Doing Justice to Solidarity: How Ngos Should Communicate

Doing Justice to Solidarity: How NGOs Should Communicate

Juan Luis Martinez

Much NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) fund-raising and publicity concern disasters, emergencies and the immediate relief of suffering. Donations and support may follow but they are prompted all too often by a superficially informed compassion or guilt with donors having little understanding of the results of their action. For all their impact, such campaigns can amount to demagogic sentimentalism leading to ‘compassion fatigue’ and lack of sustained support once media attention moves elsewhere. They thus undermine the unique mission of NGOs themselves. This paper urges a different and more strategic approach to communication by NGOs, one which takes account of their unique status and their mission to promote solidarity. It argues that as well as solving problems of underdevelopment, NGOs need to remain independent and to shape public opinion if they are to flourish. And for this they need stable funding from informed donors giving in a spirit of solidarity to support development carried out explicitly in the name of human solidarity. The paper sets out guidelines for NGOs to communicate in ways likely to gain the support of such donors. And it describes the la Florida project in Columbia as an example of how the beneficiary can - in the spirit of solidarity - be brought to the centre of NGO action and communication.

Solidarity and Compassion Fatigue

As they try to raise public awareness, the media and NGOs often present dramatic and negative images of the disasters and catastrophes that result from underdevelopment - on the principle that extraordinary events and bad news are always newsworthy. Rarely can there have been so many strong calls for solidarity or displays of unacceptable realities accompanied by reproachful language. But this frenzy in the name of solidarity is nothing more than a skin-deep and fragile phenomenon; its commitment is not rooted, is restrained and partial - and lacks true involvement.1

Such communication has two opposing effects on its audience. Some are prompted at first to make an emotional and financial commitment to the people affected. But, longer-term, interest usually wanes in the face of a deluge of information about a succession of emergencies and disasters. Advertising a catastrophe may swell the number and size of private donations, but repetition can induce a reluctance to think and reflect on events, giving rise to ‘compassion fatigue’.2 Guilt generated in the audience can leave it less inclined to make a stable commitment and over-familiarity can leave it with a numbed conscience. The ‘emergency’ suffering of others becomes business as usual. I believe there are two reasons for this: the continual impact of dramatic images and the presentation of a reality which neither improves nor changes. And the effects of this are several: a resistance to the genuinely serious claims; confusion and perplexity in the face of such events, as their causes are not explained; passivity and indifference at the thought of giving aid because ‘it doesn’t make any difference’; and irritated attempts to avoid the appeals: ‘why are they trying to make me feel guilty if I didn’t cause it and can’t do anything to put it right?’.

We may not yet be in such a situation but there is a real risk of its coming about if the type of communication often used continues to be used. Far too often events are presented in a way that is fragmented and out of context, as if they were the pieces of a complex jigsaw puzzle, to use Professor Sánchez Tabernero’s metaphor,3 of which we can only know where to put the pieces if we have seen the complete image beforehand. Left to put the pieces together arbitrarily, without any guiding principles, the public discover that not only can they not complete the puzzle, but that the assembled pieces look incomprehensible.

1 C. López Mañero Información y dolor. Una perspectiva ética EUNSA 1998 pp 56-57 2 S Moeller Compassion fatigue: how the media sell disease, famine, war and death Routledge 1999 3 A Sánchez Tabernero ‘El periodismo como relato de hechos inusuales’ published in Information and Persuasion: Minutes of the 3rd International Information Sciences Conference. Edited by García Noblejas and Sánchez Aranda. Publications service of the University of Navarre EUNSA 1990 pp 579-589

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When NGOs help disadvantaged communities they are just a catalyst. They avoid setting up a paternalistic and aid-oriented model of development in which the beneficiary community is a victim lacking the ability and power to transform itself.4 Instead of replacing the beneficiary they guide and facilitate the process of self-development. This way of working is what distinguishes their interventions from those of official institutions, and is a key to their success and acceptance as central actors in international aid.5 It should surely be made clear to the public when both raising awareness and advertising. Doing so would entail both the media and NGOs communicating information in context, appealing to reason more than sentiment, and making the beneficiary the protagonist of his or her story.

I believe that the strategy for communicating about situations of underdevelopment needs to change, particularly in the case of NGOs. The style of the communication should be shaped by the contents of the communication, its audience and its purpose. In the case with which I am concerned, the aim of the communication is to generate solidarity but it fails to do so. For the material often takes the form of a simple appeal to compassion for the misfortunes and sufferings of others, these sufferings being ascribed to chance causes. It therefore invites us to act to resolve people’s immediate needs and not the causes of their problems. The ethical value of solidarity therefore disappears and is replaced by fashion or a purely superficial ethic.6

Take for example some communication by Ayuda en Acción, a Spanish development NGO, whose main aim is to improve the living conditions of third-world communities through projects of comprehensive development.7 It seeks to help disadvantaged communities develop through comprehensive sustainable projects in which a partnership lasting around ten years is forged with the beneficiaries. Their advertising, however, cites emergency needs and to move the audience shows images of children who are in fact only indirect beneficiaries of their performance. The messages - shown in the figure below - do not do justice to their purpose and mission.

