Begging To Give

First Version
Begging to Give

Kairos/Audience: I often tell this story to friends who express that they want to be more charitable.

As a missionary in Mexico, life was typically hard. We usually had enough money to buy dinner, and relied on other members to provide us lunch.  We walked all day either full and satisfied, or hungry and desperate. 

We weren't the only ones that were hungry, however. Many beggars and drunks wandered the streets looking for food. They knew us as "holy men" (as they would say) and typically asked us for help.

Although we didn't have much, we gave what we could. Some days were harder than others. We knew that what we gave out could be used later that night for dinner. But we held our purpose above our own interests and continued to help.

We were surprised by one homeless man who empathized with us. He noticed how hungry we were one day and gave all he had. He bought us tacos, and expressed how much he cared for us.

Most importantly, he didn't do it regrettably, or even hold anything back. He was happy he could sacrifice something to help someone else.

At that point I was determined to do the same. I was going to give all I had, and truly care for them. [199]

Second Version
The Gift of Giving

Kairos/Audience: I can use this to show we can learn something from everyone.

Day after day, for 5 months, I greeted "Don Juan" in the street. He wore the same tattered pants, dark overcoat (no shirt), and dirt always painted his feet black [personification]. He was usually drunk too [litotes].

Everyday he would ask, "can you help me with just a few pesos"? We usually carried around apples or bananas or mangos [polysyndeton] from all the visits we made, and offered him what we were carrying. He eagerly took our fruit and would "bless" us as we continued with our routine.

There was one day particularly difficult for us as missionaries. All of our appointments fell through, we hadn't eaten, and we had no money.  It was late and time for us to return back to our apartment. When Don Juan asked for his daily donation [alliteration], I promptly informed him we had nothing, displaying my irritation for the first time.

Don Juan noticed. "Have you eaten today?", he asked.

"No, we haven't had anything all day", I replied, once again showing my irritation.

At that moment Juan disappeared around the corner for a few minutes. He came back with a basket full of tacos al pastor. I couldn't believe it.

"As you know, I don't have much," he started, "But what I have is yours. I can't see you both so tired and hungry. Will you accept all I have?"

Those were the best tacos I have ever eaten (I've eaten a lot of tacos). Never before had I seen such compassion and selflessness. Were all beggars like this? [definition]Don Juan touched me that day [cause and effect]. After that, I no longer offered Don Juan food out of pity, or obligation. I willingly gave him what I had because I truly cared for him as he did for me [similarity/difference]. 

[290 words]

The Plight of Overhead

In the nonprofit sector, there is an ideology about the amount of donated money can go to overhead. Overhead accounts for the funds used for advertising, fundraising, management, and some salaries. Within this stigma, there is also a negative view of nonprofit CEO's receiving a salary compared to the salary of a business CEO. In the past, the ratio of overhead to program costs was one of the only comparable financial ratios for nonprofits. In many ways, this was the only ratio that allowed people to see if nonprofits were fulfilling their mission. This was before the majority of nonprofits had websites and locations for donors to see exactly what impact the nonprofit was making.

Today, though, there is a changed frame of reference through increased transparency.  Part of this is due to law, and the other part is because nonprofits have realized that they are more likely to get donations if they get and keep their donor base involved. For instance, charity:water is known for transparency with its donor base. Anyone can click onto charity:water's website and see exactly where donated money is going. You can click on a map and see pictures and locations of each well they drill. Additionally, all nonprofits are required to give open access to their 990's. If someone wants to donate to any organization, they have all the resources needed to make an educated decision, making sure that their money is going to a good cause.

Therefore, while there has been a change in the availability of information regarding whether a nonprofit is actually successful, people still don't want to give their money to nonprofits with a perceived large overhead. Despite seeing all the impact that a nonprofit has, funders don't want their money to go to someone's salary. The problem with this idea is that nonprofit's need successful people to run the organization and successful people don't work for free. Passion only takes you so far until you need to pay the bills.

"We have a visceral reaction to the idea that anyone would make very much money helping other people. Interestingly that we don't have a visceral reaction to people making a lot of money not helping other people. you know, you want to make $50,000,000 selling violent video games to kids, go for it... but if you want to make $50,000 trying to cure kids of malaria, you are considered a parasite yourself" (Dan Pollotta).

Therefore, people ought to take more time truly understanding a nonprofit and not just look at overhead as a way to determine whether they are successful and accomplishing their mission. Stories and pictures tell a lot more than overhead ratios.