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| Philanthropy |
Foreign Policies
Matthew Schuerman
06/01/2004
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In developing countries, even small philanthropic endeavors
can have a large impact. “You give them a cow and all of a sudden they have a
living,” explains Susan Dickler, executive vice president of the Dickler Family
Foundation, which sends about $100,000 abroad each year. She is the daughter of
prominent arts lawyer Gerald Dickler, who helped found Capital Cities
Broadcasting, later the parent of ABC. Heavily focused on reproductive health
programs, the Dickler Family Foundation disburses a total of approximately
$500,000 a year, one-fifth of that in Africa, South America and Asia. The
Dicklers started by giving to international aid groups, such as Pathfinder
International, that were based in the United States. But the board has
increasingly awarded grants directly to overseas organizations with which family
members, particularly the three who served in the Peace Corps, have worked
directly. Other philanthropists who have adopted a global orientation are
successful immigrants who look homeward, or inveterate travelers, such as
Barinaga and Goodman, who perceive that most of their tourist dollars are never
going to trickle down to those who need them the most.
QUESTIONS FOR YOUR FOREIGN GRANTEE
1. Is your board of trustees made up
of family members or independent trustees?
2. Can we be assured the
money will be spent on project expenses as opposed to being passed on to third
parties?
3. How will the project benefit local inhabitants with minimal
disruption to their way of life? |
Donors who give
directly to recipients in developing nations, however, are likely to run into
innumerable challenges posed by long distances and diverse mindsets. One of
Dickler’s relatives researched an African organization that had been asked to
distribute a donation of 30,000 condoms. By the time the shipment made it from
New Orleans to Malawi, the condoms, which presumably had been sitting for years
in an American warehouse, had expired. “They were distributed even though they
were worthless, or worse than worthless; they were dangerous,” says Dickler. She
does not blame the charity…exactly. “The organizers probably thought, ‘They told
us to distribute these condoms, so we will distribute these condoms.’ But if
that happened in the U.S., the organization probably would say, Hold it, contact
the donor and tell them what happened.’ ”
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