An article in today's New York Times discusses an unconvential way that a group of people are making charitable contributions. (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/nyregion/09bigcity.html?hp)
Ms. Martin ...a Brooklyn-based writer who, five years ago, was shocked to find herself in possession of a six-figure book advance. She wanted to give a chunk of it away, but was not sure how. So she decided she would make it someone else’s problem — nine other people’s problems. She chose nine thoughtful friends, gave them each $100, and told them they would be expected to account for what they had done with it at a gathering a month later.
Heart-warming high jinks have ensued ever since. Saturday night marked the fourth annual dance-crazed celebration of what Ms. Martin calls the Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy. Since that first year, Ms. Martin has been joined by several other small-time philanthropists, who bestow multiples of $100 on admired acquaintances. This year 16 inductees committed creative acts of kindness, some of them kooky, most of them thoughtful.
Someone is publishing the writing of New York students in a nonprofit literacy program. Someone else bought a video camera for a public high school in Canarsie, Brooklyn. One recipient, who runs a Web site to encourage female writers, decided to give the money to the most frequent commenter on the site, who turned out to be a former correction officer with dreams of a life in the arts. Several people doubled down by donating $100 of their own money, part of the ripple effect that so often gives small, charmed gestures reach beyond their scope. (The ripples go as far as San Francisco and Athens, Ga., where others have started their own chapters of the Secret Society.)
As the article readily admits, this may not be a particularly effective means of charity, but it appealed to me nonetheless. It seems like this would make making charitable contributions a more interactive and thoughtful process.
I sm certainly a fan of this new method of giving. Finding creative ways to do tasks that some may find difficult is very smart, because it brings forth an entire new incentive. After reading this article, it warms my heart to see how many people are giving back to the community. This works out well because people will barely even realize the amount of money they are giving away, they are just having fun finding unique ways to do it.
ReplyDeleteI find it fascinating that in the middle of a recession people are coming into six figure sums of money. This is great though that she felt compelled to share some with her community. Alice concludes this this may not be the most effective means of giving, but I think maybe it is: if more individuals felt connected to others they would be more inclined to give away excess money rather than accumulate it while their neighbor eats Raman noodles. This woman may be on to something...
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great idea; if people find creative ways to donate their money, it will make donating money fun and thus create an incentive to donate to charities. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteI think if anything this would be an interesting psychological experiment to see if people's spending habits change if they feel like they have to account for all of their purchases. I wonder if they chose to spend the money more responsibly than they might have otherwise because they knew they would have to report back. I also agree with Becca that in this day and age there might be a few better ways to donate that money to organizations that could really use the help, as they find their old donators not able to contribute this year. But I guess to each their own.
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This article isn't directly talking about what is happening in the economy, but shows more of a combination of philanthropy, psychology, and economy. It's good to see how things connect, and how cohesive the world is, although we study it in separated parts when studying. (E)
ReplyDeleteI think small scale philanthropy has definitely become it's own pop culture phenomenon over the years. I think that an upswing in consumer consciousness has brought about the success of many brands that strictly sell humanitarian products and reap major benefits for advertising that aspect of them, such as Tom's Shoes and Product(Red). While I don't debate that people have been inclined in the past reach out to others, I think people find it easiest today to do it with their credit cards instead of actually interacting with the people who their good deeds are going to benefit. It's really great to see that people are still interested in making a difference by being directly involved with other human beings (not that there's anything wrong with other methods).
ReplyDeleteAmen and A+ to Ms. Martin. There needs to be more generous people in the world to help out the less fortunate. I am excited that there is a charity group to distribute money to other charities. Sometimes, all people need is a little bit of money and a lot of spirit to work miracles. It reminds me of the spring quarter class Building Blocks, where students gather people on certain blocks in the city of Kalamazoo and fix up houses with a bit of money. These types of programs are what goes the furthest in the long run. E
ReplyDeleteI think this is a creative and appreciable way of doing charities. It's doable and individuals in all walks of life can be related. Glad to see people are coming up with new ideas to help others.
ReplyDeleteThis is very cool. Especially in a time where so many people are focused on themselves its cool to see people giving and having fun doing it. I think its always funny and more heartwarming when somebody gives a random large gift to someone in need but some unsuspecting of the gift to come. Hopefully this is a trend that carries to those in positions to gives and sticks with those who recieve these gifts and then get to a position where they can give.
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