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Beth Kanter

This blog post is for those who have found my work through Beth Kanter’s presentation at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York City.

First, don’t let the self-referential blog posts, tweets, and videos fool you – this isn’t about me as much as it is about the community supporting it. We are a group of idealistic people who want to be part of the generation that ends extreme poverty (in our lifetime no less).

But, we don’t like being guilted into donating with depressing images of poverty. We don’t like to donate money in a way we can’t track where our donation has gone. And we don’t like the fact that most charities can be fortresses which tend to keep us at arms length.

My role in this community is simple: I’m part journalist (telling stories from the field), I’m part philanthropist (raising funds as a private citizen), and I’m part implementer (executing the democratic will of the communities I meet on the ground and the community that participates online).

I call this community-powered “philanthropic journalism”. Beth calls it being a “free agent”. If this is something you’d like to engage – here’s what you should keep in mind:

On the Ground Access

5) I need on-the-ground access: I need to be able to bring my camera, cellphone, and laptop into the field with your charity or organization so I can write blogs, make videos, and tweet. This means I need both the permission from your organization to do so and technical capacity (i.e. internet connection & bandwidth) to upload content from the field.

4) I have a preference for Bangladesh: My parents were born & raised in Bangladesh – it has a special place in my heart. More importantly, if we team up in Bangladesh you don’t have to worry about needing a Bengali translator or worry about setting me up with mobile internet. I can figure it out.

3) I do more than report: I need to be able to provide your organization with restricted donations to do specific projects. Why restricted? Because it’s the only way I can guarantee to the community where exactly their money has gone. Ideally, I’d like to negotiate minimal (or no) administrative costs.

Connecting Communities

2) I do more than donate: I have learned the devil is in the details. Having control over naming rights, signboard design, and allowing for changes in project plans based on on-the-ground feedback and online input is how this becomes less about hand-outs and more about one community helping another.

1) I don’t do it for name or fame: If this was about self-aggrandizement, I wouldn’t be writing this blog post from Toronto, Canada. I’d already be back in the field with a fly by night “charity” which would let me do whatever I wanted. This is about doing good with good organizations.

I realize that these five things don’t make it the easiest for me to work or team up with. It would be so much easier for me to take photos while I hand you a big check at your home office. But, the community behind this project wants something more substantive. In exchange, you will find we’re fiercely loyal and passionate. And made of awesome.

If you’re a for-profit, you’re more than welcome to join what we could call a “threesome for good”: with me as a free-agent, a trusted organization as charity implementer, and a for-profit helping to fund the logistics (and the charity’s admin costs) behind all this. And hey, if there is a for-profit that will pay a man to dance around the world, surely there is a for-profit that will pay for this guy to go and help people.

You can reach me on Twitter @uncultured and by email at project@uncultured.com

My blog post on “Does Steve Jobs Care about Global Poverty?” has been republished on the Cult of Mac blog. It seems to have started a small firesstorm of discussion, tweets, and retweets.

Just thought I’d follow up that post with a video. Here’s something a Microsoft employee sent me about the work they do with CARE to save lives in Kenya:

I’m typing this on a MacBook Pro and I just recently came back from a pilgrimage to two Apple Stores in search of a Camera Connection Kit for my iPad. I’m a fanboy.

But I dare you to find Apple doing anything like this.

Many charities think the best way to raise awareness of their work is to get a celebrity endorsement. Don’t get me wrong: Hollywood celebrities can do a lot for a charity – but not as much as you think.

As I’ve blogged about before, especially on the internet, charities may actually get more mileage by giving regular folks (with online supporters) the same opportunities that charities give celebrities.

I’ve been doing more than just ranting on this blog – here’s six (among many) charities that I’ve talked to about this.

Continue reading ‘Weaning Charities off Celebrities’

It’s been nearly a year since I’ve been away from Bangladesh. Although it looks like I’ll be going back in the near future, long-term sustainability is still a problem. It doesn’t help that I feel I do can more as an individual instead of formalizing – but that’s not the only hurdle.

Here are five mistakes I’ve made in my search for sustainability…

5) Searching for Magic Sponsorship: As I’ve said before, my videos have been inspired a lot by Matt Harding and his “Where the Hell is Matt?” videos. I mistakenly assumed that, since there was a company out there willing to pay a man to dance around the world, there would be some company out there willing to pay a man to go around the world helping people. Assuming this, and searching for that magic sponsor, only wasted time.

4) Courting Foundations: If you’re in the aid & development community, you already know of the Skoll Foundation, the Ashoka Changemakers Foundation, Echoing Green Foundation, and a gazillion other “social media” and “social change” foundations. Most like what I do – but all have a strict policy of only supporting tax write-off organizations. Assuming they’d make an exception for little old me was a mistake.

3) Soliciting Google: The number one question I get asked by everyone IRL is why doesn’t Google sponsor my project. Individuals, businesses, aid workers, & charity execs alike have assumed that, since my work showcases what you can do through YouTube, sponsorship through Google would be a natural fit. The frequency of this question lulled me into believing such a thing was possible. It was not – and I shouldn’t have thought to pursue it.

2) Not Setting Boundaries: I’ve encountered many selfless people who have helped me in very important ways along my journey. But I’ve also encountered people who were helping on the assumption they were becoming a “stakeholder” with veto power. As I’ve said before, with the exception of those we help, I never want anyone to have veto power over the community. I failed to see that different people have different (but understandable) reasons for helping – and I failed to draw proper boundaries.

1) Assuming the Value of this Project was Self-Evident: When I’m in the field, local villagers constantly come up to me to tell me how unique my work is and how they love what I’m doing. They love that I’m an independent voice outside of the NGO ecosystem. They love that I film everything and keep an eye on how every donation is spent. They love that I’m a direct line to the donors & manage the donations myself instead of some bureaucracy. My mistake? I assumed because they loved it – someone over here would love it enough to invest & sustain it.

I’ve made mistakes – and probably will make new & different mistakes in the future. Despite this, I don’t know what more I can be doing. Whether it’s teaming up with an on-the-ground charity, getting support from a foundation, or sponsorship from a or corporate benefactor – this should be all win/win/win. I know the path to sustainability isn’t easy – but at this point I’m not sure if there is going to be a happy ending.

Just noticed this was the banner ad displaying on the “Change the Conversation: In Photography” blog post from yesterday…

I’m sure if you search my Flickr archive, you might find a few stoic & frowning kid faces too. I’m by no means an expert (or the standard-bearer) for how to photograph and film the poor. But, is there like some rule a charity ad can’t feature a smiling kid?

“NGOs come to the village here to take pictures of people. At church, at the market, on the road, at meetings. Only people who are dressed poorly.”

That’s what Edward Kabzela of Malawi said – and he’s not alone. Whether I’m traveling to Kakamega in Kenya, a rural village in Bangladesh, or a local food bank in Los Angeles – everybody hates being portrayed as poor and needy.

I’ve been inspired to write about this again because I just stumbled across this blog post by a fellow Canadian by the name of Duncan McNicholl. As Duncan puts it – in many respects – charities are like a business.

For a charity, their “revenue” is your donation dollars. And most of them think that the best way to get your donation dollars is by portraying the poor as objects of pity. They’d rather show you a picture like this:

Photo by Duncan McNicholl

Instead of a picture like this:

Same person, photo also by Duncan McNicholl

It still surprises me how many people, charities, and organizations still don’t get it. In fact, I’ve debated this with good friends of mine – some suggesting my portrayal of poverty is overly cheerful and glossy (with the exception of stuff involving disasters).

But my rebuttal is this: I’m only allowed to portray those I film & photograph as they wish to be filmed & photographed. Sometimes, especially during disasters, they want me to capture their sorrow. But, most of the time, the poor may want our help – but they don’t want our pity.

Less than 24 hours ago, Apple surpassed Microsoft to become the world’s biggest tech company. As someone who used to spell Microsoft with a dollar sign, I can’t believe what I’m about to say: this is a bad thing for the world.

The only thing I love more than Apple is what I use my Mac gear for: fighting poverty in developing countries. In this regard, unlike Microsoft & Bill Gates, Apple & Steve Jobs don’t seem to care much about poverty and global development.

One runs the biggest tech company in the world, the other is a global leader in fighting poverty.

Before starting this project, I really wasn’t aware of just how much Microsoft was doing in the fight against global poverty. I’m not even referring to Bill Gates and how he has used his own personal wealth to create The Gates Foundation.

As a company, Microsoft is hugely invested in fighting poverty. They partner with charities that keep aid workers connected during disasters, they invest in global health initiatives that save lives, they match employee donations, and much more.

And, as I learned after the earthquake in Haiti, Microsoft even has a disaster response team to provide assistance after natural disasters – with technology, equipment, & even funding. This is mind-boggingly unprecedented from a for-profit.

NetHope (a charity Micorsoft has partnered with) provides connectivity for relief workers in Haiti.

In fact, in the three years I’ve been doing this project, it seems like virtually every aid & development contact I’ve made in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas seems to have (or knows of) someone who can help them from Microsoft.

The same cannot be said for Apple. In fact, to this day despite all the contacts I’ve made, I have yet to find a single person who knows anything Apple has funded or supported in the fight against global poverty.

In fact, when I started this project back in 2007, I placed a formal written request to see if Apple would help me through either lending or donating Apple software or gear. Their response? They don’t do that kind of stuff.

Click to read full letter.

I was also very lucky to meet some high-ranking Apple employees & engineers during my trip to San Francisco late last year. Unfortunately they too confirmed to me that, with one exception not related to poverty, Apple simply doesn’t have any programs which focus on charitable giving.

Until that changes, Apple will never truly surpass Microsoft.