4 M Correa ‘Comunicación para otro desarrollo’ published in Sur y Comunicación VV. AA. Icaria-Medicus Mundi. Barcelona 1999 pp 45- 57 5 The effectiveness of NGOs derives, among other factors, from the fact that they start from the perspective of the user when planning their actions (see M Knapp ‘Are voluntary agencies really more effective?’ published in Voluntary Agencies. Challenges of Organisation and Management Macmillan Press, London 1996 pp 166- 186). This entails shifting the centre of authority from outside to the beneficiary him/herself, reducing decision costs and strengthening civil cohesion. The leading role achieved by the NGOs is acquired partly through the symbolic function that their legal status gives them. When an NGO takes over an intervention program it is assumed that its status as an NGO will ensure it covers social needs, confusing the container (the organisation) with the content (the programme) (see D Comas ‘Exclusión social y adicciones’ published in Revista de Occidente ‘Pobreza y exclusión’ Issue 215 April 1999 pp 62-74). Nevertheless, what determines the disappearance or continued existence of a given social institution is its ability to resolve people’s problems (see F Cabrillo ‘El Estado del Bienestar y la Pobreza’ published in Revista de Occidente ‘Pobreza y exclusión’ Issue 215 April 1999 p 94), and it would seem that there is a greater chance of doing so when you take into account who is suffering than when you do not. 6 J L Zurbano Bases de una educación para la paz y la convivencia Colección Temas Transversales. Publications service of the Government of Navarre 1998 P 121 7 Ayuda en Acción started as a humanitarian organisation in the UK in 1972 with the name of ‘Action Aid’. In Spain it was funded in 1981 and although it works independently, it has close links with the English organisation and the branches in France, Italy and Ireland. In 1999 it undertook 75 projects in 15 countries. The information reproduced in this article about this organisation has been drawn from the corporate reports published by Ayuda en Acción, and contrasted with the yearbooks already mentioned and edited by the Coordinating Committee for development NGOs. It is one of the Spanish NGOs with the highest percentage of private funds. If the average of private funds in Spain is around 53%, in the case of Ayuda en Acción it is 75,3%. Besides, these funds come mainly from the contribution of the 120,000 members, volunteers and collaborators of this institution, which has meant the development of important advertising campaigns, from the point of view of their presence in the media. According to SOFRES AM/INFOADEX data, it is the second Spanish NGO in importance, in terms of advertising expenditure.

16 © Copyright Reason in Practice Ltd 2002 Reason in Practice Volume 2 Number 3 2002 Doing Justice to Solidarity

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Communication by NGOs always has two inseparable dimensions: it must simultaneously raise awareness and achieve sustained support, whatever the balance between information and persuasion in its approach. Failure to project the reality of what the NGO does (in the belief that it is difficult to transmit and understand) when stimulating the one-off commitment of a donation, may undermine the educational work to promote solidarity being carried out by these institutions.

The Nature of NGOs

I use the term Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) to refer to those private non-profit-making entities whose mission focuses on aiding the development of disadvantaged communities and raising public awareness of the causes and consequences of the problems which are the object of its actions.8 The basic aim of an NGO is to assist the development of disadvantaged communities by strengthening local civil society, so that it can solve its own problems autonomously and independently. This strengthening involves providing stable resources and promoting a change in beneficiaries’ attitudes and abilities, so that the results are not reversible. To be able to achieve this, they need to develop a permanent supportive awareness among the public in the so-called ‘countries of the North’, where the sources of funding are based.

In this definition two elements are basic for the purpose of this paper: independence from government and the mission to aid development and raise public awareness. First, the private character of NGO ownership.

8 The missions of 41 Spanish NGOs working on development cooperation have been obtained from corporate presentation documentation published by the institutions considered. In 61% of cases it is explicitly stated that the following two objectives are sought: direct action and awareness raising. P Drucker ‘Dirección de Instituciones sin Fines de Lucro’ Editorial El Ateneo, Buenos Aires 1992 pp 11- 15. For a detailed analysis of the concept of the non-governmental organisation and its mission see the book ‘La imagen de las ONG de desarrollo’ (The image of development NGOs)

Reason in Practice Volume 2 Number 3 2002 © Copyright Reason in Practice Ltd 2002 17 Juan Luis Martinez

1 Independence from Government

The state does not have, or should not have, any direct link with NGO initiatives and from the theoretical point of view this matter seems to have been resolved. Indeed, these organisations have arisen as an alternative to the state for the provision of public goods.9 Swayed by the interests of the majority, the state leaves some groups under-supplied or dissatisfied with the services it provides. Some then organise themselves around intermediary entities to act in ways neglected by the state. This mobilisation of civil society is the basis on which the NGOs rely to differentiate themselves, as they find a space in the public sphere to articulate values and advance their interests in a way genuinely independent from government.10 Indeed the term ‘non-governmental’ was coined intentionally to draw a distinction from what had been the traditional form of international cooperation, namely official aid.

But in practice this independence is not so clear cut, at least in the case of Spain where NGOs depend very heavily on public funds. In 1997, 60.9% of the funds that they mobilised came from an official institution (the European Union, Central Government, Autonomous Regions, Councils).11 Since 1991 this tendency has become more marked to the extent that one can question their effective independence.

When a source of revenue has a powerful negotiating position thanks to the scale of its contributions to an NGO, an ‘induction phenomenon’ may appear: ‘pay them so that they behave properly’,12 i.e. so that their action (in a case of dependence on government) is in line with political goals.13 One way of alleviating this problem is to seek individual donations, thus encouraging fund-raising campaigns which legitimise and reinforce the civil nature of the organisation and allow the desired diversification, thus minimising the power of induction.14 These campaigns should combine persuasive content with information to raise awareness and educate the public in the values promoted by the NGO.

