Even with the regular price increases affected by the controversial oil price hike when family funds are tight, most of us want to do something charitable especially for children. It is difficult to watch our own lucky kids, so comfortable in well-endowed homes, learning in good schools, warm in the love of family and friends while at the same time knowing that others lack the most basic necessities.
With cuts in government spending, social programs have suffered and the need for private contributions is greater than ever. As many fundraising projects have made us well aware, for most people, the question is not whether to give, but rather to whom.
Training them young to give to charity
There is so much competition for the “donation” peso for our own office outreach projects, welfare projects, welfare projects in our children’s school, our parish and community and various newspapers’ perpetual calamity funds.
Having frequented a Catholic school up to college in the sixties, the nuns succeeded in making my class aware of sharing our goods with the deprived. There were the regular Christmas package drive competition among the high school classes and later, in college, the catechetical classes were held in Baclaran Elementary School to earn credits for our Social Service class. I felt good about teaching the public school children instead of merely giving “dole-outs”.
My classmate who regularly helps projects for a good cause said, “I won’t casually donate or buy benefit concert tickets. I choose the causes I care for and I send them substantial contributions. That way, I accomplish something good and I don’t feel guilty when I say no to others.”
Guidelines for donors to charity
In selecting charities, Rolaino Hochstein gives guidelines culled from the National Charities Information Bureau Inc. (NCIB) in New York:
1. Look for a charity which has a well-organized foundation and whose board members have credibility.
2. Ask for their printed literature where realistic goals are clearly stated and accompanied by a realistic program to help it achieve them efficiently.
3. Be sure that the organization budgets a healthy proportion of its revenue to program services (training trainers, publishing manuals and lessons, research, etc.).
4. A minimum of 60 percent is a healthy amount, unless it is a special case such as an advocacy group that is just starting to build its membership or a hospital that is adding a new wing.
5. Be skeptical of manipulative emotional appeals. The cause of “street children” is such and many new groups have mushroomed in spite of the discouraging but proven phenomenon that street kids refused to be housed for they have their own homes and even go to school.
6. Never let a solicitor put pressure on you or discourage you from asking too many questions. Legitimate non-profit groups should be glad to send you fact sheets - and they should not make you feel like Scrooge for requesting them.
In the Philippines, all credible non-profit groups soliciting donations should unite together like the two major monitoring organizations in the US - the above-mentioned NCIB and Philanthropic Advisory Service (FAS). They publish reports on hundreds of non-profit groups that solicit nationally. Both review the constitution and activities of non-profit groups’ governing boards, as well as evaluate the accuracy of their solicitations material, use of funds and public accountability.
Once you have chosen your charity, do not be embarrassed if your donation seems small to you. “We’re grateful for every contribution,” says David S. Liederman, executive director of the Child Welfare League of America, in Washington, DC. “Dollars add up to pay for our projects. Besides, even a minimal gift puts you on our mailing list and lines you up on our side of public issues.”
During the holiday season, Americans used the following list of charities to help children and families in the US. All of the organizations featured here deliver material help or advocates changes in policy. Each group meets the standards of the NCIB, the PAS, or both. Some national groups have local affiliates.
I listed a few very inspiring and well-known charity groups which can give ideas to our local Filipino groups to improve.
Well-known charity groups to emulate
CHILDREN’S MIRACLE NETWORK (CMN) (Osmond Foundation), 7601 S. Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah 84121– Funded chiefly by a 21-hour annual telethon from Disneyland, the CMN distributes its total intake (more than $100 million in 1991) to 160 pediatric hospitals for treatments and the purchase of equipment. Every year, associated hospitals treat some five million children for everything from cancer, AIDS and heart disease to birth defects and accidental injuries.
MARCH OF DIMES BIRTH DEFECTS FOUNDATION (MOD) – 1275 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains, New York 10605 – MOD seeks to prevent birth defects and reduce infant deaths through community services, advocacy, research and education. Its emphasis is on improved pre-natal care and scientific research. Activities include the development of school drug-and-alcohol-education programs and the distribution of educational materials regarding proper nutrition and early pre-natal care.
MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION, 2600 N. Central Avenue, Suite 936, Phoenix, Arizona 85004 – This organization grants wishes to American children with, in its words, “terminal illnesses or life-threatening medical conditions creating the probability that they will not survive beyond their 18th year.” The foundation claims that no eligible child has ever been turned down. Wishes have included everything from meeting celebrities and traveling to creating a fish pond in the backyard.
CHILD FIND OF AMERICA (CF), 7 INNIS AVENUE, P.O. BOX 277, New Paltz, New York 12561-9277 – During its 12 years in operation Child Find has located 2,200 missing children, most of them abducted by a parent. Its mission is to help at no charge parents who cannot afford a private detective and who have been unable to find their children through police efforts. CF conducts investigations and distributes photos of missing children. Volunteer professional mediators work to re-establish contact between parents. CF also distributes a directory of missing children, a quarterly newsletter, and two-child-safety videos.
CHILD WELFARE LEAGUE OF AMERICA (CWL), 440 First Street N.W,, Suite 310 Washington, DC 20001-2085 – This umbrella organization of almost 700 public and non-profit child-welfare agencies helps more than two million abused, neglected, and otherwise vulnerable kids and their families annually. CWL affiliates offer day care and foster care; adoption services; substance abuse treatment; and teenage-pregnancy-prevention and independent-living programs for youths leaving foster care. The national center publishes guidelines for the care of HIV-infected children. For five dollars, you can become a member of its Children’s Campaign, which entitles you to a quarterly magazine and information on how to join CWL’s Action Network.
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA, 771 First Avenue New York, New York 10017 – This organization sets out “to promote the health, social, educational, vocational and character development of youth throughout the United States.”
The national center sets requirements for its 1,340 local clubs which serves 1.7 million young people. It runs conferences and workshops to train and inspire professional local leaders. Nationally developed and locally implemented programs include Smart Moves, to prevent drug abuse and premature sexual activity among boys and girls ages 10 to 15; and Targeted Outreach, to discourage involvement in gang activities among at- risk youths. Sports tournaments, art exhibitions, and scholarships are also sponsored.
Fund raising should lead to rehabilitation, not mere relief
Fund-raising in the Philippines has become dragging, principally because the charity projects tend to be relief programs. They should lead to rehabilitation projects. Therefore, each foundation must have a literature stating realistic goals, clear statements where funds are allocated and public accounting.
Donors have to be assured their contributions are fully used with a yearly report or newsletter from the foundation. It is time that foundations do not seek mere dole-outs but must have a research arm which eventually can help advocacy groups in Congress.