Australia is one of the most desirable holiday destinations on the planet with sites like the Great Barrier Reef, Ayer’s Rock and the Sydney Harbour Bridge on many people’s bucket list. A number of its capital cities consistently appear in the annual lists of the world’s most liveable cities.  

But Australians recognise that many Australians are still doing it tough. Housing prices put the family home out of reach to many. The disintegration of the manufacturing industry has reduced the need for unskilled labour and addictions of affluence, including drugs and gambling, are leading to unprecedented levels of family breakdown and violence.  

So, when the call comes for overseas aid, there is a growing response to first ‘look after our own’. In recent decades, there has been an increase in awareness of home-grown needs from natural disasters, domestic violence, homelessness and drug addiction.   

So, what about the Developing World? Why do we need to demonstrate compassion for those we may never see or know? And can we both ‘care for our own’ and help those living in poverty across the world? 

After many years of working in Australian-based community support, I retain a passion to help Australians on the margin. It is vital that we invest in supporting people and providing opportunities to live full and promising lives. It is vital that we protect women and children from violence and neglect. It is vital that we offer health and treatment services that care for the least of these. 

And we are. Statistics show that 85% of the Australian charity dollar targets domestic needs and services. Leaving 15% for overseas aid and development work, with up to half of that amount spent in Australia on support and fundraising services. 

I would advocate, we cannot afford that percentage to fall any further.  

I don’t put forward an ‘us or them’ approach to giving.

We are a global community moved by compassion to help those in need wherever they are geographically located. So, give where you see a need and see answers. Where both problem and response sit side by side. And I promise that when you give to Foxglove women in Rwanda, India and Cambodia, together we make a difference that cascades across families, communities, nations and generations.

That’s the kind of giving that is good for the soul. 

Kelley  

>>To make a tax-deductible donation to Foxglove before EOFY head to our Donate page>>

I have heard the term ‘donor fatigue’ in recent years. It’s a reference to people struggling to cope with the number of requests for financial help for a wide range of community, national and global needs. I don’t know if I totally agree with the concept. On one hand, I do see that we can be overwhelmed by the growing need and requests for support. This can lead to corresponding feelings of guilt and pressure to make a contribution. Or it can desensitise us to the demands of others and our own potential to make a difference – won’t there be just as many needs tomorrow? 

But I see more evidence of ‘donor frustration’.

This is when people say, “I am happy to give. I want to give. I just want to have some confidence that my contribution will be used wisely and effectively to make a difference.”

And in recent years, this expectation has been undermined. More charities have been shown to apply excessive percentage of donations to fundraising, salaries, travel and perks. Charities have become businesses, and welfare or development work, an industry.

So, what are we to do? Do we stop giving?

I don’t think so.

I think the best choice is to become savvy not cynical. To become aware not disengaged. And in the process, discover there are many organisations and charities that are achieving so much more than we can ever imagine.

So, go ahead…ask yourself and your charity the following five questions.

     1.DIGNITY: How does the charity speak about and present the people it assists?

 We have spent decades watching charities use fundraising images of sad children and sad adults. These kinds of images present people at their most desperate. Accompanying language speaks about the poor surviving on nominated ‘dollars per day’ without reference to the context or complexity of their lives. Too often, there is little dignity in the images and limited reference to an expectation or belief in the capacity of people to help themselves. Often, we need to see and present the capacity in people before they can see it for themselves.

Follow-up Questions: “Does this image reflect how I would want my family’s needs to be represented? Would this inspire me to believe I could support my family?”

     2.COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION: What is the level of community involvement in the project plan?

There is a universal understanding of people’s basic needs: food, shelter, clean water, access to education and healthcare. The challenge is how are these best achieved for the long term? In 2009, UNICEF estimated that more than 50,000 wells were lying unused in Central Africa. Wells dug by foreign funds but without the commitment or upskilling of local communities. These kinds of statistics are not isolated. What is becoming more and more evident is that development and empowerment cannot be given to another person or community. They emerge from a partnership of resources and upskilling, planning and contribution.

Follow-up Questions: “What is the evidence that the planning of this activity is shared by the local community members? How will the community sustain the activity after the NGO or development organisation is no longer involved?”

     3.  IMPACT: What information does the charity collect and report to substantiate the results of its programmes?

A business model uses profit, after tracking revenue and expenses, to measure success. What do charities apply? Charities need to establish clear measurements of ‘success’. Most often a combination of social and economic indicators. To ensure that impact is measured and reported. This extends beyond measuring activity (e.g. how many children registered for school) to a thoughtful measurement answering the question, ‘What difference is being made?” The next step is the presence of change and modification in response to results. A changing organisation is often evidence of a maturing organisation.

Follow-up Questions: “What will be measured and what are the baseline indicators that will tells us if the program is making the anticipated impact?”

      4. EFFICIENCY: How efficiently does the charity use its financial resources?

A charity, like every other organisation on the planet, has expenses. We tend to divide them into two simple categories – administration and project – with administration costs the only ones closely scrutinised and often resisted (“Please make sure all of my donation reaches the ground”). There is a high level of community concern around fundraising costs which needs scrutiny with some expenditure outrageous. But simply outlawing administration costs is too simplistic. Many administration costs are legitimate, even vital, for accountability, reporting, and monitoring of impact. Project costs associated with implementing the activities are more difficult to assess (e.g. cars and travel costs).  This is particularly true when charities only report percentage expenditure without an indication of income.

Follow-up Questions: “What is the total income and expenditure allocation (percentage or actuals) for each expense category in a calendar year? What is the total income and expenditure for a particular project? What are the corresponding outcomes? What is the funding need in the coming years for the same group of people?”

     5. EVIDENCE: What is the research or evidence base for the project design?

A good project idea, even a great project idea, needs to have a foundation in research and/or successful practice. Charities need to be able to substantiate why a particular approach works and the wider impact it is expected to have on a community group. And such an explanation should extend beyond a sound bite or slogan. Charity leaders need to be able to talk about how a project works, changes that have been made, and the reasons they have committed to an approach. When an organisation is exploring a new initiative, it needs to be understood that it is a pilot initiative set out to test a hypothesis. This can be critical before over-investing into an approach that is being applied in a new setting.

Follow-up Questions: “What are your expectations regarding wider outcomes of this project? What evidence supports the likelihood of this being achieved?”

So let’s ask the questions of charities. Then let’s get behind them and see our charity dollar grow in size and effectiveness so it can make a real dent in the poverty and inequity that crosses our planet.

We would love to think that Foxglove Project ticks every box but where it doesn’t, let us know. We are not above nor outside of feedback. We are a passionate honest organisation seeking to bring hope and opportunity to some of the poorest communities in the world and would simply love you to join us. 

Let’s give well!

What does women’s empowerment really mean?

If you want to address poverty, then your best investment is women. It’s true. They’ll work hard, share what they have and provide without hesitation for their children and families. The catch phrase for this kind of work has become women’s empowerment. I love the phrase but I sometimes worry about the application. In the developing world, empowerment indicators most often revolve around economics under the assumption that employment plus income lead directly to empowerment. So, we teach women a skill. And measure enrolment and course participation metrics. We support employment placement or start-up businesses. Then review by growth in household income and workplace numbers.  

But is this the full story or is empowerment a more complicated outcome?

I think empowerment is far broader than economics. It’s about friendship, value, power and influence. It’s not only about assuming the economic responsibility for a family but taking up community roles, partnering in decision making, having representation in government and being treated with respect and dignity. Inside and outside of the home.  

And this broader understanding of empowerment should be an encouragement to all of us who want to make a difference in the lives of women across the world. Of course, providing access to skills and finances gives access to one dimension of empowerment. But may we never forget the value of cheerleading, connection, advocacy, listening and telling their stories, truthfully and respectfully. Because we don’t empower others, we just offer them the tools, encouragement and opportunity to take it up for themselves.  

When I remember this, I know I can make a contribution. Together we all bring the little we have and start to make a dent on poverty that can last a lifetime.  

