Beth Clark
Book Review by MacKenzie Nelson, Impact Member and #1 International Best-Selling Author
of the book My Father’s Feathers: A Journey of Transformation and Healing One Feather at a Time.
available for purchase on Amazon and Podcast Host of the weekly show High Voltage available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube
Robert Lupton grabs your attention from the start in his book Toxic Charity. He powerfully describes the modern-day reality of our well-intended charity efforts and how they are serving and effecting people across the globe. “Giving to those in need what they could be gaining from their own initiative may well be the kindest way to destroy people,” he writes. “Corporations realize they can enhance their images through cause-related marketing while also building up employee loyalty and pride in the company. The compassion industry is almost universally accepted as a virtuous and constructive enterprise. But what is so surprising is that its outcomes are almost entirely unexamined. The food we ship to Haiti, the well we dig in Sudan, the clothes we distribute in inner city Detroit all seem like such worthy efforts. Yet those closest to the ground, on the receiving end of this outpouring of generosity, quietly admits that it may be hurting more than helping. How? Dependency. Destroying personal initiative. When we do for those in need what they have the capacity to do for themselves, we disempower them.”
He effectively points out that our generous donations and contributions of our time and money can have the opposite effect on the populations we intend to help: they are actually harming those we seek to help by enabling them to instead rely primarily on our donations. Robert Lupton has the experience to back up his claims as he has spent “over forty years working with the urban poor in inner city Atlanta and around the globe” and has “learned that it takes more than high ideals to bring about substantive change in populations of need.” He is utilizing his wisdom and knowledge to try to help others see charity from a perspective of effectiveness for others, not just simply a heart donation. True transformation must take place for charity to be effectively distributed and used as intended.
“Charity originates in the heart. It flows out to touch a hurting world,” Lupton compassionately writes. He understands people have the best of intentions for donating, but notes that isn’t enough to ensure they are actually helping. “We mean well. Our motives are good. But we have neglected to conduct careful due diligence to determine emotional, economic, and cultural outcomes on the receiving end of our charity.” Lupton also points out that there are “stellar organizations large and small getting it right” and cites the US government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) as one of these organizations because “they are not focused merely on dollars invested in developing countries”, but on the long-term effects of those contributions. He wisely advises that “smart investments call for partnerships with countries willing to help themselves, willing to stand up to corruption, and willing to assume accountability for results delivered from each and every investment in their development.” Thus, charity is a multifaceted, moving system comprised and subject to many components on the giving and receiving end to determine its overall success and impact.
When it comes down to it Lupton writes, “All charity begins at home. Top-down charity seldom works. Governments can give millions, rock bands can do benefit concerts, ex-presidents can champion causes, and churches can mobilize their volunteers; but in the end what takes place in the community, on the street, in the home, is what will ultimately determine the sustainability of any development.” Organizations such as Impact who are working to ensure funding of local community non-profits are truly the most effective since they are utilizing the bottom-up approach. Members at the basic level contribute funds and pool resources together to make a larger, cumulative financial impact for the recipients in their community to help others.
So, how do we effectively contribute our time, money, and resources to ensure they have an impact on the desired population we are seeking to help? Lupton says the answer involves transitioning from the current state of betterment, which is dependent on the good will of outsiders offering immediate relief, to development. “Serving people is distinctly different from developing people. Betterment does for others. Development maintains the long view and looks to enable others to do for themselves. Betterment improves conditions. Development strengthens capacity. Betterment gives a man a fish. Development teaches a man how to fish. Most poverty programs begin as betterment.” We need to focus on developing the people and the communities we are intending to help and provide further education for long-term sustainability and resilience to truly impact communities.
“Compassion is the reflection of the divine; the in-person reassurance that there is care in our universe. But charity can be either toxic or transformative. To be ultimately redemptive, it must be carefully considered. Toxicity in the compassion industry is epidemic. This book has taken off the gloves and hit it straight on. The only gratification in writing this book lies in the possibility that a corrective shift will take place,” Lupton ends with a call to action for each of us to take up our mantle as responsible citizens looking to partner with charities who understand that giving is only the first step. Much more thought and follow-through is needed if we are to truly impact our communities.