Good Intentions, Wrong Hands: The Reality of Misused Donations

Seeing how much of a cheerful giver a lot of humans are, some people have devised a means to use that hack to enrich themselves, whereby they'll host a charity crusade or even create an NGO so they can start getting donations with the belief that they'll use those donations to impact lives positively in different works of life. However, the reverse is the case because they mostly only just do a few charities on the surface, while the majority of those funds are being used for their own selfish interests. Now given the constant rise of this strategy, how then can we ensure our donated money fulfills its purpose? In this article I'll be telling you all about how I go about it and many more, to name but a few.

You see, despite the fact that humans seem to be terrible, it's worth noting that we have many kindhearted individuals around the world who genuinely want to help, but they don't have the time to start going in search of those who need it, so when such people see an NGO or charity campaign, they mostly don't think twice before donating to that cause so that they can have a positive impact on people's lives via their money. However, it's always heartbreaking when you realize what you donated to help the needy is being misappropriated and used for other things. I've seen many people on social media do this, and when they're called out, they start being defensive.

For me personally, I don't often donate to any charity campaign blindly; I often do my own background finding on the organization to know how legit they are and how much impact they're having on people's lives. Because many charity organizations out there will only do for a few people and make it look like they did for many, while others would even stage the entire process of their giving, acting it all up like it's real, but in the end you'll realize it's more like a film they did to make you keep donating and thinking your money is impacting lives, and so for this reason, I'm so skeptical about donating, even to religious projects, without concrete proof they're legit.

On most occasions I don't even give to any charity except if it's someone I trust, but for most times I feel like giving to charity, I usually don't mind going to the field myself and giving to people I see and believe genuinely need what I'm giving, be it money, clothing items, or what have you. This way I know for a fact that my help is going directly to someone who needs it. And when doing that, I don't give to roadside beggars, knowing fully well many of these have turned it into a business and resume the same location daily. I'd rather give it to someone I know is struggling in my community, just students I know who need help and the like.

Not that I'm against religion, but I know pastors and Alfa are two of those people who take charity under false pretenses. I've seen this for a fact on several occasions, especially during naming ceremonies. They'll ask people to keep paying different money or offerings with the belief that such money belongs to the baby, but at the end of the ceremony, you'll find out they'll be the ones to cart away with all the money donated during those events, leaving the parents with nothing. Personally I think that's not ideal, and so each time I go for such ceremonies and I'm asked to come pay for anything, I won't stand up. At the end of the event, I'll personally walk to the parents of the child and give them anything I have; that way I know my giving or donation will fulfill its purpose.

All photos are taken and edited on canva.