Aid Thoughts

Aimed at those that are clueless about where their dollars should go, Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl Wudunn discuss ways of giving that, ahem:

won’t just finance corruption or an aid bureaucracy

Fair enough, what are their suggestions?

Choose a woman to lend to on kiva.org.

A good step away from the direct charity model, but the evidence on microfinance is still mixed and inconclusive (although, to be fair, how much has been proven to be effective?). Chris Blattman has a good summary here. David Roodman has an entire blog dedicated to the ongoing debate.

Sponsor a girl abroad through one of the many child-sponsorship organizations.

Does anyone recall the recent story by the journalist who tracked down the little girl he was sponsoring (I can't remember the program or the country, it might have been World Vision and Tanzania) and discovered that she had no idea who he was and hadn't received any of the money directed at her. I think sponsorship funds are typically pooled and used at the village level - the sponsoring is just there to make us feel like we're making a large individual impact, rather than a tiny aggregate impact.

Become an advocate for change by joining the CARE Action Network at care.org

Uh oh moving from "I don't know where to send my money" immediately into the role of an advocate sounds like a strategy ripe for badvocacy. And finally:

Find a cause that resonates with you, learn more about it and adopt it.

I've been meaning to write about how "adopting" single causes might be a poor approach in a complex world requiring complex solutions to complex problems. If I were Kristoff, I'd put more evidence on the learning bit.

Here are my own recommendations:

• Do some research on whether or not your government is known for using its aid effectively and wisely (well, at least relative to the rest of the pack). If it is, pay your bloody taxes.
• Before you give to charities, quiz them on their effectiveness. Make them work for their money. Don't ask for soundbyte stats like, "How many children do you vaccinate in a year?" Ask questions like, "Have you done a long-term impact of the work that you doing?"
• Don't pick a single issue to adopt - read about lots of issues (especially the ones that seem less popular).
• If you don't have time for any of this you can always hire a graduate student to manage your charity portfolio for you.

If none of these suit you, you can always Tyler Cowen's approach:

you may wish to give money away by wandering around a poor country, far away from the tourist trail, and handing cash to people who look busy.