2 A Mission to Aid, Inform and Persuade

I turn now to the second part of the definition: the NGO’s mission to aid development and inform and persuade the public. NGOs seek to persuade in order to obtain the financial and human support they need to provide the service the disadvantaged communities need and to which it has made a commitment. Informing means giving news about something, whether an opinion, a fact, a judgement or an idea.15 Persuading means using reasons to induce or move someone to believe something or perform some action. Our aim in persuasive communication is to induce the receiver to act while

9 B Weisbord The Voluntary Nonprofit Sector: an economic analysis Lexington Mass 1977 and The Nonprofit Economy Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass 1988 10 J Linz, A Stepan Problems of democratic transition and consolidation Johns Hopkins University, Bal. 1996 11 CONGD ‘Directorio de ONGD 1997’ (DNGO Directory) Published by the coordinator for development NGOs, Madrid 1998 p 297 12 H Mintzberg El poder en la organización Editorial Ariel Economía Barcelona 1992 p 717 13 There is a close relationship between the fulfilment of an NGO’s mission and its financing. The mission is not a mere declaration of intentions, but is the starting point for actions that defines the institution. It influences, and is influenced by, the procedures used to capture resources. Dependency on a sole source may give rise to a situation in which economic support becomes conditional on its taking a particular ideological approach. If, moreover, this source is public, the problems may be worsened and may bring into question its non-governmental character. To the extent to which the public sector maintains a powerful position as a provider of resources, these institutions find themselves in a position of dependency and financial uncertainty. This, according to Sajardo´s book (see A Sajardo Análisis Económico del Sector No Lucrativo Tirant Lo blanch, Valencia 1996), will tend to reduce their ability to produce social well-being. Economic independence should enable the ideological and administrative independence needed to guarantee the fulfilment of the mission. To achieve financial flexibility and independence the NGO must diversify its sources of resources. For the NGO needs to work with a community until the community itself can solve its particular problems and go on doing so unaided. For this it needs stable sources of money and other resources. 14 K A Froelich ‘Diversification of Revenue Strategies: Evolving Resource Dependence in Nonprofit Organizations’ Published in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly Vol 28 no 3 September 1999 pp 246-268 15 A Nieto ‘Marketing de Ideas’ Published in Comunicación y Sociedad volume XI, number 1 1998, P 12.

18 © Copyright Reason in Practice Ltd 2002 Reason in Practice Volume 2 Number 3 2002 Doing Justice to Solidarity information pursues the more neutral goal of making something known. But, to the extent to which the same target audience is exposed to both types of communication, the two types of message must be compatible and coherent, as both will be used by the audience in judging the appropriateness of getting involved – to whatever extent – with those in need. Information and persuasion (and not seduction and suggestion) are therefore combined in the task of communication.16 Drawing on the work of Fiorentini17 and Milanese,18 the objectives of NGOs in ‘countries of the North’ are as follows: to make the organisation known: its projects and what differentiates it; to create, maintain and improve its image: credibility, transparency and achievements; to access sources of resources; to recruit volunteers; to raise awareness and to promote a change of habits and values. To achieve these goals a range of communications are brought together, from advertising to reports and press releases. Together, they are the vehicles for transmitting the central idea the NGO is trying to promote: solidarity.

The NGO ‘Product’: Solidarity

Solidarity is born out of the awareness that all men and women are equal and that, therefore, a person with a problem placing him or her in inferior conditions cannot be left to tackle it alone.19 Solidarity is prior to sociability. People do not show solidarity because they are sociable, but are sociable because of their solidarity. ‘In each of us there is a basic altruism that makes us a nativitate open to the other, the alter as such’.20 Solidarity is not a superficial sentiment arising out of the misfortunes of many people, nearby or remote. It is the firm and unshakeable conviction of the need to make an effort for the common good.

Zurbano identified three fundamental concepts21 in the notion of solidarity: compassion; recognition of the dignity of the other; and universality. Compassion is the feeling of fraternity, whereby one feels affected by the sufferings and needs of others as if they were one’s own. Recognition of the dignity of the other is the face of solidarity: those affected are other people, with the same dignity as myself, who call out to me from their needs. Universality takes in all humanity, without political, ethnic, religious or economic boundaries. Similarly, Ortega, Mínguez and Gil22 demonstrate how in the case of education in solidarity one needs to travel a route which takes in three things: recognising the dignity of the person; identifying the causes and consequences of marginalisation (making the global nature of the problems understood); and developing concern with active and stable involvement in solving the problems.

Although solidarity can be promoted by awareness of suffering, it is not guided by it. If we compare it with the sense of pity, which is one of its components, it can appear cold and abstract, but needs to

16 We think that it is necessary to distinguish information and persuasion from both advertising and non- advertising communication and from rational and emotional arguments. These three pairs of concepts must be considered independently as they are not naturally linked to one another. Communication may be, from the point of view of performance, either connotative or denotative (See Davis et al ‘Is Advertising Rational?’ published in Business Strategy Review Vol II 1991) Using the terms as Davis et al define them, denotation appeals to the understanding and provides evidence facilitating access to the understanding of the cause put forward; connotation appeals to the emotions, sentiments and feelings. It seeks to move the spirit by an impression on the senses. Although advertising differs from non-advertising, both types of communication can draw on approaches from the other. Thus, some paid advertising can be informative while using an emotional tone in its execution (eg the campaigns carried out by the Spanish Ministry of Health on the consequences of tobacco consumption on health). Other paid advertising can be persuasive and rational while lacking overt advertising content (telethons may serve as an example, although they combine both rational and emotional elements). 17 G Fiorentini Organizzazioni non profit e di voluntariato. Direzione, marketing e racolta fondi 2nd edition. Etas Libri, Milano 1997 18 P Milanese Non profit marketing e valore sociale Scritti di economia aziendale. EGEA, Milano 1998 19 The term solidarity derives from the Latin expression in solidum, a legal term referring to a relationship in law in which there is a mutual obligation. It expresses two things simultaneously: the union between people and the mutual, individual and personal responsibility between each and every one within the whole 20 J Ortega y Gasset El hombre y la gente Revista de Occidente, Madrid 1967 P 14- 21 21 Op. cit. 22 P Ortega, R Minguez and R Gil Valores y educación. Editorial Ariel Educación, Barcelona 1996 p 96

