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Globalgivingkeynote
- 1. Global Giving... in Tight Times
- 2. Tonight’s agenda 1. Why give? 2. Who does the work? 3. Where should my money go? 4. Keep in mind... 5. Try it! Habib Koite, anti-smoking, malaria and AIDS singer, Mali Photo from www.photoshare.org
- 3. Speakers • Patricia Ohmans, MPH Director, Health Advocates Consultant • Garth Osborn, MPH MNCEIRS at the University of Minnesota Consultant
- 4. When and why do you give? What organization received your most recent charitable donation? Was it a local charity or an international one? Why did you give? Sometimes we give because it’s Christmas! Photo from www.blog.nielseon.com
- 5. Why give?
- 6. Why give? US infant mortality rate overall is five deaths per 1,000 live births—tied with Slovakia For US blacks, the rate is 9.3 deaths per 1,000 births New Orleans mother and child Photo by John McCabe from www.democratic underground.com
- 7. Why give? Because you can do a lot more with a lot less Bolivian preschoolers Photo by Karen Ohmans
- 8. Why give? Because what goes around, comes around Malaria net distribution, Burundi Photo from www.photoshare.org
- 9. Why give? Because it’s the right thing to do A girl and disabled man in India Photo from www.photoshare.org
- 10. Who does the work? Nicaraguan pediatric clinic Photo from www.pro.corbis.com/images
- 11. Who does the work? Multilateral organizations (United Nations, World Bank) Governments (including the military) WHO Report photo from www.healthenterprise.leeds.ac.uk
- 12. Who does the work? Religious groups (churches and spin offs) Corporations Catholic Relief Services poster photo from www.htdiocese.org
- 13. Who does the work? Non-profit voluntary organizations Academic and research institutions Surgeons with Mediecins Sans Frontieres photo from http://naklinci.szm.com/dwb/
- 14. Who does the work? Foundations (corporate and private/family) Private health care providers Individuals or small groups operating independently Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Congo Photo from www.bettmanarchive.org
- 15. Where should my money go?map from www.justinesmith.net
- 16. Don’t decide based on marketing!
- 17. Where should my money go? Choose an issue Choose a group Choose a region Research solutions Elderly community leader, Cochabamba photo by Patricia Ohmans
- 18. Where should my money go? Read materials Talk to donors Talk to former staff If possible, volunteer or visit Unity Bolivia visitors 2005 Photo by Patricia Ohmans
- 19. Keep in mind…
- 20. Keep in mind... • Does your dollar have to pay for the baby’s food? Indonesian health administrators meet Photo from www.photoshare.org
- 21. Keep in mind... • Emergencies are “sexier” than long- term community development
- 22. Keep in mind... • What is the magic bullet? • How will we know when we find it? Malnourished baby, Haiti Photo from www.photoshare.org
- 23. In ten minutes…
- 24. In ten minutes Where does your money go now? Where might you like it to go? How can you find out more about your potential choices? Healthy mom and baby, India Photo from www.photoshare.org
- 25. We’re all done!
Editor's Notes
- Welcome and thanks for coming.
- (Listening to music of and this is a picture of Habib Koite, song against cigarette smoking. Playing him to remind ourselves that global health and development is best carried out locally, infused with local culture, tradition and ownership, Here’s what we will try to cover tonight. We’ll talk about the landscape of global health and development organizations and the ways in which groups that work in this field are funded. We’ll then make a few recommendations for how to approach decisions about where to put your charitable donations. Of course there are some caveats and complications to those recommendations. At the end we’ll have a little time to discuss with one another the ways we all go about making those choices.
- Who are we, and what entitles us to talk about these things? I am director of Health Advocates, a local consulting firm that works in cross cultural and international health. Have worked primarily for University of Minnesota, state health department. Spent 2007-08 in Bolivia volunteering in part with Mano a Mano. I spent my childhood and youth in Latin America, as the child of a State Department employee, so I know “up close and personal” some of how our foreign aid money is used for good and ill. Garth is employed at the Center for Excellence in Influenza Research and Surveillance and is something of an expert in a very timely subject—avian pandemic flu. More importantly for tonite's topic, Garth has worked for a wide variety of global health and development groups over the past 30 years including the American Refugee committee, Minnesota International Health volunteers, IRC, etc. Spent 2008 in Thailand working with Burmese refugees in camps on Thai border. Together we wrote a book called Finding Work in Global Health, available on Amazon.com. and yes, we are both consultants.
- We recognize that a lot of charitable giving is done after careful reflection, but if our own experience is any guide, an equla or greater amount is done on impulse, in response to clever marketing that capitalizes on guilt and altruism and the season. For example, I just realised that about six years ago, I signed up to have $20 a month removed from our joint checking account and sent directly to Oxfam, a large relief organization. I had completely forgotten about this! Nothing wrong with guilt and altruism or habit, but as with any choices around your money, it’s always better to approach thinking about your charitable giving in a systematic way. So please take a minute, befre we go any farther, and list the organiztions that receive your charitable donations right now. Just think of them or jot them down, and if anyone would like to share, please feel free to tell us what the charity is an WHY you give to it.
