Outsourcing Philanthropy
I'll be taking a class next semester on the world of microlending. For those unaware, this is the process by which banks or nonprofits offer very small, high-risk loans to entrepreneurs trying to climb out of poverty. This idea has been very popular and effective in places like Africa and Asia, and was the theme of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
As I look forward to this course, I found this article in the Wall Street Journal very intriguing, especially as it relates to the idea of microlending domestically.
Have we reached a point where corporations are taking over the role of helping the poor, now that the church has largely ignored it and nonprofits aren't able to adequately handle the volume of need?
As I look forward to this course, I found this article in the Wall Street Journal very intriguing, especially as it relates to the idea of microlending domestically.
Have we reached a point where corporations are taking over the role of helping the poor, now that the church has largely ignored it and nonprofits aren't able to adequately handle the volume of need?
Comments (2)
3:51 PM
did you check out kiva.org?
8:34 AM
I think two points are due here. First of all, I think society's understanding of a corporation is completely backward. We have been taught to think of corporations as "evil" and "prostituting" machines that should be sued at every turn, when in reality a corporation is an extension of our community...it is us. Secondly, maybe the argument should be made that churches haven't ignored the poor but have been duked into treating the poor ineffectively. As a church being a nonprofit organization in America and frowned upon when approaching interaction with the community from a profitable standpoint, maybe we've handcuffed our religion into being ineffective. Churches do give quite a lot of money to the poor and therein lies the problem...giving with no balances or checks on the effectiveness of those gifts may lead to the ineffectiveness that corporations and wealthy individuals aren't willing to put up with.
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