Reason in Practice Volume 2 Number 3 2002 © Copyright Reason in Practice Ltd 2002 19 Juan Luis Martinez be so if we want it to be global in reach. As it does not require excessive sensitivity, it can take in the multitude. Compassion, on the other hand, does not look with the same eyes on good and bad fortune, the powerful and the weak; without the presence of misfortune, compassion would not exist, but solidarity would. Strictly speaking, solidarity is a principle which can inspire and guide action.23 What is specifically human is our capacity to behave in accordance with what we know in the abstract (rationally) by placing an emotional value on it, that is by feeling about it.24 Giddens25 provides us with a good example of the rational (and therefore abstract) sense of solidarity. He suggests that what makes us concern ourselves about the hunger and needs of others is that they reveal the inequality between equals. Prior to compassion at the suffering of others is the recognition in the other of the alter-ego. To show solidarity means to have known how to look beyond what we see as evident, searching (and finding) the true causes and dimensions of social problems and why these call out to our conscience.

Every person is at once both equal to and different from all others. Consideration of the human being which tries to do justice to the person should take into account the fact that humanity has the double nature of equality and difference. If people were not equal it would not even make sense to talk of humanity, and consequently no kind of anthropological science would be possible: people would not be able to understand one another, would not be able to explain to others their reasons, their conduct, their projects, with any expectation of being understood. But if people were not different, it would make no sense to talk of the absolute dignity of the person: it would be enough to talk of individuals, that is to say, of particular instances of humanity.26 Solidarity also participates in this dual dimension: it requires us to realise the plural condition of humanity - such that our will feels itself to be called to help ‘another like myself’ who suffers and, simultaneously, demands that this aid be personal, ie directed at an individual considered, not as a being indistinguishable from and interchangeable with a multitude, but as a particular unique and unrepeatable human being. Therefore, identifying solidarity with a state of mind afflicted by a sad and painful event would be a dangerous reduction: it would degenerate into a com-passion by definition contrary to action. It is not by chance that Aristotle, in his Rhetoric,27 openly criticised the abuse of compassion as a persuasive technique in drama. Generating catharsis in an audience by inducing grief at an ill which brings destruction and pain upon those who do not deserve it (and which the audience, being no different, could also suffer ) causes an emotional state which reduces the sense of control over human actions.

And, on occasions, one forgets that the sine qua non for solidarity is freedom. If people are ‘obliged’ to give help, if they are mobilised by an appeal to their feelings of compassion and perhaps guilt, the results of the action may well be the same as if it were performed voluntarily, but all personal responsibility will vanish. It can make helping disagreeable, and once the person in need’s problem has been solved I may look forward to being freed from the sense of obligation. What may motivate me then is a desire to reach a state in which these situations forcing me to act do not arise again. But if these situations recur increasingly often and with growing intensity I may come to despair and disconnect; exhaustion may drive me to ‘compassion fatigue’. This is not the path to true solidarity, where, by contrast, the more I help, the more I want to help, provided I have a free choice about helping or not. To achieve this ‘virtuous circle’ I need to appeal to individual freedom and move the will by reason. And for this it is not enough, as the media do, to show history ‘in the making’, bringing events to us ‘live as they happen’ as though the ultimate aim were simply to have the citizen look at the events being communicated instead of understand them.28

It may be tempting to appeal directly to the emotions. But this means of persuasion suffers an information deficit and it is here that demagogy begins. The receiver is not allowed to rationalise his

23 H Arendt sobre la revolución. Ediciones de la revista de occidente, Madrid 1967 P 97- 98 24 J A Pérez-López Liderazgo y ética en la dirección de empresas Ediciones Deusto, Bilbao 1998 p 27 25 A Giddens La Tercera Vía Taurus, Madrid 1999 26 A Ruiz Retegui La ciencia y la fundamentación de la ética: la pluralidad humana Published in Deontología Biológica Publications Service of the University of Navarre VV.AA 1987 p 36 27 Aristotle Rhetoric Book II-8, 1385b 15-30. We have used the edition published by Biblioteca Clasica Gredos, Madrid 1990 pp 353-366 28 J Sáez ‘La noticia es la imagen y viceversa’ published in Sur y Comunicación VV. AA Icaria-Medicus Mundi Barcelona, 1999 p 107

20 © Copyright Reason in Practice Ltd 2002 Reason in Practice Volume 2 Number 3 2002 Doing Justice to Solidarity action. Confused with an amalgam of emotions he or she is denied the opportunity to reflect. Persuasion which respects human dignity avoids a demagogic sentimentalism that pits instinct against reason.29 We need to bring about a real understanding of problems by making explicit the causes of suffering, the consequences their situations have for those who are suffering (not for the individuals receiving the news of them), the measures needed to alleviate the suffering, and their expected results. According to Aznar,30 it has been verified that it is reflection and real understanding of these problems - much more than emotions - which encourage people to take action in a conscious, constant and committed way.

