NGO Idea; Reader Feedback Requested
ByOver my year here in Guatemala I’ve watched a lot of NGOs come and go, and many more ideas talked about before the would-be founders head back north. I’ve listened to stories about how hundreds of thousands of dollars (possibly millions) have been blown and never helped a single person do anything.
I’ve never been the NGO type, perhaps because it’s always made more sense to me to make money and then give it away than to try to just beg for money. I’ve raised a lot of money in business & politics, I know how difficult it can be.
Anyway, Santiago was telling me recently how many of the wealthy Antigua women handle their charitable giving. They work in groups (safety in numbers?), evaluating needs, scrutinizing the players, checking all the references and so forth, and then they ‘bundle’ contributions.
I’m familiar with bundling from the US, both in politics and in investing. In politics, bundling occurs when you are sold on a candidate or a cause and you go to all your friends and acquaintances and raise money. They make the checks payable to the candidate/cause but give them to you, which you then deliver to the campaign. In this way, you get influence or leverage with the campaign, and they treat you as a valuable resource. The contributors get more influence through you than they would on their own. The campaign gets people working for their cause. Everyone wins.
With investing, groups of angel investors (wealthy people who like getting in on early investment deals, usually as much for prestige as investment potential), often have a ‘lead investor’ who does the due diligence on a deal and handles all the negotiations. When he has a deal he likes, he goes to his group of investors, pitches the deal, and acts as kind of a group chairman. He has his own money in the deal and is vested in looking after everyone’s interests.
I thought of this model as Santiago was explaining how the wealthy women form groups to look after their interests and avoid risks. They also have a stand-by ready whenever they’re approached for money (that happens alot, BTW), “Oh, I have this group, and we run all our donations through it; would you like to apply?”.
There are hundreds of NGOs around, most of them poorly managed, and all asking for money. There are a few that have a worthwhile cause, good management and don’t have a house within two blocks of the park, a fleet of Range Rovers and a iPhone for every employee (and family member). What if we created an NGO whose entire purpose was to perform due diligence and then bundle donations? Tourists and expats and others who want to do good things could look at our past record of causes, see those which have failed and those which have succeeded, and donate knowing that they’re not just one gringo getting ripped off but have the collective wisdom of all donors?
NGOs would want to be transparent and responsible in order to qualify for consideration and the potential for donations. Donors would contribute more quickly, give in greater amounts, and do so more often because all the due diligence has been done for them.
What do you think?
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15 Comments
December 5th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Sounds like how a typical foundation works here in the states, the good ones have a person who makes sure that the grants are spent on what they were granted for-not as easy as it sounds.
December 5th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Sounds to me like a great idea. Count me in!
December 5th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
With your interest in education, I hope you will take a look at this organization:
http://www.letsbeready.org/
Let's Be Ready trains teachers and prepares children for school entry. The founder is a long-time volunteer with Common Hope, another excellent education-focused organization with a long-term track record. Here is Common Hope's report on Charity Navigator, which I assume is what you have in mind:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=sea...
Your idea is a great one and sounds like a perfect use of your talents. Lisa
December 5th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Interesting idea. I wonder if people will be turned off by not being directly in contact with the NGO they want to support? A lot of people want that personal connection. Would you be able to still provide that connection with the donor and individual NGO's?
December 5th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
NGO is basically an international non-profit, right? I guess I should know this as I've just been contracted to design a microsite for one of 'em…
December 5th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
Great idea, Mark. Let me know how I can help.
December 6th, 2009 at 12:14 am
Agreed. It does sound like a foundation.
This is a little off subject, but I think the primary interest should be, first to find the need and then understand the "culture" of the people for which they intend to help and implement strategies that will befit the recipients of the NGO's funds.
It sounds like common sense, but while working here in Guatemala with the Ministry of Agriculture, I encountered a real problem and have seen it with several of our guests that are working with NGO's. Someone in some group somewhere in the world thinks they can use their 1st world ideas to lend a helping hand and employs either machinery or knowledge that is 50 years ahead of the people with which then intend to help. I've seen many a disaster occur because the sensitivity of the culture isn't being addressed.
