Charity Will Not Save South Africa
*This story was originally published on Medium.I am a business builder in South Africa and I don’t take money out of my business to give to charity.I spoke at a conference in Cape Town recently and at the end of the talk there was a Q&A session. One of the questions I was asked made me angry and frustrated about the perceived value of charity in South Africa.The QuestionHave you considered partnering with a charity to give some of your business proceeds to their cause?The AnswerI do not give money to charity out of my young business. I use every cent I can to grow my business, make it sustainable and employ more South Africans.The thought processThis is a very prominent way of thinking in South Africa; If you do well, you are obligated to give back to your country. It’s also something I agree with. But depleting the imperative cash flow of my young business is no way to help.The South African concept of Ubuntu roughly translates to “human kindness” and explains that I am because we are. So yes, I believe that we are all obligated to do our best to help one another.We’re a country with a complicated and traumatic past that we pay for on a daily basis. There have been, and still are, injustices that are unavoidable. This latent guilt is unfortunately often expressed in the form of a monetary donation by the privileged which they think will be used to bail out the under privileged and previously disadvantaged.That’s a nice thought but a deeply flawed one.There are a massive number of organisations that exist in South Africa that receive an offensive amount of money on an annual basis. I’ve spoken with some of these organisations, I’ve met with the people who run them, I know people who work in them and many of them are not working effectively.Many charitable organisations do fantastic work that creates sustainable change but on the whole, charity is crippling South Africa. The money is mismanaged, the infrastructure that is needed to distribute this money effectively is not present and often many of these organisations are corrupt and ineffective.I would argue that many of these organisations instil the wrong attitude in people by providing them with a short term solution and not empowering them to change in the long term.Charity allows us to believe that we are owed something. Charity forces us to become dependant on the kindness (guilt) of others. Charity does not empower us. Charity will eventually come to end.Businesses create jobsThe reason that I am so steadfast in my opinion about small businesses donating money to charity is simple; Small businesses need every single cent that they earn to grow. Taking money out of a business early on puts unnecessary pressure on the business and will ensure its slow demise.In short: Keep cash flow in the business.Why? Simply put, the more my business can grow, the more people I can employ, the more I contribute to the economic growth of the country which ultimately leads to long term empowerment of people who deserve a real shot at a sustainable living.Obviously there are exceptions, there are always exceptions. One such exception is Toms Shoes. They built in the charity aspect of their business model directly into their product, pricing and structure from day one. In fact, it’s so entrenched into their business that it’s a selling point for most of their customers. This is intelligent use of the charitable angle. Toms Shoes, however, owns the entire experience. They give out the charity in specific ways to specific organisations with a very clear and specific intent. It’s not endless, aimless, fruitless charity. It has intent.Aimlessly donating money to “your favourite charity” will not make a difference. You’re piling money onto problems that are not being rectified but appeased. Lipstick on a pig. Bandaid on a broken arm.A SolutionMy proposed solution is a simple one. Take a portion of the money being dished out to under prepared, overfunded, ill-conceived and often corrupt charitable organisations and give it to small businesses. Give them each enough money to have a shot at building a real business.If a small business can grow to employ more and more people who will in turn plough their hard earned money back into the economy spending with other businesses then we’ll all benefit in the long run.Henry Ford used this simple tactic in his own company when the US was going through a recession. Instead of copying his competitors who were cutting jobs and paying staff less, he decided to pay his staff more so that they could afford to buy the cars they were making. This increased his sales, increased their spending power and helped (even in a small way) to rebuild their economy.It’s a simple shift in thinking but an imperative one.I don’t want to help create a generation of human beings on our continent who believe they are owed something. I want to help create a generation who understands the value of hard work and determination as a means of upliftment.I want to help create a generation of people who feel empowered to change their lives, not to wait for a charity to give them just enough to survive.Notes I am not talking about every charity in South Africa or Africa. I’m not talking about your charity specifically (although if you feel offended in some way, perhaps you should take a harder look at your organisation). I am not trying to say that everyone who works for a charity is corrupt.I am, however, making a statement about small business being the future of our country and charity being a short term fix to a long term problem.I specifically address the question of donating money to charity in this post. I am massively in favour of small business, big business, any business for that matter, donating their time and skills to charity.
