Why aren't more of us helping?

Over the years, we've had the privilege of being constantly amazed by the fantastic development work that is undertaken by the many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that we have interacted with across the world. At the same time, we've always been surprised by the fact that very few people seem to know about these NGOs.

We wondered - how much do our friends actually know about social development?

We spoke to people in several countries, and asked them what areas of social development they were most passionate about. We received many passionate answers – "Child literacy... women’s empowerment.. HIV education .... poverty reduction, ..." - the list went on and one. Everyone pontificated about how much the world needed to change. "Excellent!", we thought to ourselves. "All our friends are a lot more informed that we thought. This is inspiring!". We then asked the same people if they knew of NGOs that worked in those fields, and if they could name a few for me. Crickets! "Err... Urm.... Err...."

Most of us have an interest in being good and the impulse to want to help social issues. However, there seem to be factors that prevent us from becoming involved with these social causes. Some of them are –

• We don’t know enough – In spite of online search engine tools and a plethora of other information at our disposal from various sources, we find it difficult to get a quick snapshot of the NGOs that work on the social causes that we feel passionately about. Moreover, how do we trust that the information is valid? How do we know that the information is not out-dated, but is actually current?
• We’re too busy – Most of us don’t have time to manage our day-to-day lives. We have got used to information being available instantly, and therefore, if we can’t find answers to meet our needs in a minute or two, we abandon our efforts. How can we then become involved in social causes if it is difficult to learn about them? How we can help NGOs, if it requires us to dedicate a lot of time to search for them – time that we don’t have?
• We never hear about most NGOs –Most NGOs do not do a good job of building their brand and getting their name out. This is usually because they do not have the resources to promote their work to a large audience. So, if the NGOs don’t promote themselves, how can we ever learn about and then eventually, help them?
• We need peer-validation –Very often, we get involved in helping an NGO if someone we trust is also helping that organization. Where can we find a place that allows us to collaborate with a network of friends, who we trust, to help NGOs as one team of people with similar interests and passions to help solve social issues?
• We need more options to help –We find that people are getting used to having many options in every decision-making aspect of their lives. However, most of us usually only have 2 ways in which we can help NGOs – 1) Send them money, or 2) Volunteer with our time. Why should philanthropy be any different? Why can’t we choose how we want to help an NGO? Why aren’t we being given various options that describe the needs an NGO?

At We Flap, we are sure there are more reasons. But if We Flap can successfully address the factors that stop us from being more socially involved, will the millions that are standing outside the philanthropy fence jump in and take action?