The Working Catholic: Charity by Bill Droel

 

“To give away money is an easy matter… But to decide to whom to give and how much and when, and for what purpose and how, is neither in every [person’s] power nor an easy matter.” –Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC)

 The hard part of giving away wealth “is figuring out how to do it in a leveraged way. It is not easy. Building Amazon was not easy… And I am finding that philanthropy is very similar. It’s not easy.” –Jeff Bezos

My friend (who is not in Bezos’ wealth bracket) thinks about the effectiveness of his charity. His current policy is to daily put about $5 in his car’s cup holder. He dispenses it to the first beggar on his route; maybe splitting the donation if there are two beggars on the corner. Another friend refuses to give handouts on the street. He generously sends annual checks to agencies that assist the needy.Clarity about thoughtful giving avoids comparisons with the wealthy. This means giving up “certain myths” surrounding philanthropy, writes Anand Giridharadas in N.Y. Times (11/21/22). These myths are part of a template that distorts how we think about charity and how some non-profit organizations structure their fundraising and their service.

These celebrities are often a cause of the very problems their donations claim to ameliorate and they present a faulty model of charity which others imitate, Giridharadas charges. They made their money with “dehumanizing labor practices… tax avoidance [and] influence peddling.” In return for a donation they get “labor, tax, antitrust and regulatory policies” that benefit acquisition of more wealth. In addition they get their names on buildings, invitations to galas and favorable press coverage. Until that is, their house of cards falls down like a Sam Bankman-Fried crypto exchange.  

Keep in mind too that despite their press coverage the wealthy give the least relative to their wealth. The poor give the most. (See Luke 21:1-4)
For some celebrities the publicity around their charity is their only goal, writes Peggy Noonan in Wall St. Journal (12/4/22). They have a deep need for admiration or status; they need to be regarded as moral or altruistic. Donors of this type, despite their language, are oblivious to the outcomes of their charity.

Noonan points to the necessity of an informed conscience, without which one’s behavior, including charitable giving, is a fraud. “A conscience has to be formed and developed,” she explains. It is not given at birth. It is not one’s opinions or feelings.  

Aristotle says that a conscience is a product of virtue and that virtues are honed through reflection and noble behavior.
Reflection means attending plays, reading novels and studying biographies and then thinking about how one’s own life is like or unlike that of the characters. Is my character flaw similar to Richard Nixon’s? Why did Iago plant doubts about Desdemona? Is it really jealousy?
Noble behavior means repeatedly exercising courtesy, simple acts of beneficence and small steps for justice. In time reflection and habit inform a person’s conscience.

As for so-called effective charity, my two friends, people of virtue, need not get twisted over how to donate in a leveraged way. Avoid giving to organizations that are administrative-heavy. Avoid non-profits that use abstract words like “empower,” “entrepreneurial women,” “new paradigm” and the like. Look for non-profits that directly deal with problems and that pound away without headlines; non-profits like private high schools whose students come from struggling families, like small groups that assist young mothers, those that care for the intellectually disabled, or that welcome refugee families, or that distribute groceries to the needy every Wednesday morning, or that faithfully provide disaster relief. The range of good causes is wide. The legitimate agencies are many.

Whether Schedule A is part of one’s tax filing or not, these are appropriate days to review one’s charity. Is the total close to 20%? Is it more or less than in 2021? What is one’s goal for 2023? How much? To whom? When? In what form? To honestly deal with these questions and act on one’s answers is a process of grace.

Droel edits a newsletter on faith and work, INITIATIVES (PO Box 291102, Chicago, IL 60629).