Hi Shawn, I partner with World Vision and have visited many of their projects in the field. I'm not sure what you're saying mate and just to give you some facts..... You can visit a building or a well if you sponsor it. You can visit your sponsor child in person and tour their village. World Vision recently took an award for transparency and auditing. Charity water sell water and that is why they can afford to give 100% of donations to the building of a well for example. Think deeper ppl.
@levimcgrathmusic Hi Levi, I don't want to debate you too much because I do like World Vision and think they are doing a lot of great things. I should also point out that different national branches of World Vision (e.g. WV Australia, WV Canada, etc) operate on different principles. In your country, when you go to their website to donate to sponsor a well... a well may not actually be built. Rather money goes to a fund which may or may not be used to build a well. This was told to me by WV staff
@levimcgrathmusic Also, in the interest of transparency, I should also point out that World Vision in the United States went to court for the right only to hire and work with Christians. I know this is not the case in Australia, but needless to say, it is far easier for someone like you (presumably Christian) to go out into the field with World Vision than it is for someone like me with the last name "Ahmed".
@levimcgrathmusic In fact, this video is not based on my POV as a donor, but rather my POV based on being ethnically from a country in which World Vision serves. It makes me sad to see many people in my mother's home village distrust or have bad things to say about World Vision. I believe this, in part, is due to 1) the majority of the town is Muslim and WV hires mostly Christians, and 2) villagers have different attitudes on overhead. Thinking deeper means thinking less ethnocentrically mate.
I have to agree with you, Shawn. This is not about feeling good about yourself, but I experienced that many people who want to donate are hesitant, because they don't know where the money is going. I get that a lot when I talk to my friends about charity. They say "Don't bother, your money is never going to reach the ones you wanted to help". And charities won't leave this corruption stigmata behind if they don't learn to engage more with their donors.
I've always found the popularity of World Vision's specific donations interesting. I know a lot of my friends and family love the idea of knowing exactly what they're buying. I wonder, though, whether the appeal is in the novelty of being able to buy chickens, or if it's due to a genuine interest in being more involved in the process.
Wow $25 for 2 chickens when you can get them at a Pet supply store and pay $2-3.00 for a baby chick, does it take the rest of this money to ship these chicken to that person. Don't want to be a DICK but $25 for 2 chickens. Peace
Also I just want to say that despite any criticism I have for aid organizations, I still think they are amazing things and can accomplish work on the ground level. I mean a world with World Vision and some overhead is better then a world without World Vision at all. Though a world with aid organizations dominated by things like Charity water would be even better.
@darklight270 Well said - I agree: the world is a better place because of World Vision.
I think they could gain even more support and even more loyalty if they moved in the direction I've been talking about. They've already taken the first step to do so.
Great video shawn! I really hope that people understand that reason to promote organization that don't take overhead and give clarity of cashflow has nothing to do with us the donater and so much more to do with how much more good that can do for the world at large. I feel like some people (or maybe just 1 person...) are overlooking that fact that many of our world aid organization suffer from inefficiencies and ineffective use of funds which is why transparency is so cruical.
I think your points are very valid. I agree that it isn't about getting credit for the money you donate or feeling good about yourself by seeing the work but about making sure that your money goes to the intended place. It is unfortunate that we have to worry about this with charities but I think the pictures and videos are a great way to hold charities accountable for what they say they are doing and to make sure the most help is given to those in need that is possible.
You bring up some really good points, Shawn. I think the issue is transparency. I have said before that I don't care so much if part of the money is taken as overhead (at least in theory), but not knowing at all where the money goes and what portion of the money is being used is the problem. Hopefully World Vision can start to become a tad more transparent in this regard, because I love what they are doing. However, I still would much rather donate to you because I know what happens. :)
Its really cool that you talk about charity water they were the first charity I ever donated to and I absolutely love what they are doing. And I think everyone should know about them and donate to them.
Last though - given to a disabled charity before? Do you ask to GPS track a disabled child to know where your money has gone. Make a donation because you want to help not because of what you get out of it. Whether thats World Vision, Charity Water, Oxfam, Salvation Army, United Way or someone else. I don't need a welcome party or GPS to feel good about myself doing what I can
@psychomagic35 Again, I responded to your comment previously. This isn't about feeling good about yourself. Honestly, people can feel good about themselves even without this feedback.