It should not be overlooked, however, that the aim is to achieve a dual goal: to raise awareness and to mobilise committed and stable action. These are two mutually reinforcing dimensions of solidarity which cannot be understood in isolation from one another. This means giving reasons for maintaining support over time. It is therefore not a question of asking whether it is appropriate or not to use more or less information or persuasion, but how to balance these so that the communication of solidarity is more effective. And this involves educating the public in the values of solidarity so that it comes to be manifested in permanent links between supporters and the NGOs promoting it. The nature of solidarity and the need for it to be manifest in stable behaviours demands that more attention be given to arguments than the emotions. But, we would stress, resolving this question is not a merely aesthetic matter, but an ethical one. When solidarity appears presented in the form of something purely emotional, reducing compassion to a mere feeling, it is being dressed in discourses that are not its own and do not do justice to its true nature.31

Guidelines for Communication

Having established the objectives of NGO communication, and bearing in mind the solidarity it aims to promote, we can define a number of practical criteria for preparing communication including advertising about social causes.

For the communication to be effective we need to study the donor’s behaviour in relation to his commitment to solidarity and discover the reasons - explicit or otherwise - behind all contributions. Using this knowledge, we can derive the guidelines for advertising messages to help achieve both tactical objectives (obtaining resources) and strategic ones (educating in values). As a first approximation consider the conclusions of the report produced by the National Commission on Philanthropy and Civil Renewal in 1997. According to the study’s authors, there are four reasons why people become involved with non-profit-making entities like NGOs:

1 Self-interest: they expect to receive something tangible in return for their collaboration.

2 Self-satisfaction or self-gratification: the act of making a donation in itself brings satisfaction to the person making it. The statement made by Jeffrey D Jacobs, president of Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Entertainment Group and one of the main donors to child protection organisations in the United States is an example: ‘when you sign the cheque, you feel you have the power to change things’.32

29 R Coll ‘Racionalidad y apasionamiento en el fenómeno persuasorio’ published in Información y persuasión. Actas de las III Jornadas Internacionales de Ciencias de la Información’ (Information and persuasion: Minutes of the 3rd International Information Sciences Conference) Edited by García Noblejas and Sánchez Aranda Publications service of the University of Navarre 1990 pp 451-456 30 C Aznar ‘El discurso de las ONGD. Algunas sugerencias para la utilización de los medios de comunicación en sus labores de educación al desarrollo’ published in Sur y Comunicación VV. AA.. Icaria-Medicus Mundi Barcelona, 1999 p 169 31 Presenting a cause to public opinion should eschew any artificial distinction between what is said and the way in which it is said, as if style were separable from substance. If we were to admit this separation, the appropriate mode of expression of the densest and richest truths could be applied to much more superficial concepts or realities, and vice versa. See A Ruiz Retegui Pulchrum Rialp, Madrid 1998 pp 42- 48. 32 Statements by Jeffrey D Jacobs, Catherine S Muther and James D Watkins, obtained from Business Week October 6, 1997 pp 38-40.

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3 Altruism: the good I do for the person I help is agreeable to me. This is why Catherine S Muther, Vice-President of Cisco Systems Inc donated three million dollars to a foundation devoted to promoting women’s careers: ‘I am interested in doing something to help women and young people improve their level of well-being’.

4 Commitment and conviction: the donation is made simply because the donor thinks it should be. This seems to have been James D Watkins’ thinking when he gave away ten million dollars in 1996 to various works of charity: ‘nobody in my family ever had enough money to go about giving it away. Now that I enjoy a magnificent economic situation, I feel that I am obliged to return to society the help that it gave me to get here by supporting others so they can get ahead.’33

If we were to think that everybody responds positively to the same appeals we could waste a great deal of effort which could have borne fruit with just a little research into donor behaviour. The aforementioned motives do not work in isolation but support one another and are mutually reinforcing. The executive president of the Fundación Carvajal (one of the main Colombian institutions supporting community development) justifies the strong commitment that is implied by the channelling to the foundation of nearly 50% of the after-tax profits of the holding company Carvajal SA as follows:

We are concerned about the social situation in our country and the large differences existing between the rich and the poor. But if I said that this was our only motivation I would be lying. We are also concerned about the growth of our business group, and if we do not do something to improve the purchasing power of our fellow citizens (who are our potential customers) we have only limited possibilities of expansion. As to which is most important, that varies from day to day’.34

In fact, identifying reasons that may motivate potential donors to link themselves to social causes can help construct better arguments in the advertising. A number of common traits are shown by persons displaying solidarity.35 These can be summed up in two points:

Donors prefer to give money to organisations focusing on specific, tangible targets with well- defined projects having a direct impact on beneficiaries.

Donors look for organisations focusing on fulfilling their mission, with structures, targets and measures aligned with the mission. They want effort and resources to be focused. They like to know what happens to their money: how much is spent on maintaining the structure and how much reaches beneficiaries.

