that we are not teaching our children to think straight about charity?

[Himalaya]

I am thinking abou the response to the Tsunami, where people and charities are doing fundraisers, even though Japan has said it doesn't need donations.

www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/asia/16charity.html?

Its part of a broader trend of feel-good giving which starts at school it seems to me.

Events and campaigns like 'red nose' day and Make Poverty History have done a great job in making issues of poverty and development more accessible and getting resources to organisations that can use them to do good.

But they have also got us into the habit of thinking that every problem can be solved with with some kind of fun, light hearted fund raising event, and that we shouldn't look too hard at the organisations we give to.

yes,we are also teaching them that by throwing some money at a problem,that it goes away!

not so

YANBU

Donating to Japan is ALL OVER Twitter and Facebook etc. Where is this money going? - Japan have already said they do not need it.

We all feel incredibly bad for the people of Japan; but throwing money at the issue does seem to have become a knee jerk reaction which is more about the giver than the receiver.

Himalaya- I think it depends on how it is put to the children and in some cases money is the only way that you can help - if you want to help that is.
I can't go to Africa and help poverty stricken areas but the Red Cross can - so I help by donating to them . The problem isn't go away but if my donation helps 1 child then thats good enough for me.
Many charities you can say if you want your money to go to X or Y but if you leave it blank they decide where the money is best used.

Japan will never say they need it, since to do so would lose face. The report confirms that when it is given, by reputable organisations such as the Red Cross, it is welcomed:
"Roger K. Lowe, a spokesman for the American Red Cross, said his group had sent $10 million to Japan on Tuesday, and had spoken with the Japanese group, which had expressed gratitude for the support."

I would disagree, and say all countries, even rich ones, need help sometimes. I a crisis like this people have a need for shelter and specialist rescue teams that can't be provided solely by their own country.

And, what's wrong with feeling good about giving to charity? Although I have to agree it very often doesn't solve the problem and is just a case of money going from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.

My biggest gripe with children and charity fundraising is when basic economics are ignored. Bake sales when cakes are sold for less than the cost of the ingredient make me

People seem to think that empty gesture will help! It really gets to me, people copy-pasting heart-bleedy statuses about breast cancer 'awareness'... no donation required, just a sense of smugness!

I also know people who walked away feeling fantastic about themselves just because they watched Live 8 all the way through. No money changed hands, they just watched it on the telly. And nodded along with Geldof.

Thansk Bonsoir - we have our 1st in a few weeks time will keep your thought in mind !

YANBU - why can't you just give money? Why do they have to do something 'fun' to enable them to give?

I also think there is a lot in the saying "Charity begins at home." It's often a lot easier to send money to far off destinations than to treat the people you live with in every day life with the care and respect they deserve.

Charity begins at home. What children ought to be told is that what they donate does not all go to the cause, in most cases 70% goes on admin, so out of their hard earned 1.00 the good cause gets 30 pence.

Yes, it bothers me. Yesterday I was on campus and a student was whizzing around dressed in his underwear and on roller blades asking people to sponsor him. Everyone seemed to be giving him something, so when he got to me I asked what he wanted sponsoring for. It was something I'd never heard of, so I asked what it was about, and the reply was 'erm, do you want to sponsor me or not'.

What really surprised me was this was a busy student cafe and the looks I got from other people were really judgey. It was as if I was in the wrong not to be blindly putting my hand in my pocket.

I'm not sure on this one.

People want to help the people of Japan - there is nothing most of us can do apart from give money.

I disagree that Japan doesn't need money anyway. This disaster is going to plunge them into a recession so they do need money.

I agree with moonstorm, you can just quietly give money if you want to, no fanfare required.

I'm going to get flamed for this but I absolutely loathe red nose day, I won't watch the infantile programmes and I studiously ignore anybody at Sainsbury's (or anywhere else) that is playing up for the event.

When did giving to charity become so indulgent and 'in your face'?

I was astounded and impressed to get an email from Medicins sans Frontiers, which I support, detailing what they are doing in Japan but stressing that things are well organised and they are not fundraising to support their work.

Could have knocked me down with a feather TBH.

I think Comic Relief is one of the less cost-effective ways of giving money to charity, but it does raise lots of money for really good causes from people who wouldn't otherwise give anything at all.

I think that it's good that children are made to think about the lives of people who have a harder time than they do and that they want to help. By late secondary school I think they should be learning a bit about the wider issues as well: how can you ensure that aid money does good, not harm, why are people in other countries in poverty anyway (unfair trade, debt, corruption), why does there need to be a charity in the UK that raises funds for decent wheelchairs for disabled children and should the state provide them? That kind of thing.

There are some videos here by comedian Laurence Clark, who has cerebral palsy, showing that people really will put money in any bucket...

dunno really, I mean I think hard about pretty much every charity I give money to and check out where the money is spent and how it is spent. when people don't want to give money it seems to me it is often justified with the kind of arguments on this thread so they feel a bit better about it. It's much easier not to think about other people if you don't give money to them. Otoh, that's not to say that it should stop there - but it's often a first step down the line of thinking about the underlying causes of poverty. I wonder how many people there are who campaign against unfair trade,debt, corruption who don't give to charity for example? I imagine them to be the kind of people who care a lot in general and one aspect of that is their campaigning, another aspect is their giving.

on a side issue - the cakes thing - I make cakes sometimes and it doesn't bother me if they sell for less than I spent making them. It's my donation of time and money and it brings people through the door to spend money on other stuff at the same time.

mind you - maybe we should just teach our children to stand up against the evil forces of capitalism and fight for a better system, perhaps you are right op

when people don't want to give money it seems to me it is often justified with the kind of arguments on this thread so they feel a bit better about it

thank you, I couldn't put my finger on it, but that sums up perfectly what was bothering me.

I LOATHE Red Nose Day and Comic Relief. I donate to charities but refuse to be bludgeoned into doing like this. Actually I would pay to be spared both events.

There are food shortages in Japan and people without shelter. However much Japan might say they don't need cash, they do need help in organising support for their people. Most governments don't have the infrastructure or the knowledge to cope with a disaster like this. That's what I'm contributing to

Well, what are you going to do about it instead of give money? Go there and help? Giving money is often the best someone thousands of mlies away can do.

I agree that "charity begins at home" but it isn't an excuse for not donating. And as for a percentage going to admin - well of course. Do you expect everyone at the charity to work for free? If so, how would they recruit good people to work there, to ensure that the charity was well run and that more people were helped?

I'm going to give to the Ocado Just Giving page which is raising money for a Japanese NGO.

www.ocado.com/theocadoway/talking%20ocado/2011/japan.html

Yes there are people in Japan with no food or shelter but is that because the Japanese system can't cope without us rushing to save them or because these things do take a bit of sorting out? Can we bear in mind that a huge chunk of Japan is not affected, including several key industrial and financial centres.

By comparrison, a disease wiped out the livestock of a country much poorer than Japan in 2001. Agriculture was brought it's knees and in turn so was tourism. This country relied on tourism. There was a lot of death, much of it suicide. I can't remember any charity appeals to help them at all. Perhaps it was because it wasn't an Asian, African or South American country? The country was England and the disease was foot and mouth. Where were the charitable public then?