Responsibilities of Givers and Takers

After I explained to Alito, today's cab driver, that I was in the Philippines learning about NGOs and how they work, he told me that one of his five daughters was sponsored by "an American couple," through Children International. He was frustrated because in postcards from the couple, they'd say they were donating $50, but he'd only get $20 or $30, "like that."

He's also frustrated because he wants to write to the couple, but the foundation has told him that he's not allowed to. He feels like they'll take away his daughter's sponsorship, most of which is spent on school supplies, if he doesn't comply. Or that if he told the couple about the overhead costs going to the foundation, that they would stop sending money all together.

Donor politics is something many NGOs struggle with. In my work with Oxfam on aid effectiveness post-tsunami, we often heard the chorus (from communities, local NGOs, and INGOs) that donor requirements are really problematic. We heard, for example, that donors won't fund disaster prevention or "risk reduction" work; that they won't pay for organizations to conduct research to make their work more productive; that they won't give funding with longer timelines attached (which would allow organizations to take the time to do better assessment at every stage of implementation).

And some NGO staff were hesitant to make these critical needs public because they didn't want donors to be offended by the implications and retract their donations.

This relates to Alito's story in two ways. One: I understand that agencies need administrative funding. But there should be enough transparency in the process that parents like Alito don't feel like they're being ripped off.

And two: The fear of losing funding is a huge reason why many of the stumbling blocks to aid delivery aren't properly exposed and addressed. Donor education is a critical step toward ensuring that programs are funded properly. And by properly I mean in the way that will be most beneficial (and least detrimental) for the people like Alito's daughter. People that donors and agencies are trying to support.