But, and I can attest for this first hand, showing where the money goes actually encourages future donations. And this, ultimately, means more people helped.
And, again, from my first hand experience - the "welcome parties" aren't for the benefit of the donors. It's an on-the-ground community-uniting celebration
@psychomagic35 I can't stress enough that this isn't about feeling good about yourself. I think, especially given all the problems there are out there (corrupt official giving charities a hard time for bribes, etc). Supporters like the idea of confirmation that their donation has reach their intended target.
And, again, as someone working on the ground - beneficiaries actually love knowing who made this happen (instead of it being anonymous assistance from an NGO).
Also isn't it about people in need not what we get out if it. If you want the glory of your name on a sign -great. If you want to feel good about helping those in need I know $100m goes further than $5m and helps more people more effectively and more often.
@psychomagic35 Again, not true - and I speak as someone whose been doing work on the ground.
I've found both donors (and most importantly) BENEFICIARIES like knowing where the money came from and where it went. This has nothing to do about glory and everything to do with accountability and (for beneficiaries) making it more than an anonymous disconnected handout.
The reason is that doesn't scale. Even for Charity:Water they spend almost 18% of their income of non-program costs. And that is with an income of only $7m. World Vision Australia by comparison spends less on non-program costs (16%) and distributed $359m to the field. In Australia alone they have over 400,000 supporters. Think about the cost of personal videos for that many people that could go to the field.
@psychomagic35 Excellent comments - thanks for sharing. Let me respond to as many thoughts you've presented as I can.
Regarding the numbers you've presented. I'm not going to argue them - but I would like to mention that you used the phrase "non-program costs". This means that one could hire a staff and their salaries (no matter how large) would not be included as overhead if it can be accounted as "non-program costs".
Charity: Water salaries, however, never come from donations.
@psychomagic35 So, that's all I wanted to say about efficiency: that your use of "non-program costs" skews the reality (especially when factoring in salaries).
But, the fact is this: 0% of Charity: Water's overhead comes from public donations. Not a pencil, not a payroll. That's pretty damn efficient to me.
I agree with you there. Not knowing where my money is actually going is one reason why I can't bring myself to trust organizations especially I am a recovering student and money is not something I can just throw around. I know that World Vision does a good job but it's the fact that I would not know how it's really helping. I hope that the hole Vlog thing will work to improve communication- and that they will learn to communicate better.
I love charity: water. I knew it was the founder in the icon to this video and got really excited. They are so amazing and I absolutely love, love, love what they do.
@schizerbone Dammit - I was hoping no one would notice since I uploaded in SD. I did - it was an accident. Though, it would have been cooler story if it was some epic fight.
I really, really appreciate your honest point of view on World Vision Vloggers. And you're right, we should really hope that WVV is not the only thing WV does with online communities. You've showed us all how deep the engagement between and online community and an "irl" community can be, so hopefully charities like WV will see it too!
How come videos with the UP intro are uploaded to the student channel. I get that it's the same project but it can be very confusing. Is the dedicated UP channel no longer in use?
Does showing people where their money goes really help for more money to come in? If you could find actual facts to back you up (Graphs are nice) then I don't understand why World Vision wouldn't take the extra time to do that. What is a couple GPS coordinates and some pictures.
@AlleyWater The whole point of charities, is as much to make money for their cause, as it is to help people understand it. The World Vision vlogs are great for showing what's going on in Zambia, but ultimately, if someone donates money to help a charity, they want to help, and so they should be able to see exactly, who, where and how they helped.
Hi Shawn, I partner with World Vision and have visited many of their projects in the field. I'm not sure what you're saying mate and just to give you some facts..... You can visit a building or a well if you sponsor it. You can visit your sponsor child in person and tour their village. World Vision recently took an award for transparency and auditing. Charity water sell water and that is why they can afford to give 100% of donations to the building of a well for example. Think deeper ppl.
levimcgrathmusic 4 months ago
@levimcgrathmusic Hi Levi, I don't want to debate you too much because I do like World Vision and think they are doing a lot of great things. I should also point out that different national branches of World Vision (e.g. WV Australia, WV Canada, etc) operate on different principles. In your country, when you go to their website to donate to sponsor a well... a well may not actually be built. Rather money goes to a fund which may or may not be used to build a well. This was told to me by WV staff
UnculturedProject 4 months ago
@levimcgrathmusic Also, in the interest of transparency, I should also point out that World Vision in the United States went to court for the right only to hire and work with Christians. I know this is not the case in Australia, but needless to say, it is far easier for someone like you (presumably Christian) to go out into the field with World Vision than it is for someone like me with the last name "Ahmed".