Kelley Chisholm

Would you consider partnering with us this year?  

We’re incredibly grateful to our community who give generously to empower the poorest women and girls in the developing world. ?⁣
⁣ In order to keep doing what we do, we ask people to share a little of their finances, so together we can create a BIG impact! ⁣?

? You could choose to donate to one of our 3 projects, knowing every $30 will change a woman’s life forever >>> https://foxgloveproject.com/donate/⁣
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OR ⁣
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? Join the Foxglove Support Crew – get behind the operational side of Foxglove, knowing you are part of a like-minded crew who want to support our ongoing costs, so we can continue growing >>> https://foxglovecrew-gdg-j778s.raisely.com/⁣ 

Never doubt the extraordinary difference we can make together! 

“The difference between a broken community and a thriving one is the presence of woman who are valued.”  – Michelle Obama 

For decades, charity in the Developing World has centred on Western generosity funding infrastructure and poverty alleviation. It’s easy to see the needs in our world:  clean water, food security, access to sanitation and education…but for all our aid and welfare support, the returns have been far ‘poorer’ than expected. Not only has the gap increased between the rich and the poor, but the poor have become poorer. 

And now, in the 21st Century, we wonder what we can do differently? How can we champion and contribute to those living in poverty in ways that are sustainable, respectful (of people and culture) and empowering? 

My first lesson was understanding the many faces of poverty. Economic and physical indicators are far easier to see, photograph and measure. We talk about numbers of children immunised, operations performed, wells built, small business started, children in school and growth in dollars earned per day.

But in many ways, they are the face of poverty but not its heart.

And addressing and celebrating changes in these numbers reassure us that we are making a difference – yet they also act to sedate us to other more sinister indicators of poverty: self-worth, self-determination, social isolation, political exclusion, and domestic violence. 

If we offer schooling, even higher education, but don’t provide entrepreneurial and personal development training, then most graduates will leave unemployed and disillusioned. If women start and build small businesses but remain outsiders in family and community decision making, then they gain responsibility without power. If we provide community training and infrastructure without connecting the poor to others, then they remain alone. The harshest of conditions.

It is not the needs that are difficult to identify but the method. The process. The approach. We have learned of the need for consultation and delegated decision making, for indigenous organisations to lead the community engagement and development of strategy, and for starting with an objective of sustainable development. An impact or outcome that lasts well after activity stops. 

But Foxglove believes in another important element. That addressing poverty means engaging the women of a community. In much of the Developing World, women are secondary citizens. Marginalised and excluded. But something wonderful happens when women make their way to the centre. They become connectors, share resources and knowledge, call for change that benefits others and address issues of children and human rights.

I was reminded of this on a recent visit to Rwanda when meeting with a woman who in the last nine months has helped form and now leads a Federation overseeing 2500 of the district’s poorest women in Self Help Groups. The Self Help Groups (SHGs) connect 20 women together for life. They gain a social cohesion and belonging that changes their place in the community. They start small businesses that enable them to support their own families with basic and higher-level needs. They join village committees as leaders and decision-makers. They take up a role as empowered and contributing members of their community and they could be forgiven for seeing the Federation as a way to advance their own needs and position. But when I ask Virginie about the current goal of the Federation, her response could not be more different, 

 “We have a goal to change the way children are treated in our community. Before we joined the SHG and took part in trainings, we didn’t know that we were mistreating our children.  Sometimes we were hurting them and other times we were neglecting them. Now we understand. Now we plan to find ways to educate our community and our schools about the rights and care of children. We will not stop until this is done.” 

I thought of my meeting with Virginie when reading this quote from Michelle Obama,
“The difference between a broken community and a thriving one is the presence of woman who are valued.”  

On this International Day of Charity, let us acknowledge that the act of doing good can be based on more than good intentions and visual outcomes. It has the ability to bring out the capacity in people that they might live fulfilled empowered lives, both serving and changing their communities.  

Kelley Chisholm

To read more about how Foxglove is engaging the poorest women through the Self Help Group approach, please visit our Grassroots Rwanda page.