Just
societies cannot be built merely by the distribution of surplus wealth
With a plethora of the newly wealthy in India setting up trusts and
foundations recently, it is a good time to reflect on the value of
strategic philanthropy.
When it comes to giving in India, we have traditionally upheld that
feeling of empathy towards others that opens up our hearts and pockets
in charity. And millions of Indians, of all faiths, do so every single
day, in acts of humble kindness.
But giving back has taken on a whole new dimension today. And this is
well reflected in a little story I heard recently. One day, young
Kumar, all of eleven, said to his mother, “When I grow up, I want to
become a philanthropist!” His mother happily exclaimed, “Why, Kumar,
that’s wonderful.” “Yes,” responded her son, “they all seem to have a
lot of money.”
As new heights of personal wealth are reached everyday around the
world, philanthropy has come to centre stage, and the wealthy are
competing with each other to give a lot of it away, and to do it well.
So much so that, as I read recently, foundations are the new Ferraris –
everyone must have one! In the interest of full disclosure, I have to
say that I too have set up a foundation called Arghyam, focused on the
water sector, to share some of the abundance that I have received.
At its best, this philanthropy can do wonderful things. It can make
rapid infusions of funds where there is the greatest need; it can bear
the upfront risk of new ideas and projects that neither the market nor
the state can afford to invest in; it can support creativity and
experimentation and allow generously for failure without rolling back;
it can invest in the capacity building and strengthening of social
sector players and it can deepen democracy by providing a platform for
the coming together of different sectors in society. And there are many
good examples in India of what philanthropy can do.
But as I look around now, a lot of us, especially in the newer
foundations, are in a big hurry to achieve social change. We want to
reduce inequity and we want it now! We want measurable outcomes, we
want replicability and we want scale. Some of this impatience to
improve things quickly comes from the corporate ethos, where
performance measurement is embedded in the culture. Much of the new
talent in the foundations and in the new citizen sector organisations
comes from business. Hundreds of bright, talented and often young men
and women have opted out of their careers to work for development. The
ones I know are truly outstanding people, who have embraced the idea of
‘enough.’ They believe they have secured their financial future
sufficiently and do not greed for more. These wonderful people now want
to see things work as effectively in the non-profit sector as in their
own erstwhile work places. There is of course nothing wrong with that.
They are bringing in a new energy and creativity that I have seen
shaking up the social sector in the past few years.
Yet, there are some things we must ask ourselves honestly. Do we want
to address the symptoms of social inequity? Or do we want genuine
social transformation? If so, who are the real agents of such a
transformation? To become change agents ourselves, what are the values
we must embrace? And how should foundations and NGOs address
accountability for themselves?
For all the recent hype, I believe philanthropy can only play a limited
role in society. Indeed, it should play only a limited role. Just
societies cannot be built merely by the wilful distribution of surplus
wealth. We need government to responsibly enable social provisioning
and we need deep rooted social movements, working with the last citizen
and the most oppressed, in a spirit of voluntarism. We need committed
leaders, men and women of integrity and vision to keep government
honest.
So then, in this light, what do we believe our grant making can
achieve? What is the change we want? Can we catalyse that change? Or
better, can we become that change, as Gandhi asked?
At no time in human history have we been at such a point as we are
today, where we know that we have created the monster that can destroy
us all. What the shape of that monster is – whether it is called global
warming, environmental destruction or habitat loss, the point is the
same. Human beings have created an unintended situation, perhaps
through the natural processes of human curiosity, human desire and
human ingenuity. Human wisdom alas, often comes as hindsight.
Yet, we now have many choices to make. And I believe that what we need
now is to create a positive, affirming view of the future, “to achieve
our planet” to paraphrase James Baldwin , who wanted all citizens,
black and white to come together to achieve his country – America, and
the spirit and the promise behind it.
And to bring us back to grant making then, what does this mean for us?
How can foundations understand what leaps of imagination are needed to
achieve the new planet? Or indeed, to achieve our country, so that
every Indian has equal access to opportunity? How can we make it happen
while restoring and regenerating our ecological systems?
For the answer to emerge, we will need patience, compassion and
reflection. We will have to stop looking at issues in silos and
constantly, and with humility look to support the elements of
integration that build community; that recreate human values rather
than just ‘things.’
Because the future is here and as donors and grantees, partners and
friends, we need to be a working, doing and learning part of it. And
only then, like Walt Whitman, could we say – “Behold I do not give
lectures or a little charity, When I give I give myself.”
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/13/stories/2008071355111000.htm
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© 2008, The Hindu.