- Okay, so we’ve heard from people who do give money internationally, but really, the first question we need to tackle is, why should I give to international health and development organizations at all? One very good argument that we hear a lot is...we have enough problems here in the US; we should get our own house in order. As this photo taken in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina shows, that is terribly true. There is plenty of work to do all over the US to alleviate suffering, poverty and ill health and respond to disasters.
- One reason that is often cited for giving to health and development overseas is that we Americans are blessed with good health and need to share our blessings. This handily ignores the fact that we're not actually so blessed... One index of health in developing countries is the infant mortality rate., which is, indeed, very high in many impoverished countries. But you might be surprised to know that more than 28 industrialized countries have lower infant mortality rates than the US. Only Latvia, with six deaths per 1,000 live births, has a higher death rate for newborns than the United States, which is tied near the bottom of industrialized nations with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia with five deaths per 1,000 births. For African-Americans, the mortality rate is nearly double that of the United States as a whole, with 9.3 deaths per 1,000 births. Again, perhaps this suggests that we should be attending to the problems in our own land, and neither Garth nor I would argue with that.
- Fortunately, for most of us, the choice of whether to donate locally or internationally is not an either-or choice. Almost all of us can afford to send some funds overseas, and many of us want to. Garth and I came up with three reasons why you might, in spite of the great need here in Minnesota and in the US, might also want to give internationally. Let’s start with cost effectiveness. 1. You can make a bigger difference in someone’s life with less money •You can pay for a Bolivian college student’s tuition as little as $500 a year; that amount would not pay for more than a couple of textbooks for an American student. In an even more staggering calculation, we know that we could cut deaths among children all over the world from malaria, diarrhea, and pneumonia IN HALF for a mere 4 cents per year per child, by appropriate administration of vitamin A supplements.
- Second reason 2. There are personal and even national security benefits to investing in globnal health and development. How many internation travelers arrive in the Minneapolis St Paul airport? (ask people to guess) about 3,500 per day. These are tourists who are going to spend dollars at the Mall of America, or international students coming to contribute to research at the U of MN, or workers coming to contribute their brain power to our economy. Unfortunately, they (and we, wehn we travel to other countries) are living, breathing vectors of disease. •It’s a global economy and, given international travel and migration, the same disease cna erupt in countres thousands of miles apart, within just a few days time. vectors. This picture is of bed nets being distributed in malaria endemic part of India. Malaria is on the rise globally as is tuberculosis, even drug resistant TB Giving money to stop infectious disease where it erupts is a lot cheaper and safer than waiting until it has spread world wide.
- Third reason Our final reason just the plain old ethical reason. Like the reason you had to eat all your peas. Mom was right, You are a citizen of a developed country through an accident of birth. If you are healthy and wealthy enough to consider giving some of your money away, you got lucky. This Afghani girl pushing a disabled relative through the streets of Kabul could just as easily have been one of us, and simple empathy demands a humanitarian response.
- So let's change tracks for a minute and look at the myriad ways that global health and development work is carried out.....Garth...10 minutes Many players involved, some obvious, others less so. Some you may already be supporting through taxes purchases church donations and membership dues Some are seeking your money and others are not There are other forms of support besides $ such as volunteer, donated supplies, contributed services, etc Much gray area between and among these types, some fit in more than one category.
- Multilaterals (granting orgs like UNHCR and banks like World Bank). These are coordinating bodies involving more than two countries (bilateral obviously only two) World Bank and other development banks Dont provide direct services, fund, provide TA and drive policy Get their funding from member governments foundation and individuals Govenments International bilateral involvement USAID and its counterparts in England, Japan DFID JICO, etc Military, mixed bag, is learning some lessons from international NGOS Local governments; every country with a government has a heath system, at least on paper Get their funding from tax revenues other governments and multilaterials
- Religious groups (churches and spin off groups) The oldest group of players in international health=missionaries Some proselytize and others don't Churches have chosen projects they support NGOs have spun off as essentially separate entities, but still get a large % of their budgets from associated churches Get their $ from individuals church pledges, giovernments, foundations Corporations Fopr profit, that’s why they exist. Focus on lcations people and issues most closely linked to thei for profit mandates Mixed bag (-Nestles, + Mercj for guinea worm disease and + Northwest for contributing space on flights) Set up corporate foundations (3M, Meditronic Get their funding from corporate profts, government subsidies •Corporations
- Non-profit voluntary organizations Largest (1000s) of formal organizations in thie list Most visible in seeking individual contributions Extremely varied. Size purpose, history, religious, secular, appriach to international health, local versus internationa, funding sources, etc Fraternal organiztions (Shriners, Rotary) Local NGOs Have set up coordinating bodies to lobby (Interaction, the CORE group) •Academic and research institutions Joint research and traninng MCEIRS example. Get their funding from governments, foundations, individuals and damily members with the disease •
- Foundations (corporate and private/family) Example: Gates, Rockefeller, Ford Biggest $29.7 billion in assets, gave out 2.8 B in 2008 Mission, works "to help all people lead healthy, productuve lives" Several others Get their funding from incredibly rich people (Buffet transferring millions to Gates) Also corporate profits Private health care providers Western and traditional, Practices as individuals and within instutitions Get their funding from patient fees, charity Individuals or small groups operating independently Probaby the largest #. Extremely varied: local, international formal informal Examples: Vets, immigrants, refuggees, churches, etc Get their funding fromEverywhere they can Usage fees…………..(back to Patricia)
- So as you can see there are a lot of places your money can go, a lot of organizations which can use it in a variety of ways, and as Garth points out, a lot of ways in which you are already contributing to global health and development without making an explicit donation. Which makes the donation that you DO have control over that much more significant.
