It’s 2016! Some early thoughts on South African philanthropy.

Gabrielle Ritchie, Director at The Change Room:  4th January 2016

It’s the start of 2016 and South Africa has got off to a rocking start with a number of key hashtags in response to the ongoing, appalling, tiresome, tedious, offensive racist vitriol that white people seem to think it okay to spew all over social media.  Sigh. The first excellent hashtag is #TheYearWeMispronounceBack – a strong statement about the insistence amongst white people (turns out this is experienced the world over) to find “black names” too challenging to bother with.  It’s not that the names are too challenging.  We know this. But rather that so many of “my people” just frankly don’t consider it important enough to bother with black names.  Shocking horrible dismissive arrogant racist stuff.   The # takes the mickey out of traditionally white names, while making a key political point about respect, language, culture, supremacy, privilege and a range of other social factors and dynamics at play.

The second hashtag is #PennySparrow. Or #JustinVanVuuren. Or #ChrisHart. Or #DennisDyason.  All of whom are white South Africans who have spewed forth some ugly ugly stuff in the last 36 hours or so.  Not repeating any of it here, as it doesn’t warrant further sharing.  The bottom line out of all of this is that #RacismMustFall, and it is the responsibility of white South Africans – me included, obvs – to speak out loudly in support of anti-racist measures, to call racism out when we see it, and to stand up and raise our voices against any form of racism (yes, even our own). And we can’t expect any accolades, medals, or awards for it.  We must simply get on with it and do it. If white South Africans have any work to do, it is being constantly vigilant about our own behaviour and that of those white folk around us.  No complaints. Just get on with it.

So what does all of this have to do with philanthropy in South Africa?  A good question, you might be thinking. And this is really directed at us white South Africans.

Okay, so philanthropy is about someone giving financial support for a cause/s which that person believes in. It is about “doing good”.  It is – as has been shown in a number of recent South African research reports – about believing that one can “make a difference”, that by giving one can “contribute to change”.  Giving therefore has to start with the questions “what do I care about?”, “what is the change I want to see?” and “what difference do I want to contribute to making?”.  Asked and answered honestly is where the line gets drawn, between those who want to be “helpful to those less fortunate” (and I am not knocking that, really) and those who actively want to see change.

One of the key areas of real change required in South Africa is that #RacismMustFall.  Spend a good few minutes thinking about that, and thinking about how your own giving and your personal philanthropy can contribute to tackling your own prejudices – not just in what cause or organisation you support, but also in the way in which you offer such support.  The real impact is often felt in HOW we do things, and philanthropy is no different.  The HOW of philanthropy is crucial in effecting real change.

If you are looking to support any social justice cause this year, and you are also looking to ensure that your own racism and that of those around you is tackled, then your support needs to be committed; your approach will be consultative; your ears will be tuned to listen to the voices of those doing the work (rather than to your own voice); and you might look to contribute to work already happening rather than foregrounding your own way of doing things.

There is so much going on out there – amazing initiatives by incredibly energetic and creative people.  And they need your financial support.  Think about what you want to support this year, and how you are wanting to offer that support.

Please share any thoughts you have on this 🙂   Our young democracy depends on you.

 

 

 

South African PhilanthroFacts 2 – When we give, who is it who gets?

The picture above was taken by Carmel Loggenberg/EWN, published at http://ewn.co.za/2014/09/07/3-die-from-shack-fires

Blog by Gabrielle Ritchie 16 March 2015

What prompts us to give? Five motivators to giving money to social causes:

Summer at the Cape Peninsula in South Africa is always a time for truly wicked bushfires.  The combination of dry weather and outrageously strong winds is a recipe for disaster.  Summer 2015 has been no different.  Huge fires that last for days are, thankfully, quite rare, and so it seems that this summer was to be Cape Town’s first real “big fire” season in quite a few years.  Bush firefighting is a massive community endeavour, heavily reliant on volunteer firefighters, drivers, food donations, co-ordination, evacuation assistance and so on.  The recent Cape Town fire (which started 1st March) used more than 400 firefighters, burned for 5 days, turned to charcoal more than 5,500 hectares of land – and at many points seemed unstoppable, with huge flames and the front line spreading for kilometres.  On the 4th day of the fire, a local radio station hosted a fundraising phone-a-thon for one of the volunteer firefighting services, and raised – in the space of about 12 hours – approximately 14x their original target.  Corporates and individuals called in, pledging their financial support to the firefighting non-profit.  It was a truly spectacular fundraising success.  To the volunteer organisation’s enormous credit, their social media campaign was impeccable all the way through the 5-day fire.  It was textbook campaign excellence and the phone-a-thon results reflected this clearly.

Along with this fundraising success came the very necessary questions from concerned members of the public and social media commentators.  These questions focused on how non-profit causes are promoted; who decides on which causes are provided with media platforms for fundraising; whose lives and homes are privileged for fundraising, while others’ are deemed unimportant; does money always go to the already-resourced organisations; what about the hundreds of people routinely losing everything to shack fires that break out in squatter communities?

These are just some of the questions that put the notion of “fundraising success” under a social justice lens, and which invite scrutiny and interrogation of the politics of public fundraising appeals.  I have had many discussions, arguments and debates since the fires about the profiling of some causes above others, and about the role of activists and organisations in shaping public understanding about social issues. While those discussions are far-reaching and complex, the key question remains about how individuals make decisions about what they are going to give their hard-earned cash to.

