When generosity isn't enough: Why a bad donation can do more harm than good
Monday 2 December 2024, Reading time : 10 mins
When you read about a charity fundraising campaign, you often get the impression that their programmes are changing lives. But do these organisations really achieve what they promise? Do they have a real impact?
Many people assume that charities have a positive impact, unless there is evidence of misappropriation of funds. However, if you look at the facts and the scientific evidence, a very different reality emerges. A charity can have little or no impact, even if it does exactly what it says it will do.
A case in point is PlayPumps, an organisation that has designed turnstiles to act as water pumps in Africa. Tim Harford, economist and journalist, and William MacAskill, Professor of Philosophy at Oxford University, discussed this example at length. Here is a summary of MacAskill’s analysis of PlayPumps:
The aim of the PlayPumps was to turn a difficulty into an opportunity: to replace the constraints associated with pumping water by hand with an innovative system that was both more practical for obtaining water and more fun for children. The concept generated a huge buzz, attracting positive attention from the media, celebrities and the international humanitarian aid community.
However, once they had been installed in several African villages, the limits of the project became obvious. The children found pushing the turnstile exhausting, and the women ended up having to pump the water themselves. What’s more, these pumps were more expensive, less efficient and more difficult to maintain than the manual systems they were intended to replace. Some residents even expressed a preference for the old pumps, which they considered more reliable.
This scenario is not surprising. The challenges facing charities are often among the most complex of our time, deep-rooted problems that foundations, governments and experts have been trying to solve for decades. Even well-designed programmes, generously funded and carefully executed, sometimes fail to deliver the expected results. Why does this happen? Because these issues require much more than just logical solutions: they require deep understanding, thoughtful approaches and, often, a rethink of traditional strategies.
In a context where success in solving complex problems is rare, any charity that claims to have ‘the solution’ needs to be able to demonstrate, with evidence, that its programmes actually work, or at least show that they are based on tangible evidence suggesting a good chance of impact. Yet most of them don’t. Why don’t they? Because collecting evidence or even using effective methods is not systematic, as long as good intentions and feelings are deemed sufficient. Even among the largest associations, many do not invest in such an approach.
Many donations are primarily driven by emotions or personal ties: someone close to you invites you to support a cause, or you have an emotional connection with the disease the charity is trying to combat. This highlights a troubling reality: funds are often raised on the basis of an organisation’s ability to sell itself, rather than to transform lives.
What’s more, the lack of systematic accountability for their real impact means that many organisations continue to raise and spend millions, sometimes without making any real difference, while other, far more effective interventions remain underfunded. This makes us think about how our donations can make a real difference.
Does this mean that all charitable interventions that do not measure their impact or use proven methods are ineffective? Not necessarily.
But it does underline one essential point: it’s crucial not to be seduced solely by pretty promises or marketing stories. For your donation to have a real impact, it’s essential to look at the hard evidence and not just rely on rhetoric.
Mieux Donner guides and supports you to maximise the impact of your donations, helping you to support causes that make a positive difference to the lives of a large number of people, and giving you the keys to ensuring that your generosity makes a real difference.
Jennifer Stretton
Jennifer is co-founder and co-director of Mieux Donner. You can contact her at jennifer@mieuxdonner.org or by using the contact form.