- If there’s one take away message we’d like to impart tonite it’s that you should make your choices of charities based on something other than the advertisements you see. There are many variations on these but they are all basically appeals to something other than rationality. The one on the left, more traditional appeal to messainic impulse, the one of the right appeals if you enjoy clever sloganeering. Neither one tells you much at all about the organization you are being asked to support. (the one on the right says “bad water kills more kids than war”)
- Most of us go at it backwards, falling into choices that appeal on some unexamined level or because a trusted person recommends it. We'd like to recommend a different framework •First of all, don’t cut to the chase. Don’t start by choosing organizations, Instead, start with an issue you’re interested in. Maybe it's women's rights or sustainable agriculture •Choose a focus area, such as a region, choose a demographic group, such as childbearing women or elderly men •Choose a problem: education; lRights of women in Latin America? HIV-AIDS prevention in Africa? Malnutrition in the former Soviet Union? Make it an issue you know something about, or would like to learn about. •Here's the fun part, where you get to learn. Got to a couple of lectures. Get on the internet and read some current research, Look for books and articles on your issue, group and region of choice/ choose timeframe •Talk to people in the field and ask them for recommendations. •THEN find an organization (or several) that use that solution to address the problem Collect a list of a couple candidates.
- Here's that other kind of marketing appeal I mentioned; the more clever, arresting one. While I'm all for messages that are concise, pithy and memorable, this appeal tells you absolutely nothing about the organization that is making it, other than that they have a clever ad campaign. •IOnce you've identified the organization (or two or three) that's of most interest, try to really fund out more about it. Ideally, work or volunteer for a while. •Study their materials, visit the office, talk with staff, volunteers or other donors •Google and look for news stories about the organization; If you are considering a big donation, Ask for results, tangible, reportable evidence that the approach the organization takes is a good one. •Look for evidence that organization is run according to standard non-profit principles. (Not always possible or necessary but usually a good indicator). At the very least, check the 990s for all organized non-profits, required statements that are on file with the state. Minnesota Charities Review Council website. •Charities Review council criteria is no more than 30% of funds in budget for administration. But wide leeway in the way this is defined. Make sure you are comfortable with how the money is assigned. Don’t be so moved by the plight of the recipients of charitable efforts that you are loath to ask the hard questions.
- This is a brief reality check on what happens to your money and why. Obviously it’s one person’s view.
- NGOs do three things: programs, fundraising and administration. Your donation will likely go to administration and fundraising. Explain undesignated funds and what most organizations get for this G and A is not a luxury item, although only a few will explicitly support it Do you need to have your $s pay for the food/medicine that goes in the baby’s mouth? Much more needs to happen that costs money before the kid gets hers
- Think back to the fundraising appeals that you remember--likely to have been around emergencies, like the tsunami, Biafra, We Are the World. Know the difference so you can have reasonable assumptions about how your donation is being used. Different in nature of the need and the response Development is long term,. capacity building, strive for permanent change, grapplng with political and logistical realities Emergency is a short as possible focus is on saving lives, capacity building is secondary. “Sexy” and easier to raise money for
- This industry/field is still young and everyone wants to come up with the magic bullet that will solve the problem We know how to prevent and treat the leading causes of illness and death in the developing world. but are not sure how to d it Gates: Humanity’s greatest advances are not in its discoveries, but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. Historically many of our assumptions about what works even with the best intentions, didn’t work or resulted in unintended consequences M & E Just starting to look more closely and rigorously. This costs money to do, but is imperative (back to Patricia)
- Now it's time for us to see if what we've said makes sense. I'd like you to turn to your neighbor (the same one you told what charities you've donated to in the past) and briefly (just a few minutes apiece) talk about whether you might use the framework we proposed earlier (choosing an issue, a region, a people, a problem, a solution....and THEN an organization or two. We’re curious whether this seems like a good approach. If it does, where would you start? And how would you find out more?
- Thank you!