#give smart

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Fifty years ago, President Johnson launched America’s “War on Poverty;”—what has been the result?

Robin Hood's Chief Program Officer Michael M. Weinstein talks with board member Doug Haynes about America’s anti-poverty efforts—what’s worked, what hasn’t and where we go from here.

Learn more about Robin Hood's Poverty Tracker which aims to rethink the official measures of poverty.

And considering making a year-end tax deductible gift to Robin Hood: donate here.

[fddsknowbetter]

Give Smart Blog 1: #26Acts of Kindness

Blog 1: Give Smart

The shooting at Newtown Connecticut was a tragedy that warped people’s perception of safety, mental illness and education. All of which are tied to an individual’s personal values and beliefs. The Presidents’ response to this tragedy was that, “Were not doing enough” and Ann Curry’s response was “26 acts of kindness.” (http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/18/15999109-if-you-do-good-youll-feel-good-ann-curry-explains-origins-of-26acts-of-kindness?lite?)  

Describe how Ann Curry’s “26 acts of kindness” ties into philanthropy as well as the books we have read for the program. Describe how self-imposed excellence and avoiding the traps of the unwary can prevent another tragedy such as this.

                After the tragic killings in Newtown, Connecticut this past December, it was clear that everyone was dealing with the shooting in their own way. I, personally, had a very delayed reaction to the shooting.  December 14th was the day that I was getting ready to leave Brazil after having lived in Rio for 6 months. In the midst of saving goodbyes to my “Brazilian Family,” the younger members of our group started to receive texts from their friends – “Did you hear what happened in the United States? There was a shooting in a school.” It wasn’t until I was back on US soil that I learned the details of the story: 20 small children and 6 adults killed by a disturbed teenager. I was shocked, and like most other people, really just wanted one answer – why?

                While I doubt that we may ever know the real answer to that question, I do not doubt that this shouting is going to have a profound impact on our country. It has made people stop and think about a lot of things – gun control, mental illness, school security, etc. – that we have trying to avoid talking about for a long time. In the light of such heavy issues, it is easy to be downcast or discouraged – that’s why I have to start by commending Ann Curry for her more positive #26Acts response after the shooting. She wants people to turn their grief into action – I respect that. However, while considering the #26Acts campaign, I still think that we also need to consider President Obama’s response – Are we doing enough?

                There are a lot of positives to Ann Curry’s #26Acts. Like I said, she wants to get people active. She is giving them a clear, measurable goal: do 26 acts of kindness to honor the 26 victims of Newtown. It gives people flexibility, allowing them to “personalize” their 26 acts (as Give Smart says, giving is deeply personal) and give in ways that they want/are able to give. I do believe that small acts can have an impact – if they are thoughtful and well -planned. It’s like giving a gift at Christmas – sometimes it’s the handmade card that has the bigger impact than some expensive gesture. In essence, they can be as short, sweet, and simple as you like, and are a great way for a person who has never seriously thought about philanthropy a way to start giving. But for me, that’s all it really is – a start. Being kind is always a good thing, but I’m not sure if I would say that after people complete their 26 acts they are “philanthropists.”  What happens after you do your 26 acts? Are you done giving? What impact did your acts have? Did you give strategically so that your acts are lasting? Where is the follow through? To me, #26Acts is really encouraging people to commit random acts of kindness or onetime acts of service. We’re not teaching the man to fish so he can feed himself; we’re just giving him a fish so that he’s not hungry today. This isn’t a bad thing – just different from the type of giving that we’ve been learning about in FDDS. Again, not bad – different.

                I also see Curry’s #26Acts falling victim to many of the “traps of the unwary” that we learned about this week in our Give Smart reading. For example, the most blaring trap I see is Fuzzy Headedness: “when donors allow their emotions and wishful thinking to override logic and thoughtful analysis.”  Authors Thomas Tierney and Joel Fleishman say a common symptom of this trap is “replaying to the question “What are you trying to accomplish?” with a response as undefined (and therefore unattainable) as “curing cancer,” or “ending poverty,” or “stopping global warming” is a common symptom” (13). You see this with a lot of tweets - people saying they want to “stop cancer” or “stop hunger” with 50 cent donations for every retweet they receive. I’m sorry, but no matter how many retweets you get, it is going to take more than 50 cent donations to “stop hunger,” if that is even really possible. I see less of the Flying Solo trap in the #26Acts – people are joining forces to complete their acts, though some could argue that it might be better if the acts were more organized towards a particular cause. The last trap I see present in the #26Acts is Satisfactory Underpreformance: “accepting things as they are without really pushing toward what might be possible.” Basically this goes back along the same lines as what I said the previous paragraph. I’ll use a really simple example of #26Acts tweet that I saw – holding the door for someone. Ok, you hold the door for one person – good. Apparently, this means that your act is over. But now, what if you actually said – “I’m going to hold the door for people…all the time.” Now you are taking your act one step further, and making the effort to be a politer, kinder person for longer than 5 seconds.

                Again, I really do appreciate what Ann Curry is trying to do with her #26Acts – people need a little positive after this tragedy in Newtown. And she is right – doing good makes you feel good. But after we’re done doing our #26Acts and we’re feeling good…was it enough? Are we working to prevent another tragedy from happening with our “acts of kindness”? I think that’s Paul wanted us to answer at the end of this post …but really I’m not sure if that is the point of the acts. I think that the acts were meant to bring just a little more goodness into the world – even if just for a moment. And in this regard, they have definitely succeeded.

-Falon Dominguez