It is worth getting an advance idea of the possible circumstances of each potential donor and the factors which may influence the size of his donation and degree of involvement. Can the mechanism by which donations are made affect their size? Do donations decrease if commercial activities increase or if alternative sources of funding are developed? Is there competition with other causes, i.e. does the donor give to other institutions? What is the relationship between the donor’s values and his donation? Doing all this implies personal follow-up, devoting time and attention to donors, so as to achieve a sense of belonging. Non-profit-making institutions distinguish themselves from others by the fact that they provide an additional benefit: that of seeking to ensure citizens’ active participation in achieving the progress of the community.36 Even if it is clear that the number of donations captured and volunteers recruited is a good measure of the degree of acceptance of the values that all NGOs try

33 See I Kant La Metafísica de las Costumbres , Ak VI P386 trad. Cortina y Conill 34 From the author’s interview with Luis Fernando Cruz, Executive President of Fundación Carvajal, in Cali (Colombia) July 1995 35 J Greenfield Fundraising Fundamentals John Wiley and Sons, NY 1994 pp 5- 23. J Greenlee, T Gordon ‘The Impact of Professional Solicitors on Fund-Raising’ in Charitable Organizations Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly Vol 27 no 3 (Sept) 1998 pp 277-299. W Markham et al ‘Nonprofit Decision Making and Resource Allocation: The Importance of Membership Preference, Community Needs, and Interorganizational Ties’ published in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly Vol 28 no 2 June 1999 pp 152-184 36 W P Ryan The New Landscape for Nonprofits Harvard Business Review Jan-Feb 1999 Vol 77 p 127 passim

22 © Copyright Reason in Practice Ltd 2002 Reason in Practice Volume 2 Number 3 2002 Doing Justice to Solidarity to transmit to society, this is not what their persuasive communication campaigns seek exclusively or as a priority. Rather, they set out to strengthen their relationship with all their members, such that the resources come in as a consequence of this; the supporter becomes a donor.

The Logic of Relational Marketing

This framework allows us to put forward four strategies which are the outcome of applying a new logic and can help us keep our bearings: the logic of relational marketing.

1 Bring the Donor Closer to the Institution

Reduce the distance between the donor and the NGO. This process of getting closer can take place via a three-stage process:

(i) Encourage them to share in the inspiring principles. (ii) Encourage them to share in the NGO’s activities. (iii) Give them real possibilities of access to these activities.

If we follow the sequence from (i) to (iii), the message is to bring them to see how, in a specific case, one can ‘live solidarity’. If we follow the sequence from (iii) to (i) we suggest that they ask themselves the question: what is behind all this? The aim is to arouse a healthy curiosity in the donor so as to bring him or her closer. Whatever the sequence, as well as bringing the donor closer to the organisation, it helps improve the ‘quality’ of the motives for collaboration with the institution, something which we have seen is proper to all NGOs: that they are linked by ever more self-transcending motives, generating in society a broad interest group which is committed to (not just involved in) the work that is being carried out within the non-governmental organisation. The aim is to ensure that the motives underlying the altruistic behaviour response reflect a free personal commitment rather than a search for self-satisfaction. This builds up a base of people with a preference for our organisation who today provide money, tomorrow help with promotional tasks and the next day facilitate access to new people and relationships.

2 Build Donor Loyalty

Thanks to the fact that we maintain contact and concern ourselves with having a solid and stable relationship with donors we are in a position to make the donors’ commitment to the NGO more intensive and, moreover, to do this in a gradual way. This is the true aim of any fund-raising campaign (from whence its name). It is not a question of raising money but of initiating a process of developing resources that stabilises over time and makes it possible to ensure the future of the institution benefiting from this aid. The loyalty of the persons making up an NGO’s interest group is, in itself, a gift, i.e. a different form of donation and, therefore, something that cannot be bought. Loyalty is granted by donors: you cannot go out and get it.37 For the relationship to be beneficial over the long term, the donor, volunteer or supporter must play an active role in the bonding process. Any campaign or promotion must evolve towards loyalty-building. Isolated donations are justified only where there is a specific extraordinary need and one-off initiative to satisfy it. I am not saying that all donors must be active partners in the NGO from the outset, but that NGOs must take advantage of this one-off involvement to start a relationship that should be built up over time.38

3 Demonstrate Accountability

Donors should be treated as investors in social causes. They do not give money, but invest in society through the NGO in order to generate a social benefit. They want to see the results of the institution’s

37 G David Loyalty is a gift. It can’t be bought Admap, July-August 1997 pp 26-30 38 R H Newman ‘Transforming Donors into Strategic Funders’ Fund Raising Management, March 1998 pp 31 and 42. K Sprinkel Beyond Fund Raising John Wiley and Sons, N.Y. 1997

Reason in Practice Volume 2 Number 3 2002 © Copyright Reason in Practice Ltd 2002 23 Juan Luis Martinez actions expressed in terms of the ‘social dividend’, the amount of good done by each sum of money contributed.

Accountability implies giving information about what the NGO does and how it does it. This information, provided year after year, will talk of its trajectory and evolution. And those who know the history of the NGO understand its needs. In this way bringing the donor close has also been made a reality.39

The mission is vital as an orientating criterion for the organisation, but a fruitless mission, one with no results, cannot be considered a mission at all. What should count as results in the case of any specific NGO depends on many variables, all of which will be closely linked to its effectiveness.40 But whatever they are, the organisation should offer information about the results, as important evidence of the fulfilment of the mission, and because information focusing on the mission constitutes the most effective vaccine against the disease of voluntarism (going no further than good intentions).

4 Focus On the Beneficiary

The object of the NGO’s action is the person in need and the beneficiary should perform not only a central role in the action of the NGO but also in its communication. The organisation is no more than a catalyst for the development of the people it serves, and is a bridge between two remote publics: donors and users/beneficiaries. An essential part of its mission is facilitating understanding between these two worlds that need one another, bringing each out of its isolation, opening each of them up to the problems of others. In this way the abyss of mutual miscomprehension, which separates people more than it unites them, is overcome.