UnculturedProject 4 months ago
@levimcgrathmusic In fact, this video is not based on my POV as a donor, but rather my POV based on being ethnically from a country in which World Vision serves. It makes me sad to see many people in my mother's home village distrust or have bad things to say about World Vision. I believe this, in part, is due to 1) the majority of the town is Muslim and WV hires mostly Christians, and 2) villagers have different attitudes on overhead. Thinking deeper means thinking less ethnocentrically mate.
UnculturedProject 4 months ago
I have to agree with you, Shawn. This is not about feeling good about yourself, but I experienced that many people who want to donate are hesitant, because they don't know where the money is going. I get that a lot when I talk to my friends about charity. They say "Don't bother, your money is never going to reach the ones you wanted to help". And charities won't leave this corruption stigmata behind if they don't learn to engage more with their donors.
norbaclove 1 year ago
Oi. So much world to help and so little time to comment. Keep it up Shawn!
ollininvincible 1 year ago
this video made me cry. its beautiful:)
jdsfblaggf 1 year ago
I've always found the popularity of World Vision's specific donations interesting. I know a lot of my friends and family love the idea of knowing exactly what they're buying. I wonder, though, whether the appeal is in the novelty of being able to buy chickens, or if it's due to a genuine interest in being more involved in the process.
shakes1327 1 year ago
Wow $25 for 2 chickens when you can get them at a Pet supply store and pay $2-3.00 for a baby chick, does it take the rest of this money to ship these chicken to that person. Don't want to be a DICK but $25 for 2 chickens. Peace
choro1981 1 year ago
Also I just want to say that despite any criticism I have for aid organizations, I still think they are amazing things and can accomplish work on the ground level. I mean a world with World Vision and some overhead is better then a world without World Vision at all. Though a world with aid organizations dominated by things like Charity water would be even better.
darklight270 1 year ago
@darklight270 Well said - I agree: the world is a better place because of World Vision.
I think they could gain even more support and even more loyalty if they moved in the direction I've been talking about. They've already taken the first step to do so.
thestudent 1 year ago
Great video shawn! I really hope that people understand that reason to promote organization that don't take overhead and give clarity of cashflow has nothing to do with us the donater and so much more to do with how much more good that can do for the world at large. I feel like some people (or maybe just 1 person...) are overlooking that fact that many of our world aid organization suffer from inefficiencies and ineffective use of funds which is why transparency is so cruical.
darklight270 1 year ago
I think your points are very valid. I agree that it isn't about getting credit for the money you donate or feeling good about yourself by seeing the work but about making sure that your money goes to the intended place. It is unfortunate that we have to worry about this with charities but I think the pictures and videos are a great way to hold charities accountable for what they say they are doing and to make sure the most help is given to those in need that is possible.
longhairaek 1 year ago
You bring up some really good points, Shawn. I think the issue is transparency. I have said before that I don't care so much if part of the money is taken as overhead (at least in theory), but not knowing at all where the money goes and what portion of the money is being used is the problem. Hopefully World Vision can start to become a tad more transparent in this regard, because I love what they are doing. However, I still would much rather donate to you because I know what happens. :)
Maddog53 1 year ago
gah! i LOVES charity: water
shortstufk13 1 year ago
Its really cool that you talk about charity water they were the first charity I ever donated to and I absolutely love what they are doing. And I think everyone should know about them and donate to them.
SloCheetah13 1 year ago
Last though - given to a disabled charity before? Do you ask to GPS track a disabled child to know where your money has gone. Make a donation because you want to help not because of what you get out of it. Whether thats World Vision, Charity Water, Oxfam, Salvation Army, United Way or someone else. I don't need a welcome party or GPS to feel good about myself doing what I can
psychomagic35 1 year ago
@psychomagic35 Again, I responded to your comment previously. This isn't about feeling good about yourself. Honestly, people can feel good about themselves even without this feedback.
But, and I can attest for this first hand, showing where the money goes actually encourages future donations. And this, ultimately, means more people helped.
