Comments on: Breaking Our Dependence on the Donor Illusion

By: How We Can Help Haiti | SocialEarth

How We Can Help Haiti | SocialEarth — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:07:41 +0000

[...] crisis (that means everyone, eh-em!), I wanted to offer you two and only two suggestions. Like the Kiva micro-lending kerfuffle, people are often deeply concerned when they donate their money to organizations like Red Cross or [...]

By: Gavin

Gavin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:13:37 +0000

Ashley,
Really well considered article. Thought provoking, for sure. The empathy-generosity link is a critical one and one wonders how much (truth) it is capable of withstanding.
Thank you,
Gavin
Kiva Fellow

By: Gavin

Gavin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:13:37 +0000

By: What a Loan Smells Like: « Kiva Stories from the Field

What a Loan Smells Like: « Kiva Stories from the Field — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:16:04 +0000

[...] as the defining thread of each borrower visit. And maybe the need for stories and descriptions is a human weakness on our behalf as lenders, but it still doesn’t disregard the fact that these businesses are expanding, consistently [...]

By: Philanthropy Action

Philanthropy Action — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:04:41 +0000

Ashley,

I agree absolutely with your point, and have said this repeatedly in my posts on the controversy, that this has never really been about Kiva but about donors demanding that non-profits create an illusion. I don't think that lets Kiva or anyone else off the hook. The reason the donor illusion continues to exist is that well-meaning people continue to perpetuate it.

There is also a big question about where the future is taking us as technology allows these illusory connections to become more real. I, for one, worry that such connections–created by well-meaning people–can be as harmful as they are helpful.

By: facebook-810715493

facebook-810715493 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:43:22 +0000

This is a very intuitive post, but you're also bumping up against something else: the economic discourse of aid. Donors have increasingly shaped the flow of aid and thus the success measures of it. Success in aid isn't as cut and dry as donors require it to be in order for it be deemed successful, to have filled their expectations such that the organization can go and ask for more money and expand their donor base. I start to wonder sometimes as more and more aid is discussed around climate change, whether rigid western notions of quantifiable success in aid implementation will lead to a discourse a decade for now about not funding climate change mitigating and adaptation strategies in sub-Saharan Africa much the way aid is now debated to that region for lack of absorptive capacity.

By: Erik Eliason

Erik Eliason — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:43:31 +0000

Exceptional article Ashley! I'm glad more people are discussing the donor illusion. It's always easier to be critical of others (non-profit, group, company person, etc.) instead of ourselves. We need to make a conscious effort daily to adjust our mental model (ie lack of empathy).

By: Breaking Our Dependence on the Donor Illusion | SocialEarth | Empath Intelligence Blog

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:07:26 +0000

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