Natural disasters have an extraordinary power to exposure both the weaknesses of systems and the depths of human nature. Flooding in Poland not only destroyed homes and infrastructure, but besides revealed something far more valuable: the ability of the public to supply assistance on an unprecedented scale. In the digital era, where social media and technology dominate, solidarity has found fresh channels of expression.
The scale of mobilisation of donors in Poland in the face of disasters specified as flooding is all the more noteworthy that last year's planet Giving Index Poland ranked the last 142nd among the countries covered by the survey. This study is based on the Gallup Institute's research, assessing the readiness to aid a stranger, donating and volunteering. So, while everything indicates that the regular readiness of Poles to support their fellowmen with time and money is very low (although we surely imagine otherwise), one more time society has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to unite and mobilise in situations of real crisis – within days after the tragedy Poles gathered millions of zlotys to aid floods through crowdfunding platforms themselves. Significantly, these were not mostly formal collections organised by large charitable institutions, but bottom-up initiatives of average citizens who decided to act. The net has become a bridge connecting those in request with donors, and the directness and personalization of the aid have proved crucial in mobilization.
Clearly, hard events increase our empathy and willingness to help. Even major crises do not change the fact that even the most needy frequently do not ask for support. Both conversations with crowdfunding platform users and collection content uncover a deep sense of shame before asking for support. In a culture that values self-sufficiency and aversion to public disclosure of problems, asking for aid is seen as admitting defeat.
Pride frequently does not let us to show weakness. People would alternatively take credit, sale property, or indebt with friends before they decide to ask others for support. Only erstwhile all another options are exhausted do they decide to go to others. This, on the emotional level, is very understandable, but on the another hand, many inequalities arise from circumstances that individuals have no influence on. It is frequently a substance of average chance that the home of 1 individual was destroyed by a flood, and individual else was fortunate to avoid specified a fate. Moreover, asking for help, we show courage and actively strive to solve our problems, taking matters into our own hands, alternatively of passively waiting for improvement.
However, returning to mobilization erstwhile helping in crisis situations – and I do not compose it to criticize those who help, or alternatively to inspire more people to share and do so more frequently – it is worth remembering that donors themselves derive benefits from the act of giving. many studies in different cultural circles agree that spending money on others brings a greater sense of happiness than spending it on yourself. Moreover, this even applies to those who are besides missing from many things. Helping others strengthens social bonds and gives a sense of influence on the reality around us. At a time erstwhile many aspects of life seem beyond our control, the anticipation of real support for those in request becomes a origin of satisfaction and sense. This feeling grows especially during the crisis. It besides becomes a way to deal with your emotions – fear, helplessness or sadness.
The effectiveness of collections, like the effectiveness of most forms of communication, depends mostly on the ability to tell your story. It is personalization and emotional transmission that attracts the attention of donors. Technology does not solve the problem of shame and pride that prevent people from asking for help, but it surely makes it easier for those who have more ease in utilizing it to find effective support. Our experience in Helping.pl and observing how crowdfunding works shows that people with advanced cultural capital, able to usage social media very well and having extended networking, frequently due to the fact that they are active participants of different communities (work, sports clubs, subcultures, church, etc.).
On the 1 hand, this is very affirmative due to the fact that it makes our active life and all erstwhile pro-social behaviours a kind of insurance policy, specified an authentic collection of karma for the future. On the another hand, as a society, we should besides thin on how to guarantee that aid goes where it is most needed, regardless of the skills of the beneficiaries and whether it can cope with a barrier of shame.
Many studies on the effectiveness of donations show that 1 of the best ways to aid is simply to give money straight to those in need, preferably without making peculiar demands on how to spend it. This may seem controversial to some, but there is simply quite a few investigation and metaanalysis ([https://www.givedirectly.org/research-on-cash-transfers/), and concerns about giving money to those in request frequently arise from even subconscious treatment of those who have little rational and little competent in solving their problems. These beliefs were faced by fresh Nobel laureates from the economics of Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo in the book mediocre Economics: A extremist Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, proving in many examples that these are prejudices that have no basis and alternatively consequence from a deep misunderstanding of the situation in which people in request of aid find themselves.
So while the transfer of funds to individuals in request is simply a very good idea, it is besides worth considering extending their scope of donations to NGOs, which are not only able to undertake more systemic actions, but can besides be a good way to scope people who have greater difficulty in organising their own support.
A lot of attention to the subject of philanthropy and how to approach it from an economical position was given to Tyler Cowen, the author of the "Marginal Revolution" blog. He is simply a large supporter of the direct transfer of funds to the needy, but at the same time 1 of the many advices on the reasonable sharing of money from his book Discover Your interior Economist is simply: "If we encounter an crucial social issue and a credible charity, it is good to proceed with them. The stableness of our support increases the financial efficiency of specified organisations."
Disasters are a test for our society – a test that we passed with distinction. It is now crucial that the energy and empathy we see in hard times translate into systematic actions: building a culture of regular support, breaking the barriers of shame associated with asking for aid and creating effective redistribution systems. We have the chance to make a society not only more resilient to crises, but above all 1 where solidarity is an integral part of everyday life, not just a reaction to disaster.
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