And, again, from my first hand experience - the "welcome parties" aren't for the benefit of the donors. It's an on-the-ground community-uniting celebration
thestudent 1 year ago
@psychomagic35 I can't stress enough that this isn't about feeling good about yourself. I think, especially given all the problems there are out there (corrupt official giving charities a hard time for bribes, etc). Supporters like the idea of confirmation that their donation has reach their intended target.
And, again, as someone working on the ground - beneficiaries actually love knowing who made this happen (instead of it being anonymous assistance from an NGO).
thestudent 1 year ago 2
Also isn't it about people in need not what we get out if it. If you want the glory of your name on a sign -great. If you want to feel good about helping those in need I know $100m goes further than $5m and helps more people more effectively and more often.
psychomagic35 1 year ago
@psychomagic35 Again, not true - and I speak as someone whose been doing work on the ground.
I've found both donors (and most importantly) BENEFICIARIES like knowing where the money came from and where it went. This has nothing to do about glory and everything to do with accountability and (for beneficiaries) making it more than an anonymous disconnected handout.
thestudent 1 year ago
The reason is that doesn't scale. Even for Charity:Water they spend almost 18% of their income of non-program costs. And that is with an income of only $7m. World Vision Australia by comparison spends less on non-program costs (16%) and distributed $359m to the field. In Australia alone they have over 400,000 supporters. Think about the cost of personal videos for that many people that could go to the field.
psychomagic35 1 year ago
@psychomagic35 Excellent comments - thanks for sharing. Let me respond to as many thoughts you've presented as I can.
Regarding the numbers you've presented. I'm not going to argue them - but I would like to mention that you used the phrase "non-program costs". This means that one could hire a staff and their salaries (no matter how large) would not be included as overhead if it can be accounted as "non-program costs".
Charity: Water salaries, however, never come from donations.
thestudent 1 year ago
@psychomagic35 So, that's all I wanted to say about efficiency: that your use of "non-program costs" skews the reality (especially when factoring in salaries).
But, the fact is this: 0% of Charity: Water's overhead comes from public donations. Not a pencil, not a payroll. That's pretty damn efficient to me.
thestudent 1 year ago
I agree with you there. Not knowing where my money is actually going is one reason why I can't bring myself to trust organizations especially I am a recovering student and money is not something I can just throw around. I know that World Vision does a good job but it's the fact that I would not know how it's really helping. I hope that the hole Vlog thing will work to improve communication- and that they will learn to communicate better.
Sylviej 1 year ago
I love charity: water. I knew it was the founder in the icon to this video and got really excited. They are so amazing and I absolutely love, love, love what they do.
iamasecretnerd 1 year ago
I agree with you Shawn, I hope that World Vision Vloggers is something for the future with online communities.
I was going to ask you about the cut but someone mentioned it.
BarryAldridge 1 year ago
Who cut your face?
schizerbone 1 year ago
@schizerbone Dammit - I was hoping no one would notice since I uploaded in SD. I did - it was an accident. Though, it would have been cooler story if it was some epic fight.
UnculturedProject 1 year ago
I really, really appreciate your honest point of view on World Vision Vloggers. And you're right, we should really hope that WVV is not the only thing WV does with online communities. You've showed us all how deep the engagement between and online community and an "irl" community can be, so hopefully charities like WV will see it too!
sittingonanmm 1 year ago
How come videos with the UP intro are uploaded to the student channel. I get that it's the same project but it can be very confusing. Is the dedicated UP channel no longer in use?
zQWASZX 1 year ago
@zQWASZX I sometimes use this for extra UP videos. The UP channel is definitely still in use.
UnculturedProject 1 year ago
Does showing people where their money goes really help for more money to come in? If you could find actual facts to back you up (Graphs are nice) then I don't understand why World Vision wouldn't take the extra time to do that. What is a couple GPS coordinates and some pictures.
AlleyWater 1 year ago
@AlleyWater The whole point of charities, is as much to make money for their cause, as it is to help people understand it. The World Vision vlogs are great for showing what's going on in Zambia, but ultimately, if someone donates money to help a charity, they want to help, and so they should be able to see exactly, who, where and how they helped.
zQWASZX 1 year ago
@AlleyWater From personal experience with my own project? Absolutely.
UnculturedProject 1 year ago
cool man oh and 1st
RomanGods1 1 year ago