Below are listed the five top reasons, in my opinion, why people give:

1. Passion – what is in our hearts. Often this isn’t something we can account for or necessarily explain at first, but when it connects, you feel it. As per the recent Cape Town example, if we care about the environment in general, and the Table Mountain National Park in particular (which was spectacularly affected in the fires), then supporting a volunteer firefighting organisation is a “no-brainer”.
2. Values – and the ability to identify with a cause. The issues or causes that connect with our values are those most likely to catch our attention and hook us in. So if we value grit, determination and perseverance, for example, then again the “Cape Town Fires” cause is an obvious one to support because of the sheer scale and duration of the firefighting effort.
3. Urgency – this is often a key reason, where crisis can play an important role in getting involved in supporting an issue or cause. If it is apparent that your giving, right at the moment, is going to make a difference, if your immediate action is going to make an immediate and visible difference, then this is often what will pull individuals towards getting involved through funding support. We like to see how our contribution is making a difference.
4. Availability of information – it is much easier to give to a cause when we know the the current state of play of a cause, and what kind of support is required – with clear and easy-to-access information on the different ways in which we can help or the different kinds of support we can provide. With social media, most people expect to be able to access immediate and up-to-date information. Not being able to do so is likely to lose an organisation its support quite quickly. The Cape Town fires are a really excellent example of up-to-the-minute communications – at any given point those with access to facebook and twitter were able to get information not only on the status of the fires, but on what particular help and support was required at any given time at any given fire station. Good, timeous communication is the key to any cause attracting support.
5. Easy processes for giving – linked directly to the point above, the easier it is to help and support and contribute and donate, the more likely people are to do it. Social media provided an incredible platform for sharing information about the fires and how to support. Drop-off points for material donations were clearly advertised, specific calls were made about what to donate and where to take it, and banking details were repeatedly made available online on facebook pages.

There are a number of other motivators for giving:

1. Low-risk causes – If a cause is low-risk, and there is unlikely to be some kind of negative social impact on oneself in being associated with a particular issue. For examples, children and animals are very popular to support because they are what we call “soft issues”.
2. A public face – If there is a public figure, or a face, or a character that fronts a cause, and if people are able to identify with that figure
3. Telling a good story – If there is a particular story associated with a cause, and people can relate to the story.

Gabrielle Ritchie on Cape Talk Radio and Radio 702, in discussion with Bruce Whitfield about what motivates people to give

http://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/1980/over-r3-million-raised-by-you-to-help-with-the-fire-damages-in-cape-town

South African PhilanthroFacts 1

Not enough is known about South African philanthropy.

We don’t have access to the kind of information that would make possible a deeper analysis of knowledge, attitudes and practices of South Africans who do (and who don’t) give their own money towards social development. I am going to write a series of blogs, then, to deliver up an insight into what we do know. There is some information available – what I would call “surface information” – so let’s at least get that up on the table.

First, a quick list of categories of information that we know we are able to access:
1. we could get information from non-profits on the amounts or relative percentages of funding support received from individuals and from foundations and trusts in South Africa. This would require a bit of research (some of which is currently being undertaken by @Inyathelo http://www.inyathelo.org.za)
2. we can access generalisations on who gives and why they give
3. we have access to research on giving in South Africa, conducted for example by Nedbank Private Wealth and published in The Giving Report (of which there are two studies conducted to date). This is self-reported giving and comes therefore with its own challenges (how do people report their giving, how do we account for individuals wanting to be seen as more generous than they actually are etc)
4. we know what academic research has been done and can readily compile a comprehensive reading list of this research – mostly for Masters and PhD degrees
5. we can access the local media coverage of South African philanthropy, South African wealth, the richest men, the richest women, and an idea of those who give publicly and who are known to give
6. we have access to a great list of philanthropy role-models in South Africa – across the broadest range of the South African demographic in terms of age, geography, culture, religion, colour, gender, cause and so on – go to http://www.philanthropy.org.za
7. there are new initiatives afoot to promote different kinds of giving, and to develop a strong case for support for giving to social justice causes – see for example the Social Justice Initiative at http://www.sji.org.za
8. we could review the work of the Private Philanthropy Circle (www.philanthropy.org.za), the first forum of private South African philanthropy foundations, which has a number of foundations as members and represents only the tip of South Africa’s “foundationberg” (see what i did there?)
9. we know of other foundation networks, for example the network of community foundations in South Africa
10. which means we could also do research on the concept of a community foundation and its applicability in the South African context
11. we know and can analyse the tax environment for philanthropy in South Africa, and what does and does not support the growth of individual philanthropy
12. we have access to databases of funders in South Africa and can trawl and analyse for philanthropic foundations associated with South African individuals
13. we can access information on the growth of philanthropy based on the increasing numbers of banks and wealth management companies offering philanthropy-focused services, and on the increasing numbers of people becoming part of the field of philanthropy advisory services (myself included).

In South Africa we don’t have access to tax records, for example. This source of information is where researchers in the USA are able to draw such comprehensive analyses of giving patterns, top ten lists, and the kind of giving detail that researchers are able to write about and profile. That said, the list above shows that we do have access to vast amounts of information that, while perhaps carrying insufficient specific detail on who is giving and how much they are giving and what they are giving to, nevertheless does provide us with enough information to draw patterns and extrapolations and conclusions.

Forward, onward then – to developing a fuller picture of South African philanthropy and individual giving in our country. Watch this space for South African PhilanthroFacts 2.