This month you will have been in a world where people in the
Phillipines are crying out for basic necessities while million dollar gifts are
on the rise to universities. Is this a dilemma for you as a fundraiser?
I believe not. But the dichotomy is illustrative of a wider
principal – the distinction between charity and philanthropy. The distinction is practical not
semantic. The roots of both words (one
Greek one Latin) are comparable. “Love”
is in the etymology of both. Both have
been used interchangeably in the English and other languages for
centuries. Yet in practice there is I
believe a distinction.
I have friends in the Philippines who are volunteering to
help provide the essentials of life to their fellow citizens in some of the
more remote regions of Cebu. They point
out that 150 pesos (about $3.50) = 3 packets of noodles, 2 canned goods,
1.25liter of drinking water , 2kilos of rice. A modest contribution can make a big
difference to one or more person’s individual condition.
Contrast this with gifts to Australia universities by Andrew
and Nicola Forrest or Graeme and Louise
Tuckwell. These multi million dollar gifts will fund
research and scholarship. What will be
done through enhanced research and scholarship?
Or rather, a better question is what has been achieved throughout history
by researchers and scholars? We may not
live in a perfect world but the achievements and progress we enjoy has to a
large degree been the fruit of education
and inquiry.
The analogy, it seems to me is with curing symptoms and
finding causes. Both are essential.
Charity and philanthropy are both essential.
We need to develop expertise at both.
Another paradox was in the philanthropy news this month. Bill Gates - channelling Peter Singer - asked
“why anyone would donate money to build a new wing for a museum rather than
spend it on preventing illnesses that can lead to blindness?”
The essence of that dilemma was encapsulated by this remark
in the Wall Street Journal. “Somerset Maugham said in his novel Cakes and Ale: ‘Beauty is an ecstasy; it
is as simple as hunger’." Philanthropy has a role in contributing to both.
What do you think?