December 13, 2001 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Do Christian relief organizations manipulate donors with guilt-inducing pleas for money, or are the groups making honest and direct appeals? That question is explored in an article in Christianity Today (December 3), written by Ken Waters, a journalism professor at Pepperdine University, and a former communications executive at World Vision International, in Federal Way, Wash.
Mr. Waters writes that Christian relief charities — such as Compassion International, Food for the Hungry, and World Vision — walk “an ethical tightrope” when it comes to creating their fund-raising messages. At the same time that the groups’ appeals must persuade people to contribute money to help feed a hungry child or care for a person with AIDS, the pleas must not sensationalize or exaggerate needs.
But, as Mr. Waters points out, critics raise plenty of questions about the fund-raising tactics Christian aid groups often employ.
Some detractors are bothered by the sense of urgency that many appeals convey. They wonder, for example, whether a fund-raising letter is stamped with the word “urgent” on it because of an immediate need or because of the charity’s concern that gifts are not keeping pace with spending projections.
Some critics charge that relief organizations make false promises about the impact of small gifts. Fund-raising appeals may say, for example, that a few dollars will prevent a death from dehydration or save a child’s eyesight. In reality, the critics say, such changes might require years of work and investment in something as huge as building a dam.
What’s more, the critics say, even if the charity is using the money for such larger projects, the donor may have been misled.
“People think they are giving their money to the child,” Mr. Waters writes, referring to the popular sponsorship programs, in which charities link a donor with a needy child, “when in reality they are also funding small-loan programs, agricultural and nutritional training, housing subsidies, and perhaps the salary of a social worker or an evangelist.”
Over all, Mr. Waters concludes, “the words and images used by evangelical aid agencies in their appeals are truthful and fair.” But, he says, “anyone who has held a third world child dying of starvation” understands the temptations and challenges fund raisers face.