(For example, it's impossible to help a community grow mango crops using high tech machinery that will create profits in 5 years when the manual is 500 pages and no one in the community can read. Also, it's easier to take apart the equipment piece by piece and sell it to get food now. I saw this working here. So when the NGO's reps. came back for a visit they we aghast to find that nothing was left of the machines but the platform they sat on. They left angry and felt as if the Guatemalans were all thieves and ingrates, when that wasn't the case at all. They simply needed to eat then and weren't concerned with what profit they could amass in half a decade.) Make sense?
December 6th, 2009 at 5:03 am
A suggestion of a group worth looking into- Project San Pedro is run by the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of South Carolina. We sponsor a child in San Pedro la Laguna through them, paying $25 a month. The child receives a Catholic education, healthcare and the family receives other needed assistance. All families in the program earn less than $1500 a year, many earn far less. The project also sponsors medical missions. I know you are Catholic and I thought you might find this project interesting. I also know that Catholic Charities receives high marks for being a well run organization.
I feel that education is one of the most worthwhile investments since it can improve someone's life for the long term. We receive letters from our student and they are well written, it seems like the nuns are doing a good job.
http://www.supportcatholiccharities.org/sanpedroi...
December 6th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
We are always looking for ways to help NGO's with design services and promotional items. It's a great way to help raise funds and get the message out.
T-shirts, tote bags, stickers, keychains, etc. Pretty much anything you can think of which help with identity and give something back to the supporters.
Let us know if we can be of any help as your ideas take shape.
December 6th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Caveat emptor….but not only buyer beware, but contributor beware too! Before handing money over to ANY charity in Guatemala one should know there is no oversight of charities here.At least in the USA, there is a modicum of oversight vizaviz charitable tax free status from the US government though most people are sophisticated enough to know that the ratio of "overhead" (as in those Range Rovers) to money spent on actual recipients of programs, is quite tilted toward overhead in many perfectly "legal" US charitable organizations. There are more ways to justify spending money on oneself and one's "staff" than most people can imagine.
One needs to be just as careful with their money when investing it in charitable causes as in any investment for a profit.Those ladies of which you speak, trust each other because they have known each other for many years and knowing the character of people involved is paramount. Having served on boards of many mainline non-profits in the USA and having been a founding board member for several (raising private funds as well as helping write and promote grant proposals to foundations) when such community service was part of my job for colleges and universities, I know that due diligence down here is a rare thing.Even with well meaning people…not to mention the charlatans.
It is always best to know exactly what your money is being used for and also know well the population it is intended to serve. Measureable results along with financial accountability and total transparency are basics for foundations and should be for any indiivdual as well. Any charity that won't show you their books (as in bookkeeping) one should give a very wide berth.There are more people using the "charitable contribution" scam down here than can be counted on both hands……
December 7th, 2009 at 12:12 am
korey: Really great work! Love your website. We have been wanting to do some promotional items for our children's home/school in Guatemala and see if we can use the items as fundraisers. I will send you an email and maybe we can meet and discuss ideas. I really would like to do as much local work as possible and if we can ship from Guatemala, at a reasonable rate, that would be the best.
December 7th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
I don't understand the difference. You'd have an overseeing NGO for the current NGOs? I'm missing something there.
I prefer KIVA, personally. Call me scrooge, but last year Santa brought the kids KIVA loans and they're still going strong.
December 7th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Amy, I guess the way this would work is our 'foundation', if that's the right word, would be a clearing house of sorts. We help with the due diligence beforehand, and with accountability as an ongoing effort. I imagine the donor wouldn't lose anything at all just because we're involved.
December 7th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
NGO is just 'non governmental organization', it's how non-profits are referred to here. But yes, we'd be a non-profit in the US, and here, and the mission would be to perform due diligence, accountability, and insure transparency. Essentially we'd be NGO cops.
December 24th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
ohhh nice info, keep it coming