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What does a donor need? In order to answer this question we considered the importance of efficacy and quality singels. But maybe I forgot an essential step: the three basics of philanthropy. In order for a donor to care about philanthropy they should know what it is. Do they?
Philanthropy refers to money right?
Earlier I asked you on Twitter and LinkedIn to to fill in a MentiMeter to develop a wordcloud of the keywords people thought off while thinking about the word philanthropy. The main keywords mentioned are: money (geld), nonprofits (geode doelen), help (helpen), donation (doneren) and donor (donateur). These replies are interesting because they mirror a misconception related to the word philanthropy. It appears that out of this small group people think that philanthropy mostly relates to donations in the form of money, while philanthropy is so much more than that! So let’s take a step back in this blog and go back to the basics.
The three basics of philantopry: what, how & to which
Philanthropy is a bit of an awkward term, few individuals know what it is (and what it is not: e.g. a common misconception is that philanthropists are a bunch of rich men). While most individuals (if not all) have been in contact with philanthropy at some point in their lives: either as donor, volunteer or solicitor. Philanthropy is defined as the individual voluntary contribution (money, time, goods expertise) for the benefit of the public good (Payton, 1988). But that is still a wordy description of something so simple and familiar. I can explain it a lot easier by the three basics of philanthropy: the how, what and to which.
What: types of giving
What are we giving? We are giving more than money, even though this is often the most populair one. There are several donation sources: time, providing expertise, goods (Payton, 1988) and body material. When someone donates time we call this volunteering. There are many forms of this type of giving. Another option is to give expertise, which we describe as crowdsourcing (not to confuse with crowdfunding which is donating money online). You can also think about donating products like clothes or old cell phones. And a final option is to give body materials. This might sound a bit weird but it is not uncommon, think about donating blood. Or the less common version: organs.
How: seven donation sources
When I mention the word ‘donations’ you are likely to think about the classic door-to-door collectes. But there are many sources you can use to give. For instance a charity lottery (e.g. Nationale Postcode Loterij), or charity funds, sponsoring of companies, during church time, legacies. Another option is to make a donation online, like with crowdfunding.
To which: eight donation categories
There are several donation categories: church and philosophy, healthcare, international help, environment, nature, animal care, education and research, culture and arts, sport and recreation, societal care and additional.
