth, their salary put them over 99.9% of mankind, they spent most of the resources in the following way:
   - 10% of the revenues are directly for them.
   - travels, high standing hotels and excursion (for conferences and generating awareness, of course)
   - fundraising.
   - useless, huge projects to keep their job and bloat the budget
   - paying third-party enterprises for some kind of expensive services, except that they personally own the enterprises.
   - lawyers and committees to keep control over the golden egg chicken.

   Don’t listen to jerks without a clue, YOU are right. Keep denouncing what they are doing. They are the worst, because they neutralize what’s best in mankind and waste the efforts given to a good cause.
7. Lighthouse11 says:

   July 6, 2012 at 5:25 pm

   I must say that I agree that most of the major charities focus on their personal gain but I do know someone who owns a small charity. There are only 3 people including himself, it’s not big enough to change a whole lot but he takes no profit as he has two other jobs and only has to pay two other people only one of whom works full time, yet the charity owns and helps run 3 orphanages and 2 schools in south west Africa and India. This may not make a difference to many but I have visited some of these places and it helps the people there to dream of something bigger and better ( I have met aspiring Doctors, DJs , Lawyers and pilots)
8. Daniel McBane says:

   July 12, 2012 at 11:25 am

   It’s simply human nature–people see free money being handed out and their first thought is, “How can I get that money?” Many find a way and get rich, the donors still feel good about themselves and the needy people who were meant to receive the money? Well, as always, they’re the only real losers in the equation.
9. Suzy says:

   July 25, 2012 at 11:38 am

   this is why you shouldn’t donate money to humanitarian efforts, you should donate your time.
10. Worzel says:

    August 6, 2012 at 4:33 pm

    The fact that 2 billion have been given access to improved water supplies over the last 20 or so years, the reduction in global HIV infection, the decreasing percentage of the global population suffering chronic hunger and malnutrition, the widespread distribution of vaccines and the availability of affordable generic pharmaceuticals in the developing world may not strike you as significant, but they are, and in a large part down to the work of NGO’s and charities. Is too much money wasted on admin/fundraising etc.? Yes I guess it is, but is that down to greedy individuals who see charity as an opportunity to get rich? I really don’t think so. And finally do ill informed opinions like your own do anything to help anyone or improve anything? Or do they help justify you spending your money on the vapid consumerist western lifestyle we’re expected to buy into?
11. rhobere says:

    August 13, 2012 at 2:14 am

    I love how this whole article points out how BUSINESS has corrupted charity and then gets a poke at liberalism as the cause. Which is it, the profiteering corporate right, or the progressives that couldn’t find their way into your article without intentional injection?

    or could this be one of the MANY MANY issues that would be much better served without being politicized? Yea, I’m gonna go with that.
12. Bob Sherunkle says:

    August 21, 2012 at 4:15 pm

    Whats in it for us is a job that pays less if we did it for a commercial concern and one that gives an enormous amount of Job satisfaction.
13. Lancelot Jones says:

    August 29, 2012 at 1:17 pm

    I have friends who have personal experience of the involvement of Oxfam staff, both overseas & local arab staff, in helping members of the PLO in sabotaging water pipelines to Israeli towns. The foreign staff were quietly asked to leave the country & the matter hushed up after UK diplomats intervened to save them from prosecution
14. Richiepooh says:

    September 17, 2012 at 2:36 pm

    This is why there will never be a cure for cancer or anything else. There’s too much money in it, cancer in particular is a double bubble for those involved in developing “a cure”, they get money from people trying to do right by funding research via charity and they get money from the sales of these life prolongers afterwards and then instead of a cure all they research is palliative medicine, why sell someone a pill once that cures them when they can sell them a pill every day that keeps them going long enough to fund your yacht. We came on leaps and bounds in cures at the beginning of the 20th century when people were looking for cures, then in the 1950′s this stopped with the creation of super corporations who exist purely to develop economic growth for their members. There has not been a CURE for anything since.

    never give to charity, but help people directly effected.

    I have yet to meet anyone who has received help in real terms from a charity.
15. Craig King says:

    September 26, 2012 at 8:20 pm

    Charity is always, absolutely always, about the donor. The recipient is of secondary concern.

    Charity has totally ruined Africa, for generations.