The crisis caused by the Covid pandemic hit the poorest hard and made Brazil go through a very difficult period in its history. While many sectors of society were still trying to articulate themselves to provide assistance, the resilience of civil society organizations (CSOs) was able to bring quick and effective responses to society.
The trust placed in philanthropy through thousands of small donations helped prevent millions from being left destitute. Mobilizations , campaigns and networking cannot be limited to occurring only in emergency situations.
Actions to support organized civil society need our constant support for Brazil to enter a positive cycle of social transformation. And this change involves strengthening the culture of donation.
By normalizing the habit of giving, we plant inspiration to, one day, reap change. Exercising citizenship by making financial donations or recurring volunteering helps build a fairer and more mature society. If we cannot embrace all causes, we can change “small worlds” and, together with our efforts, we have, collaboratively, the power to transform the community, the city, the country and the planet.
Feeding this culture and supporting CSOs to accelerate systemic transformation are the biggest challenges in the adversity of the current Brazilian scenario.
Our country appears in 54th position in the Global Solidarity Ranking, the World Giving Index 2021 , a study by the organization Charities Aid Foundation carried out with research in 114 countries last year. We are even far from our neighbor Paraguay, which occupies 23rd position.
The cultural issue weighs so heavily that the ranking is led by Indonesia, a country with much less economic power than the United States, which only appears in 19th position.
In another study, IDIS (Institute for the Development of Social Investment) analyzed the profile of Brazilian individual donors with the Donation Brazil 2020 Survey and identified that the practice of donating by individuals showed a significant drop compared to 2015. The value donated over the respective years fell from R$13.7 billion (0.23% of GDP) to R$10.3 billion (0.14% of GDP).
Today, with technological advances, it is easier for CSOs to account for the use of their resources and for society to monitor transparency reports online. Knowing how the donation money was invested and what the positive impact is generates an invitation to expand engagement and attract non-donors.
Telling stories of people who benefited from donations also has enormous inspiring power, as we can see in the guidelines of the document For a Brazil + Donor Always , prepared by the Movement for a Culture of Donation.
Through example, by generating empathy, the desire to contribute to further changes tends to increase.
By understanding that philanthropy is not a matter of relieving conscience, but rather an investment in the collective future and, above all, an act of citizenship in the search for solutions, we can build together a country with immense opportunities.
By Carola Matarazzo
This text was originally published on the Folha de S.Paulo website .
