Think before you give!

These days, it has become quite common in my college that unknown people come to our classes and ask for money because they or their relative need help. People are also generous enough to donate money to such “needy” people. Even I’ve also donated a lot of times. All of us like people who love people and help others, right? But now when I ponder upon these incidents, I am forced to ask myself that whatever I am doing, is that right? Firstly, none of us who donate money don’t know whether the person whom we are donating money is genuine or not. Is the money which we are donating, used for the purposes which we’re told about? We need to accept that we have no idea about how that amount of money or resources we donate will be used. If someone needs immediate help, then we MUST help them or anyone who needs that. Its good to be a philanthropist, but blind donating is bad. If there is an organization, which is working for a cause at large and we too believe in that, then we may donate. If we know, the person who needs help is genuine, or the money will be used for the purpose which we’re told about, then, we may donate. But what is the use of donating money without any confirmation?

When we go out on roads, we see a lot of beggars asking us for money. But most of us don’t pay any heed to their voices. Why!? Because we think, they all are a part of some group or nexus. We think that if we give them money, they’ll get a habit of begging. But, when someone comes to us stating that they’re from some organisation, or they need our help, we donate without even asking? We live in India which now must be having more than 1500 million people. Most of us also think that, we can’t help everyone so why not a small section of people. No one is stopping you to donate. But if you are donating blindly, then you are wasting your resources.There are some questions, on which all of us must ponder upon. Has philanthropy permanently wiped away a social ill anywhere? NO! Can private wealth, however well used, substitute for good public policy? NO! Is there a better anti-poverty and pro-development programme than economic growth? NO! Will giving away private wealth do any substantive good over the short term or medium term country like India? NO!Since, all our acts of philanthropy act outside complex public policy matrix, there’s no guarantee that the cause we choose to spend on is the optimal solution.The most important point is that, “We serve the society best by doing what we do best”!

Steve Jobs, who did little by the way of charity is the most famous example who satisfies this theory. He created knowledge, jobs and encouraged entrepreneurship. That helps far more than some people trying to spend on a thousand problems, philanthropists like us have a little idea about. This can be extended, you should not give away billions, but invest. Find out and invest in ventures that actually build schools, universities, hospitals, medical research, and roads. There is a public framework for all of these too, and hence your efforts won’t be out of that matrix. Or even by getting into the system, shaping good public policies will help the people of our country more than anything else.