Charity May Begin at Home, But It's Moving Online

I've always been a strong believer in the biblical admonition that we will be judged by what we do for the least among us.

My realization that the private sector alone would not do what is necessary to overcome poverty and address America's social problems played a major role in the transformation of my political thinking. I saw that while conservative Republicans talked a good game about compassion and social responsibility, they didn't put their money where their mouths were.

I also got a window into the world of charitable giving when I discovered how much harder it is to raise money for groups and community activists trying to turn lives around than it is for fashionable museums and already well-endowed universities.

In her book "Why the Wealthy Give," sociologist Francie Ostrower described how "elites take philanthropy and adapt it into an entire way of life that serves as a vehicle for the cultural and social life of their class."

It's why we see so many charitable donations going to erect edifices that bear the donor's name. After real estate magnate A. Alfred Taubman's $30 million donation to his alma mater resulted in the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning -- joining the A. Alfred Taubman Health Care Center and the Taubman Medical Library -- I suggested that if Taubman was so fond of his name, it would be much more compassionate if he gave 3,000 homeless people $10,000 each to simply change their names to Taubman.

Overall giving to charities -- both fashionable and unfashionable -- increased in 2007, marking the first time in U.S. history charitable giving surpassed $300 billion.

And while online giving accounts for only a small percentage of that total, the Internet is definitely energizing philanthropy and changing the way that we give. According to the ePhilanthropy Foundation, online donations have skyrocketed, going from $250 million in 2000 to close to $7 billion in 2006.

Online giving has had a particularly significant impact in responding to massive crises like Katrina, the Asian tsunami, the flooding in Burma and the earthquake in China. In the wake of Katrina, for instance, 50 cents of every dollar donated was contributed online, and a third of the money raised for tsunami relief came via the Internet.

Not surprisingly, some of the most interesting things happening in e-philanthropy are being driven by young people. Facebook and MySpace have become hotbeds of charitable giving -- as have sites such as Kiva.org, SixDegrees.org, Change.org, DoSomething.org, and DonorsChoose.org.

A key element of many of these new nonprofits is that they allow donors to connect directly to those they are helping. You don't just add your contribution to a giant pool of money meant to help the faceless needy -- you can target specific individuals and watch how their lives are changed by the money you give.

The desire to lend a hand is increasingly becoming an aspect of corporate citizenship. At Google, employees are encouraged to spend up to 20 percent of their time at Google.org (aka DotOrg), the online behemoth's foundation, or working on other charitable ventures. GoodSearch.com is a Yahoo!-powered search engine which donates 50 percent of its revenue to the charities and schools designated by its users; its spin-off, GoodShop.com, is an online shopping mall that donates a percentage of each sale to user-selected charities.

Another company looking to do well by doing good is American Express, via its Members Project '08 (full transparency: AmEx is advertising the project on HuffPost). Just kicking off its second year, the Project encourages cardholders to dream up ideas for projects that will make a difference in the world. The ideas are then posted online and voted on -- with the most popular projects dividing $2.5 million.

Last year, the winning project, submitted by a doctor from Ohio, sought to reduce the 4,000 unnecessary deaths of children each day due to unsafe water. The $2 million in funding it received has brought clean drinking water to millions of children in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, and Guinea.

America's economic downturn presents a daunting double-edged challenge to domestic charitable organizations. Hard times mean that more people than ever will be in need of help -- and that fewer people will be in a position to help.

But while in the past the burden for charitable giving fell mostly on the Bill Gateses of the world, today's technology has leveled the giving playing field. Dennis Whittle, founder of GlobalGiving, says technology has the potential to make "all donors equal in the eyes of philanthropy" and turn us all into "ordinary Oprahs": "If you have $10 or $100 or $1,000," he says, "you can come [online], find a school in Africa to support, and you can get updates from the field to get responses to your support."

Which is not to say that those who find themselves on the more fortunate side of America's growing economic divide can forget that other Biblical admonition: "From whom much is given, from him that much more shall be expected."

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[skruff]

It would be wonderful if all the world's problems (or even a great many of them) could be solved by some bountiful US citizen writing a check. BUT the problem (s) are more complex then that. Feed people living in a desert, they become strong, breed, and create a problem for the next score of years when hunger returns.

There is not a problem on the planet which could not be mitigated by reducing population, unfortunately few people wish to recognize this reality. With four billion people world-wide we could attempt to humanely manage the problem of hunger, with six-pushing-seven billion folks, many people in many areas will starve.. Harsh, but true. we're over our limit and will have to prune.

Funny, everyone seems to see this with cats and dogs, but they think people are exempt.

[BottomLine2008]

Anything that makes charity easier is good.

[azhitnik]

Check out an Ohio based company called Jumpstart Ventures (jumpstartinc.org). They are sort of a venture capital firm that raises money for promising smaller Northeast Ohio companies through charitable donations. The are thinking of expanding beyond Ohio. What a way to support local businesses and create jobs.

[BDLamb]

Thanks, Arianna. This article was uplifting and hopeful. I needed to read this.

[janvoght]

i couldn't agree more!!! during good times and bad, there should be no reason we cannot feed the hungry and thirsty children of the world....for this reason and many more i am greatful for the technology of the internet.
obama '08

[staciek]

I really enjoyed this piece. Some really great comments made here.

Online participation played such a key part in the launch and success of my See & Sprout Project (seeandsprout.com) in Thailand this past year. After reading about the "biggie" foundations mentioned, I realize we are still so petite, but being online can certainly change this. It's inspiring to say the least.

I do know being able to post video, images, make regular updates and accept online donations changed the way my project has grown and continues to grow. It actually forces me to think bigger because I realize people do want to help and I believe when a cause or foundation is accessible to all ages, people have a greater opportunity to feel connected and participate.

In my case, the direct effect, and one-to-one connection of giving back to each child photographer who participates in our project, offers them an opportunity to understand what it means to create something and be self sustaining. It's a life altering gift we share together that's for sure.

[mntleo2]

I have issues with sending money overseas rather than taking care of Americans at home. As a saying that is also biblical and attributed to Jesus goes (paraphrased), "Clean up your own house before you tell someone else how to clean up theirs ..."

Last night on Bill Moyers, John Edwards said that, if the statistics were not so doctored ('my words, not his), than over 90 MILLION citizens would be considered in poverty. That is over 1/3 of our population. Also as my Somalian friend told me, poverty is actually WORSE here than in her home country. She said that people in Somalia who cannot survive, merely go out into the forest where the indigenous have lived for many millennium and anyone could learn how to survive. In America this is impossible, the forests ate either privately owned or government-owned would never allow it ~ and the indigenous are no longer there to teach this skill.

The point is that, few have studied the reasons for poverty, what is left of the safety net is full of heueuege holes, and we do not support true work, especially work that is unpaid work. Venezuela for instance pays a wage to parents who do the work of childcare. Here we call this work "doing nothing.." according to the Heritage Institute and codified into law under the Welfare Reform law ~ because this work, which built and maintains our country, is "women's work" and not respected or supported.

[mouselion]

I suggest that August 8, 2008, the first day of the Olympics, as a day of discussion and reflection on world hunger, its causes and possible solutions. For those willing, why not fast for the day?

Here is a link to anti-poverty/hunger organizations through Bread For The World:

http://www.bread.org/learn/links.html

Thanks to Huffiington Post for the posts related to this weighty matter.

[Dynamohum]

Watching for 53 years what is going on around me in Washington DC. I see a lot of wonderful charities that actually provide real services to people in need.

I also see (manned mostly by republicans) a lot of suppose non-profit 501 3C charities, that do not supply anything to anybody, except to try to push some agenda, oh like lets say "prayer in school", "ten commandments on courthouse property", "don't burn the flag", "teaching the Bible in School", "Abstinence Only Programs", all of these pathetic and wasteful. This should not receive tax exempt status.

I personally witnessed during the last election organizations started by Republicans to benefit AIDS, most of them in the form of Inauguration Parties for Bush, and for the life of me as fast as they sprung up and collected money, they mysteriously disappeared quickly, with the money in tow.

[TankerRat]

A helping hand to get on one's feet? Absolutely! A continuing "hand-out" No! My problem is that once you choose to give you are being constantly bombarded with requests( to put it mildly) for yet more and more and more. Not only from who you originally gave too but from everybody that outfit SOLD your name too.
Still, you make some very fine points Arianna. Thank you.

[skruff]

Charity as practiced in the USA is generally evil, and when you say "... the burden for charitable giving has traditionally fallen on the Bill Gateses of the world" I believe you prove my point.

Faceless beings giving to charitable trusts may be a way to salve consciences, but the reciever is stripped of dignity by being forced to "request" aid from strangers.
When I was a child in New York City, I saw a truly charitable act which changed the course of my life.

I was walking acrossCentral Park, from my school on West 74th Street to my home on fifth avenue. Winter was coming, and you could feel a slight chill in the air.

On a bench in the park were two folks that (in those days) we called "bums" today they would be the homeless. they were dressed in rags, and they smelled. The one old man who had acquired a sandwich, broke it in half, and gave the other half to his friend (who was likely not out of his teens).. Half of what he owned as chairity. Bill Gates is a piker by comparison.

[TorpedoTommy]

'Charity is the pushing of right into the dirthole of mercy!' (C.v.Ossietzky, german journalist - who was put into a concentrationcamp and died there)
Well who is against lending a hnd but charity? Go pay your taxes and support politicians who will not waste the money.

"...you can target specific individuals and watch how their lives are changed by the money you give."
And that is just disgusting, do you wanna help or be entertained?

[ReasonableBill]

I hope the reason I am here is not being a tax deduction.

[NMPuff]

My comment is tax oriented and it is that giving when directed to an individual can be construed as a direct gift and has certain tax consequences. Giving to an organization is usually viewed as a donation and is more likely to be deductible. Technical I know but those deductions don't hurt.

[unionave]

I've seen many things in many places but I have never seen any thing better than people and when we help people we REALLY feel proud to be Americans .

This is a great story by a great person .