- Rethinking Philanthropy II
Ways, Means - and Reality Checks
To be effective and healthy, socially, philanthropy must address certain key questions :
1) What needs of society are most needful of fulfillment, for its benefit and progress ?
2) Who, within spiritual cultural or economic life, will best make use of available capital and resources (land, buildings, other "means of production"), so as to fulfill these needs ? And
3) "How might it best direct resources to those people/groups/initiatives ?
In an established and functioning threefold order, per Rudolf Steiner, it would be the task of rights life to make sure available resources move constantly to the hands of those best able to make use of them, for the optimum benefit of society ; so that they're not lost to it by being captured or inactive in unproductive hands ; or worse, used to exploit, control or coerce people in some way.
To remember is that rights life, rightly understood and practiced by all citizens of a given area, is the proper sphere of government ; but that clearly, society is not yet at this point. In the meantime therefore, to assure a right circulation of resources, decisions of these kinds need mostly to be made by individual citizens, on the basis of insight ; or by groups of such people, working together.
Voluntary - Or Not At All
Important as they are, gifting and philanthropy can't rightly be coerced ; they must be done on the basis of insight. The work of corporate and private foundations is at least in part a manifestation of this, with the philanthropy of billionaire Ted Turner, and at his encouragement, that of fellow billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, as examples. But as in other realms of life, there are also risks and pitfalls, and the potential for corruption, as I'll touch on below. And given a world of over seven billion people, gifting and philanthropy remain relatively weak and sporadic. What forms and methods, and what guiding insights are needed, to make them stronger ?
Donor and Recipient
Of course, any philanthropic transaction has two parties – a donor and a recipient. To "grow" philanthropy to the scale needed will take sustained, intelligent attention on both sides of the equation. It will also take greater awareness throughout society of this urgent need. Rudolf Steiner advised those who did spiritual-cultural work, that they could legitimately hope to find the help they needed when :
- They organized themselves into corporations.
- They could competently and effectively manage not just their spiritual cultural work, but their own finances, administration and outreach.
- They could find the “right way of working” with each other, in terms of relationships and co-work in the group. This might include an atmosphere of respect, communication and cooperation among co-workers, of vigilance concerning the quality of services offered, and freedom to develop and exercise individual gifts. Secrecy, lies, the exercise of power, on the other hand, would be the death of such an organization. Also crucial to the viability of such work, per Rudolf Steiner, would be that
- “The right person be in the right position”. That is, when for each post and task in the organization, the truly right and most appropriate person would be found. This would be in keeping with his indication that in spiritual-cultural life, leadership should be on the basis of ability : that among fellow practitioners in an area of work, the leader should be whoever has the best expertise at that work. Likewise with all positions in such an initiative.
Reality Checks
Spiritual-cultural work can fall short of these standards in various ways : when positions are filled on the basis of power or internal politics ; as a reward or punishment ; because someone "has always done it", or because “no one else wants to do it". Particularly toxic, also, can the importing of experts from economic life to “set the initiative in order” - most often in practice, by reducing personnel, salaries or services. Quality, in such cases, must sooner or later be sacrificed, and a downward spiral set in motion.
Health in the areas noted must naturally be priorities in an initiative - and to donors as well, in their decisions who to help. Also crucial would be the question whether an initiative does something truly wanted and needed in society ; and of course, that it does no social harm.
Donors can't fairly attach strings, nor restrict the freedom of those they help ; but must still find suitable recipients, and know clearly to whom and what they donate. Recipients, for their part, also need to present themselves effectively – ethically and factually, to be sure, but also in skillful, appealing ways. As these tasks require quite special skills, both donor and recipient organizations do well to have persons or teams skilled at them - again "the right person in the right position".
Changing Our Thinking
Those who fundraise know that donors may give willingly for buildings and equipment - but less so for ongoing work. It's fair to assume recipients will manage their money well enough to meet operating expenses - but as noted previously, at times in their develpment these organizations cannot meet their needs through "fees for service" alone.
As a result, spiritual-cultural life tends to live precariously. If government pays for work or services, it may seek the lowest bid or price it can find for them. Its support for research, grants, scholarships etc also tends to be narrow in focus, and to include hobbling burdens of rules and paperwork. When econonomic life underwrites spiritual cultural life, its guiding motive may to be profit - as priorities it wants what it wants, when it wants it, at the price it wants. First casualties to spiritual cultural life include its freedom and autonomy, the depth and quality of its work - and eventually, even basic safety (unforeseen downsides of products, practices, technologies).
The Case for Philanthropy Revisited
Spiritual-cultural work, as noted, is almost always undervalued - again, because its effects are seen only in part. A child learns to read ; a patient is treated and can return to work. These are of course good things - but their best and full effects will be seen only in what the child or patient does later. Such work the quality of a seed, which in time yields a hundred seeds, an apple that eventually yields a thousands apples. Our mistake is to think of it only as the apple we eat today - as a commodity we want to get as cheaply as possible. This lapse of thinking is near universal. But how to prepare the earth for this "seed", nourish the young growing plant ?
Help must come at least in part from a vigorous, transformed philanthropy. The impulse and enthusiasm for this arise when we feel in full what spiritual-cultural life contributes - how
- when directed towards the individual human being, it unlocks his or her human potential.
- when directed towards the materials and substances of the earth, it produces inventions and innovations to improve the quality of our lives
- its contributions radiate and multiply. A single gifted individual may unlock, encourage, redeem the potential of multitudes. A single invention or innovation may benefit the entire world.
Philanthropy must look beyond buildings and equipment to what happens in buildings, what is done with equipment ; and ask earnestly : who does the work, and what are their needs ?
To Grow a Healthy Future
In economic life, the success of a business is said to depend on " location, location, location." Advertising and publicity – skilled external presentation of products and services – is also crucial, extending “location” to the minds and imagination of customers, even those much farther away. Advertising can of course be used to seduce, to manipulate ; but in more healthy and ethical application it simply communicates, brings available goods and services to the attention of those who need them. In spiritual-cultural life, this is the function of outreach and fundraising, and organizations that do these kinds of work must see to these things if they hope to survive - with again the caveat, “the right person in the right position.”
For donors, for their part, to find appropriate recipients to help is a reconnaissance task, similar to marketing research. Instead of seeking markets and customers to sell to, they here seek the right party to give to. The best candidate groups, as we've seen, will combine :
- A needed and relevant service to society.
- Capable, competent practitioners (“right person in the right position”).
- An ethical and harmonious group process (“right way of working”).
- An active commitment to grow - to share its concept, expand services, reach a wider audience.
- Clearly defined goals to be funded, and an ability to handle funds responsibly.
In time, donors will evolve a fine eye and ear for the right candidate. How loyal is the organization’s client group ? How real the results or effects of the service rendered ? An example might be the college professor to whom students flock, on the word of mouth recommendation of other students. The talents of a chef, mechanic or therapist are more examples. Such phenomena are quite honest testimonials, “pictures worth a thousand words”. At the other extreme was a conversation Rudolf Steiner once had with a lower grades child in a Waldorf School. When asked his experience of his eurythmy class, the child replied that when the teacher taught, "it turns the spit sour in your mouth.” Suffice it to say, the eurythmy teacher was taken to task !
Again, donors seeking control over an initiative, or chiefly to take profit from it, will over time only harm it ; but to find the right ones to help, they too need the "right person(s) in the right positions".
Article by : Jeff Smith RN (Retired)
Next : Living Waters Resources : Rudolf Steiner's Threefold Social Idea
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