As it communicates about its distinctive work, the NGO should try to communicate its corporate ‘personality’: to go from what it is to who it is and who it serves, to encourage possibilities of interrelation. If people are what is really important, communication should not leave them out. We can say that the ‘what it is’ responds to an enumeration of universal qualities or properties; the ‘who it is’ refers to the unrepeatable personal reality.41 The human person cannot be known adequately through universal properties.42 The person may be known either through personal acquaintance or through the narration of stories.43 Thus to make itself known to public opinion, the NGO’s best approach is to disseminate stories of real people who thanks to its work have been able to grow and improve their lives. Telling a story reveals meaning without making the mistake of defining it.

39 Without doubt the institution is not, and is not identified exclusively with, the information it provides to the outside world. There are characteristics (probably the most important ones) that cannot be expressed quantitatively. 39. Experience, nevertheless, shows us that behind this quantitative information lie events and facts that, although they do not completely reveal the essence of the institution, can give valid insights if interpreted appropriately. (See: D P Forbes ‘Measuring the Unmeasurable: Empirical Studies of Nonprofit Organization Effectiveness From 1977 to 1997’ Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly vol 27 no 2 June 1998 pp 183- 202.) 40 R D Herman, D O Renz ‘Theses on Nonprofit Organization Effectiveness’ Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly Vol 28 no 2 June 1999 pp 107-126 41 Making use of Ruiz Retegui’s considerations in La Ciencia y la Fundamentación de la ética: la Pluralidad Publications Service of the University of Navarre VV.AA. 1987 pp 36-37 42 Spaemann makes an explicit distinction between ‘something’ and ‘someone’ as the foundations of his anthropologic perspective. (See R Spaemann Personas EUNSA. Barañain (Navarra) 2000.) 43 Arendt, both in Human Condition (published in Spanish by Paidós Barcelona 1996) and in What is politics? (published in Spanish by Paidós Barcelona 1997), and more explicitly in Men in times of darkness (Gedisa Barcelona 2001) takes the vision of man as a story and open to many possibilities as a starting point. Objective reports say both too much and too little. They say too much about what it is but never who it is.

The la Florida Project

The Florida project, promoted by the Fundación Carvajal44 is a practical illustration of this change of perspective which brings the beneficiary to the centre. On 31 January 1994 an avalanche of mud from the river Frayle in the town of la Florida, Columbia left hundreds of families without a home. The offices of the mayor and the bishopric set up a consortium of institutions to rehabilitate the area and provide new homes for the affected population. The consortium consisted of three charities - Fundación FES, Fundación Corona, Fundación Restrepo Barco - the commercial firm Corporación Antioquia Presente, another charity Fundación Holguines, the council, the bishopric and finally the Fundación Carvajal. They divided the community into four groups each of which was assigned to a different entity.

Fundación Carvajal, true to its philosophy, was clear from the outset that

it was not a matter of simply putting a roof over the heads of those who had lost their homes, but setting in motion a community to build its district with an identity of its own.

To this end, they selected a group of families: ‘they asked us: and you, how are you going to select them? And we answered that we would take the poorest, most marginalised…’ They proposed that they should construct their own homes. The Foundation limited itself to offering its self-building methodology, enabling the group to take on an active role from the start and channelling the efforts of the beneficiaries: ‘go to the people, live with them, learn from them, start with what they already have and know… when the work is finished and the task completed people will say: we did that ourselves.’ During the design phase for the homes Carvajal noted some resistance to the architectural solution proposed. Consistent with its approach of adapting itself to the needs and characteristics of the community, it redesigned the homes on the basis of the group’s suggestions.

The rest of the organisations in the consortium taking part in the project limited themselves to building and handing over homes to the victims. The table below shows the results. The Fundación Carvajal homes were not only higher density, built more quickly and less costly; they were also built to a higher specification.

Institution Square metres per home Building time (months) Cost per square metre (Colombian pesos) Antioquia Presente 39 8 84 Fundación Holgines 39 4 84 Construction Company 39 12 84 contracted by the Council Fundación Carvajal 48 1.5 67

Performance of la Florida Project participants These are cold, objective data, the sort of figures given by institutions when evaluating a project and publishing results. But what does not show on the surface is precisely what is most important. Fundación Carvajal’s success was not that it built homes at lower cost, in a shorter time and of higher quality. All these results, without underestimating them, were the result of a methodology which starts out from considering the receiver of the aid as the subject responsible for searching for solutions to his problems. Carvajal gave top priority to the self-esteem of its beneficiaries, starting by giving incentives to the community to make efforts on its own behalf. Fundamental to effective action is not simply the resolution of a problem but, in parallel, the enabling of the people involved to develop and gain in dignity. When we take on social problems there is no difference between ‘products’ and

44 Founded in 1961, the Carvajal Foundation has concentrated its efforts in the city of Cali and the Valle of Cauca departament (Colombia). Its conception of development is oriented towards fostering the dignity of the human being, promoting education as a secure path for change and the development of capacities, and stimulating, with the building of a civilised culture, the improvement of living standards within a frame of freedom, justice, equity, tolerance and solidarity.

‘clients’ because the ‘final product’ consists of transforming the beneficiary from a passive subject into the protagonist of his own development.45 I believe that this is what should be reflected, as one of its main components, in the advertising strategy of non-governmental organisations.

The programme for Housing and Urban Environment has the objective of improving the living standards of communities with little economical resources, through the creation of solutions of social housing within their reach and which allow them to lead a decent life in harmony with their surroundings. To achieve this objective the programme works on five fundamental dynamics which are: consultancy, design, training, self-building and community participation.

