The Joy of Giving - By Zahida Noorani, CFRE

When some twenty years ago, I decided to switch from a successful social work career to a new one in fund raising, several friends expressed grave misgivings. "What a tiring job, constantly having to beg people for money"... "People will avoid you, they will fear you will ask them to buy tickets to your fund raising events." On and on they went. The general understanding they had of fundraisers is that they hound people for donations. I realized then that I had my work cut out. Not only did I have the professional responsibility of educating donors and prospective donors about the mission and services of my NGO, but also interpreting to the general public the very nature of my job as a professional fund raiser.

Actually, I am not a fundraiser but a development professional. The funds I raise are used to further the development of the not-for-profit institution or organization I work for. My job title was Director of Development. But to the general public, the word "development" connotes many different things. For instance, I used to be approached by property developers offering me buildings for purchase or rehabilitation and by human resource management firms seeking an opportunity to provide staff development programmes. To make it easy for laypersons to understand our work, even the professional organization of development professionals in the USA is known as the National Society of Fund Raising Executives rather than of development professionals.

Far from twisting people's arms and pressuring friends to make a donation, the development professional channels the expressed or dormant desire of human beings to help their less fortunate brethren. Most individuals, no matter how concerned they may be about the plight of the needy, cannot do anything about it directly. Everybody cannot start an NGO to help people in distress or to spare time for volunteer work. So they may make a donation to a charity they feel is doing a good job of helping people who may be suffering from ill-health or the ravages of social ills such as alcoholism, drug addiction, family breakdown etc This is the basis for philanthropy which means love of mankind. Charitable giving, at its noblest and most inspiring level, arises from this love. The donor experiences the joy of giving and the personal satisfaction of participating in alleviation of human misery.

Philanthropy consists of charitable gifts from individuals, foundations and corporations. They are given voluntarily out of their own financial resources. Grants from governmental agencies are not part of philanthropy because they are given from tax-generated funds and reflect an acknowledgment of the responsibility of the public sector to aid the underprivileged members of society. To this extent it is not voluntary giving.

The phenomenon of philanthropy is not a new one. Even in primitive society people helped each other with food and other resources during times of illness and death, looked after the elderly, the orphans and the physically and mentally challenged. As societies developed and monetary transactions came about, gifts in kind were reinforced by financial contributions. Churches, monasteries, hospitals, orphanages, homes for the aged and infirm, and educational institutions, to mention some, were established by wealthy individuals to meet a variety of needs. Fast forward to our times and we see philanthropy well and alive despite the many downturns in the economy now and then. In fact, it seems that in times of greater unemployment, those who have financial resources tend to give larger amounts in charity due to realization of greater need. According to the American Association of Fund Raising Counsel (AAFRC) that has been keeping track of charitable giving in USA for more than three decades, there has been a real increase in charitable giving each year even after making allowances for inflation. Further, of the billions donated annually, 85% of the contributions are by individuals, roughly 9% to 10% by the 40,000 foundations and 6% by corporations.

In India, we have no record of the amount of charitable giving each year by individuals but there is every indication that, in this country too, individuals are the backbone of philanthropy and perhaps contribute a greater percentage of total giving than in USA. In addition to donations to NGOs, individuals give a substantial amount to needy relatives, neighbours and friends not to mention the ever-present beggars on the street. This person-to-person giving means absence of formal record keeping.

A good fund raising program of every NGO must tap all available sources of funds - individuals, foundations, corporations and governmental agencies. This will create a diversified funding base so that if and when one source pulls out, the NGO will have others to fall back upon. However, fund raising from individuals must be a top priority for a sound resource development program. Initially, developing a strong base of individual donors will be more time-consuming and labour-intensive compared to preparing a grant application or proposal for funding from foundations, corporations and governmental agencies but it will pay off in the long run with higher returns.

In soliciting individuals for support, we must make every effort to build in for them the joy of giving. We must bear in mind the many and varied motivations for giving. Much is made of tax considerations because charitable contributions often qualify for income tax deductions. However this generally applies to large donations after a donor has already made a decision to support a cause and will consult an accountant or tax advisor regarding the best timing and amount to donate to get the greatest tax reduction. There are other far more powerful motivators. Every religion enjoins its followers to share their financial resources with the needy. So religious people give in charity particularly during festivals to bring joy to others and in times of their own personal distress to ask for blessings. When a wish has been fulfilled, for instance, recovery from a serious illness, donations are made in thankfulness. . It is quite common to give in celebration of joyous events and in memory of deceased loved ones to honour them and to lessen our own sadness. Interest in a particular cause, concern for the less fortunate, deep sense of personal satisfaction in helping others and the desire to give back to society for the good life we have are other strong motivators. We cannot overlook peer influence. This is why request from friends to support causes they are involved with produce favourable results. Large donations may be given by individuals to gain recognition, build their self-esteem or to seek favour with powerful peers.

Foundations, also known as charity trusts, and corporations have different reasons for making charitable gifts. Foundations are established by wealthy individuals and families to formalize their charitable giving. The expressly purpose is support of charitable causes. The foundation donor's purposes are accomplished when an NGO that receives support shows hot the gift helped those whom they serve. That is their source of joy in giving.

Corporations on the other hand are not in the business of charity. Their mission is to make a success of their business and earn as high a profit as possible. Yet, corporations also make charitable gifts for a variety of reasons. They want to earn community goodwill, improve community life, share some of their profits with the community that supports their business, and gain visibility. All this is part of their public relations and marketing strategy. It makes good business sense to win an image as good and caring corporate citizens. So corporate giving is moved by enlightened self-interest. When an NGO receiving a corporate gift offers visibility and recognition, the corporate giving purposes are fulfilled. Therein lies the joy of giving for corporations.

In working with all donors, we must try to understand each one's motivation(s) for giving and try to fulfil their expectations and interests. To the extent that we give them such satisfaction, we help them experience the joy of giving and make them long-time donors.

Zahida Noorani is a fundraising trainer and consultant. She can be contacted by e-mail at zahida2000@indiatimes.com.