More Than a Handout

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I immediately felt tension in the room.

It came immediately after an impassioned presentation to a group of nonprofit donors on how bad charity strips people of dignity, while true charity relationally empowers them to break generational cycles of dependency. When given the opportunity, an inquisitive donor politely asked, “If we are going to practice charity that focuses on being with rather than doing for, does that mean that we should give less money as a result?”

Everyone there seemed to agree with the idea of restoring dignity to those in need by rejecting handout charity. But that exposes a cruel paradox that, as nonprofit executive directors and boards of directors, we know all too well: The relentless task of fundraising distracts us from growing the ministry we’re seeking funds for. The sheer weight of keeping the lights on and paying staff forces us into never-ending cycles of fundraising with very little time for vision, strategy, staff development, and community relations work. The result is often exhaustion and burnout. And that’s why the donor’s question hung particularly heavy that night.

So it’s worth asking if there’s a way to lessen the burden of constantly asking donors for more money and distributing those funds without their meaningful connection to those our mission serves. I believe there is — and it has less to do with giving capacity and more to do with how we approach generosity.

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert masterfully cover this topic in their book, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor … and Yourself. In it, they observe that, “… North American Christians need to be giving more, not less, money to help the poor. But how that money is given and to whom it is given is crucial. We need to look for ways to give money that builds up local organizations and that truly empowers the poor.” In other words, the donor’s question that night shouldn’t have been whether generosity should decrease — but what kind of generosity produces transformation.

To that end, let’s explore three ways donors can practice transformational generosity, acknowledging that giving more than a handout requires cultivation of these crucial disciplines.

Give with Discernment

I know many generous people who invest in impactful organizations and ministries. In each case, they practice discernment, meaning they do not give mindlessly or haphazardly but prayerfully after asking thoughtful questions. They’ve learned the value of asking questions like these before investing in any organization:

• What does success look like for the people you serve?
• Are you asking people closer to the problem to do their part in helping those in need?
• How are you prioritizing relationships?
• Do your programs help clients not need you in the future?
• Do you measure outcomes in the lives of the people you serve?
• How are you partnering with churches, nonprofits, and other organizations?
• How can I help?

For more information, you can reference our Giving Guide.

Give with People in Mind

Handout giving may lead to a temporary dopamine hit as the check is being written. Yet transformational giving does not write checks to fund handouts — nor does it give indiscriminately to nameless entities. It stays engaged at the street level of the mission by keeping the recipient in mind (vs. becoming a relationally-distant philanthropist). Doing so ensures that long after the ink dries, long-term, transformational impact is still going on.

Focusing on the recipient of a gift means asking these specific questions:

• What are the greatest needs of those who will be served by my gift?
• How will their lives improve — will my gift help someone move beyond their current situation, or am I contributing to a cycle that leaves them worse off?
• How will my gift create a generational legacy in those being served? Your investment has the potential to create lasting change across entire families, empowering parents, children, and grandchildren to break cycles of poverty and dependency.

Give for Empowerment

We are all familiar with giving that creates the appearance of impact while actually perpetuating dependency. Examples include coins haphazardly tossed into a panhandler’s can or money given to a food pantry that serves the same people over and over again. Transformational givers pursue something greater: empowerment. They are not looking to give less money, but they certainly want to ensure what they give will lead to clients’ permanent exit from poverty and a flourishing life.

Showing donors the life-changing nature of a gift will help them become invested partners in city and community-wide transformation. When that happens, they will want to invest relationally and monetarily in your mission and those it serves. Consequently, transformation will happen.

Contrary to what the donor at the meeting assumed, effective charity focused on the dignity and worth of the individual does not require less of an investment — it requires more. In addition to sacrificially giving at the level they are able, donors must also focus on priorities greater than dollar amounts. As mentioned above, that means relationships with the nonprofits they support and those they serve.

It’s not unlike what Jesus said about giving: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In other words, He never separated our giving from our being, and if we are to follow His example, we must return to that type of relational giving. The nonprofits we care about — and the people they serve — are too important for anything less.

Join the True Charity movement and help lead a resurgence that restores dignity and breaks cycles of dependency in our nation! We each have a part to play. Find yours by visiting truecharity.us.