The Fundación Carvajal philosophy. Item from the Fundación website www.fundacioncarvajal.org.co

Conclusions

Let us go back to the advice of one of the past masters of advertising. Back in 1923 Hopkins recommended avoiding negative advertising:

Always present the positive and not the offensive side of the subject. Do not present or describe what is bad about it. The people you are trying to attract already have enough of that. Show and highlight the happy results obtained thanks to your methods. Explain what the results of good methods are and not what happens with the bad ones….Do not show the wrinkles you want to get rid of, but the face as it will be afterwards. Compare the results of two advertisements, one showing the dark side and the other the bright side. One is warning, the other is inviting. You will be surprised at the results. You will find that the positive advertisement is four times more effective than the other.46

As so often with the classics, many of the arguments are still valid. We should remember that the mission that society entrusts to NGOs is to help change the lives of their beneficiaries. When an organisation intervenes in a disadvantaged community there is - or always should be - a before and after. This is what should appear in the messages promoting social causes.

Solidarity is not a feeling of compassion and suffering. It is the firm and unshakeable conviction of the need to make an effort for the common good and arises out of the belief that all people are equal. Although an emotional appeal may be involved in bringing about supportive action, it is not enough alone to turn sporadic aid into a stable line of conduct. I believe that the communication practices of NGOs need to change to present more rational and positive arguments that highlight how the organisation stands out, the effectiveness of its methods of action and the transparency of its management.

NGOs act as catalysts for development, not protagonists; they help but they do not replace. This way of acting implies re-humanising the cooperation process because it implies assigning a higher priority to the person as the subject and object of action in the name of solidarity.

The way an NGO’s message is expressed should be coherent with the corporate strategy and should make it easier to identify the institution’s stance. It should stress the organisation’s distinct features and effectiveness. Its communication is not solely or mainly a means of fund-raising; not does it

45 Taken from the speech by Javier Martín Cavanna at the Primer Encuentro de Entidades sin Ánimo de Lucro (First Meeting of Non-Profit-Making Institutions) IESE Unpublished document Madrid, March 1997 46 C Hopkins Mi vida en publicidad y publicidad científica McGraw-Hill, Mexico 1991

26 © Copyright Reason in Practice Ltd 2002 Reason in Practice Volume 2 Number 3 2002 Doing Justice to Solidarity serve merely to inform about a certain situation of underdevelopment. It always has a second dimension which aims to promote among the public values capable of engendering a sense of solidarity expressed in a range of attitudes and behaviours, one of them being the making of a donation.

Juan Luis Martinez

Juan Luis Martínez is Professor of Marketing and Head of the Marketing Area at the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid. He has a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Navarra, an MBA from the Instituto de Empresa and a first degree in Physics from the University of Granada. He previously held different positions at the University of Navarra and founded his own consultancy company, Arete Consultora. His current research areas are cause-related marketing and social responsibility policies in companies. He is the author of several books and publications on these and other marketing-related subjects.

Articles Issue Pages Ron Beadle The Misappropriation of MacIntyre 2 45-54 Michael Bokeno Communicating Other/Wise: A Paradigm for Empowered Practice 1 11-23 Bevan Catley and Campbell Jones Deciding on Violence 1 25-34 Terence Collins and Greg Latemore Philosophising at Work: An Agenda for Discussion 2 55-65 Christopher Cowton On Two-by-Two Grids: Or, the Arkaeology of Management Thought 1 47-51 Paul Dearey Systems Thinking: A Philosophy of Management 3 77-87 John Dixon and Rhys Dogan Towards Constructive Corporate Governance: From ‘Certainties’ to a Plurality Principle 3 55-76 Juan Fontrodona and Domenec Mele Philosophy as a Base for Management: An Aristotelian Integrative Proposal 2 3-9 Phil Johnson and Ken Smith Constituting Business Ethics: A Metatheoretical Exploration 2 21-35 Johannes Lehner Metaphors, Stories, Models: A Unified Account of Decisions Part 1 Making Sense of the Decision Context 1 35-46 Johannes Lehner Metaphors, Stories, Models: A Unified Account of Decisions Part 2 What Managers Do 2 11-20 Sandro Limentani From Paternalism to Managerialism: A Healing Shift? 1 3-9 Michael Luntley Knowing How to Manage: Expertise and Embedded Knowledge 3 3-16 Juan Luis Martinez Doing Justice to Solidarity: How NGOs Should Communicate 3 17-30 Cara Nine The Moral Ambiguity of Job Qualifications 2 37-43 Sheelagh O’Reilly Reason as Performance: A Manager’s Philosophical Diary - Part 3 1 53-57 Sheelagh O’Reilly Reason as Performance: A Manager’s Philosophical Diary - Part 4 3 45-54 Duncan Pritchard Are Economic Decisions Rational? Path Dependence, Lock-In and ‘Hinge’ Propositions 3 31-43 Norma Romm Responsible Knowing: A Better Basis for Management Science 1 59-74 Reviews Keith Grint Complexity and Management: Fad or Radical Challenge to Systems Thinking? by Ralph D Stacey, Douglas Griffin and Patricia Shaw 2 67 Sandro Limentani Books on managing healthcare 1 75-77 Martin Parker Management Knowledge: A Critical View by Paul Griseri 2 68-69 Editorials Knowing and Deciding 1 1 Crossing Frontiers 2 1 Knowing How to Manage 3 1 Notices Conference: Developing Philosophy of Management - Crossing Frontiers 2 1

Reason in Practice Volume 2 Number 3 2002