Last week the Cabinet Office published the Giving Green Paper, which is intended to spark a debate and encourage suggestions of how social action can become a social norm. In the paper, the Cabinet Office (or rather Francis Maude MP) outline their and other contributor's ideas as to how this can be achieved and ask for contributions from community groups, charities, businesses and the public as a whole. However, if I had just stuck to reading the headlines and irate tweets I would still think the whole paper was produced to announce ATM giving as a new coalition policy. Instead, I decided to read the paper myself and it definitely isn't just about donating at cash machines.
The 1st paragraph outlines what the Big Society means - local people have greater control of their communities and thus rely on the Government less. Encouraging social action is one of the coalition's core ideas for achieving this - the others are empowering communities and opening up public services. Social action is defined as giving time and/or money to better your community and society as a whole. It could be volunteering at a local school, donating money to worthy cause or (in my case) walking elderly people home from Morrisons. The paper lists various ways to make giving time/money easier including apps, utilising search engines, social networking and yes donating at ATMs. (Although there is no mention of a Robin Hood Tax hmmm...) The problem now for the Cabinet Office, or for anyone who thinks this paper is innovative and has real value, is that the press have largely focussed on donation of money rather than time.
Having read various articles from our national press, I have to wonder if the press release issued by the Cabinet Office started with we want to encroach on social liberty by forcing people to donate at cash machines. Nearly every headline I have read about this paper include the words ATM or Cash Machine.
"Coalition to propose automatic charity donations at cash machines," published in the Guardian gives an overview of the paper's proposals to improve and encourage giving money (with a small mention of volunteering) and is worth a look if you don't want to read the paper. You can read it here
The Daily Mail were openly hostile "Charity cashpoints are blasted as Big Brother." Their view is that the British Public already donate and give enough time. Read it It's true that we are a nation that donate a lot of money to charity but it's also true that we are ranked 29th in the world at donating time according to the 2010 World Giving Index.
The majority of the comments below each article are from those against ATM giving and donating more money in general. Comments that do propose ways to promote giving of money and time are red-flagged, which is a real shame as it is those suggestions that the paper is looking for.
Personally, I think the report has some good and bad suggestions. Overall, having just started in the Voluntary Sector I find it exciting that the Government are looking to encourage social responsibility. Surely it's no bad thing to encourage people to volunteer at homeless shelters, schools and to look out for their neighbours (provided of course that this isn't simply an exercise to ensure they can make further cuts in the public sector).
In terms of donating at ATMs, I don't think it's a good idea. I think people tend to donate to charities that they relate to and charities work hard to promote what they do and what they stand for. If you donate at an ATM how can you be sure about what you are supporting. Realistically, as shown by The Colombian ATM scheme you would only be able to donate to a select number of charities (how would these be decided). Finally, although it would be a convenient way of donating, it won't be convenient for the queue of people who are stood waiting behind you at the cashpoint!
I think The Pennies Foundation approach is better. They propose that at selected retailers you could round up your bill to the nearest pound and the extra pennies will be donated to a charity nominated by the retailer. So if your food shopping came up to £27.68 you could pay £28 and donate the 32p to charity. I can see this catching on. Retailers have space to display information about their chosen charity, different retailers would choose different charities (for example I imagine a womenswear store would choose a charity that benefits women), its a small amount and its already being utilised by charities such as the NSPCC and Cancer Research UK.
It makes many suggestions for improving volunteering and it seems to me that giving time is the focus of the paper rather than money. The Cabinet Office argue that volunteering is not a one way street and that volunteers should gain something in return. It points to Orange Rock Corps as and example of this. I agree, at the moment I am volunteering for Oxfam but in return I am gaining valuable experience. It goes on to say that volunteering doesn't have to be rewarded in gig tickets but can be rewarded by publicly acknowledging volunteers. There is a specific focus on finding ways to encourage young people to volunteer through social networking and National Citizen Service. They also want to help eliminate barriers to volunteering such as multiple CRB checks, over the top Health and Safety and lack of transparency from charities over where monetary donations go. I think these are all brilliant ideas.
So why the hostility from the media?
It's partly down to timing. We're in a recession, the VAT is going up 2.5% and massive cuts have been announced. I think a lot of people will feel that they can't give money and that by encouraging volunteering in the Public Sector the Government are making up for the cuts. It also worded badly. They consistently say "giving" without outlining what they mean. Often they appear to mean volunteering but by saying "giving" instead it promotes donations.
I don't agree with everything in the Giving Green Paper (and these are my views not Oxfam GB's) but that's the point - they wanted to start a debate and they have. It's just a shame that the media seem to have focussed on only one aspect of the report.
If you want to read it yourself click here
For anyone interested in Corporate Fundraising there is a good section in it for you.
Or if you want to make a suggestion email giving@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment