Earlier this year, I wrote down some thoughts on philanthropy in Canada. I came across my writing again this week, and thought it would be a good year-end blog entry:
Canadians are giving in record quantities, and there are a record number of registered charities 
accepting our generosity: 22 million Canadians gave almost $9 billion to charity in 2004 . At the same time, however, there are questions and disillusionment. How much are charities spending on fundraising and administrative costs? Are charities even effective at resolving the problems they face? As charities become more professional, aren’t they ‘losing touch’ with the people they serve and the causes they help? The answers vary depending on how you want to peer into the multitude of organizations that are doing good, and on what criteria you use to measure impact and finances.
But I am heartened by the charitable landscape in Canada. If you do a search through the long list of charities you can give to through CanadaHelps (83,000+ and counting), you find some interesting stories. Canadians care about literacy, about water quality, and about healthcare. We care about our local community, and we care about international issues. We care about the arts, and we care about homelessness. The mosaic of charitable interests that rests in the CanadaHelps database represents the true spirit of Canadians. Canadians have chosen to participate in our communities by bringing together people and resources to make change.
For CanadaHelps, we want to make these acts of generosity easier, and we want to make giving something that every individual thinks about consciously from time to time. Giving shouldn’t be an unconscious act – we shouldn’t just give because our neighbour does, or because the collection plate passed by us, or because we don’t know what else to do. We should give because we care to give, because we think – at least for a moment – about the causes we are giving to.
In the 12th century, there was a Rabbi called Moses ben Maimon, or Maimonides. ‘Rambam’ became the colloquial version of his name: he lived and worked in Egypt as a physician and a religious figure. Part of his writing – especially on the concept of philanthropy – was brought to life for me in a book by Julie Salamon, entitled Rambam’s Ladder: A Meditation on Generosity and Why It Is Necessary to Give . Rambam created an 8-step progression of giving, a Ladder of Charity. The bottom rung is the first step in giving, and the ladder progresses from the realism of giving to the ideal of giving at the top step.
MAIMONIDES’ LADDER OF CHARITY
Step 8 – Responsibility
To give the gift of self-reliance – to hand someone a gift or a loan, or to enter into a partnership with him, or to find work for him, so that he will never have to beg again.
Step 7 – Anonymity
To give to someone you don’t know, and to do so anonymously.
Step 6 – Direction
To give to someone you know, but who doesn’t know from whom he is receiving help.
Step 5 – Boundaries
To give to someone you don’t know, but allow your name to be known.
Step 4 – Shame
To hand money to the poor before being asked, but risk making the recipient feel shame.
Step 3 – Solicitation
To hand money to the poor after being asked.
Step 2 – Proportion
To give less to the poor than is proper, but to do so cheerfully.
Step 1 – Reluctance
To give begrudgingly.
As adapted by Julie Salamon, in Rambam’s Ladder
I present the ladder here because I think it provides an interesting framework for thinking about philanthropy. When you hand a homeless person some loose change, where were you on the ladder? When you attend a black-tie gala fundraiser, what motivation did you have for giving? And when you click ‘Donate Now’ to give through CanadaHelps, why did you give?
The ladder obviously presents some judgements about giving: about how much is appropriate, and how it should be given. At the most basic, essential level, giving – no matter at what level on the ladder – is a vast improvement over not giving at all. You may disagree or debate about the order of the steps, or you may omit a few based on your own experiences, but overall, it has stood the test of time for nine hundred years as a model for giving, proving its incredible relevance for generations.
CanadaHelps was founded as an electronic collection plate – a way of giving online where the donor manages their experience and their philanthropy. We put control in the hands of donors. Giving over the internet wasn’t an option for Maimonides or his followers, but the principles of giving apply equally as well on the web as they did in his time.
As you consider making a donation to charity this year (or next), I urge you to move from being a donor to becoming a philanthropist – someone who carefully and conscientiously considers both why they are giving and to whom they are giving. While we can’t all give at the level of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (which gave away $1.5 billion in 2005), a small, carefully considered contribution is worth much more than a large, carelessly given donation, given for the wrong reasons, or in fact, for no reason at all. Charities continue to make a difference in Canada, and intelligent giving will ensure the difference they make becomes even more profound. Ultimately, let us continue to build a Canadian culture that is steeped in the tradition of philanthropy. Let us each make our difference one thoughtful contribution at a time.
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