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Friction, not oil
What happens when giving seems a little too easy? “Save a life, in your sleep”, said the sign. Buy a pair of pyjamas at this shop, the promise was, and your money will help eradicate malaria in southern Africa. There’s no question that the cause is valid. More than 600,000 people died of the disease…
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Donations for disruption
Want to do your bit for the climate? Donating to activists may offer more bang for your buck than buying carbon offsets. That’s the conclusion of research group Giving Green: even their conservative estimates suggest advocacy organisations are “much more cost-effective than even best offsets”, they say.
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Power in the picture
Way back in 2007, the Irish Association of Non-Governmental Development Organisations (Dochas), created a code of conduct on images and messages. It was a reaction to the somehow accepted situation of fundraisers relying on what you might call “flies in their eyes” photography. You don’t need to see an example here; if you live in…
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The gift of rest
The more you do, the more difference you can make. Or so it seems, in a world that prizes productivity. How could it not be true, when every conference, every campaign, every keynote speaker tells us we must take action, urgently? It’s counter-intuitive, then, to do less in an effort to make the world a…
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Advice of idiots
When someone you love is upset, ask one question before you do anything, suggests New York Times writer Jancee Dunn. She quotes her sister, a teacher of kids with special needs. When a child is emotionally overwhelmed by something, this teacher and her colleagues will ask: “Do you want to be helped, heard or hugged?”…
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Fit for a king
Britain is crowning a new(ish) King next month, so we’re all being encouraged to spend a once-in-a-generation bank holiday doing something nice for each other. But the Big Help Out, which promises to “give everyone an opportunity to join in”, has already prompted concerns that it will flop, further undermining efforts to recruit and engage new volunteers.…
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Mega(phone) motivation
Youth media projects matter because they give young people “a voice”. Funders, nonprofits and facilitators emphasise this as their goal; participants celebrate it. And standard-setters expect it: a 2006 guide by the Open Society Institute, a significant early philanthropic backer of youth media in the US, says a key feature is that it “conveys the authentic…
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Royal recognition
“Well, they do a lot for charity…” It’s a common response when you ask people what purpose the British royal family still serves. For some, good causes are the monarchy’s primary purpose: according to recent research from Charities Aid Foundation, a third of Brits believe that the royals’ most important role is supporting charities. (It’s not…
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Motivations matter
People clearly like to help other people. Last year a friend posted on LinkedIn that she was looking for a mentor; she expected one or two responses – but got an astonishing 25 offers. You see it the other way round, too: mid-career professionals offering time to answer questions or advise younger people on breaking…
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Despair as a teddy bear
Bad things seem to pile up: the slow grind of dishonest politics, the sharp horror of war, the unfathomable end of life on earth barely registering on our front pages. You want to make the world a little bit better, but amid all of this, is there any point? Much has been written already about…
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