Summary of "Toxic Charity"

Robert Lupton’s seminal work “Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It)”; New York: HarperCollins Publishers (2011) has helped inspired the BeachCorps model of service travel.  Lupton approaches the challenge of service travel as a Christian: his work is “ministry,” and he seeks to address the spiritual needs of the people he serves from a Christian perspective.  But, many of his findings are valuable and useful for anyone seeking to serve human need, regardless of faith.

Lupton notes that “The compassion industry is almost universally accepted as a virtuous and constructive enterprise. But what is so surprising is that its outcomes are almost entirely unexamined.”  He argues that we must apply the same emphasis on effectiveness of the compassion industry that we do to government and the private sector.  He asks: “Why do we miss this crucial aspect in evaluating our charitable work? Because, as compassionate people, we have been evaluating our charity by the rewards we receive through service, rather than the benefits received by the served.”  He notes that “Giving to people in need what they could be gaining from their own initiative may well be the kindest way to destroy people.”

Lupton urges those who do volunteer service work to take the “Oath for Compassionate Service” much as the medical community has adopted the Hippocratic Oath. Lupton’s Oath offers six key guidelines:
(1) Never do for the poor what they can do for themselves;
(2) Limit one-way giving to emergencies;
(3) Empower the poor through employment, lending, and investing, using grants sparingly to reinforce achievements;
(4) Subordinate self-interest to the needs of those being served;
(5) Listen closely to those you seek to help, and in particular listen to what is NOT said be apparently felt; and
(6) Above all, do no harm.
Lupton argues that One-way charity has the following ever-descending life cycle:

• Give once and you elicit appreciation;
• Give twice and you create anticipation;
• Give three times and you create expectation;
• Give four times and it becomes entitlement;
• Give five times and you establish dependency.

Lupton highlights the excellent example of “Opportunity International” (see http://opportunity.org) in creating micro lending programs that truly help the poor.  Lupton shows the benefits of turning programs of food giveaways into empowerment opportunities by creating locally managed and staffed food banks vs. food give aways by rich outsiders.  Similarly, Lupton argues that free clothing give-away programs that foster dependency and reduce self-respect can become transformed into entrepreneurial thrift stores that better benefit the community by creating a culture of empowerment, while still allowing people to donate to the cause.

We all know the adage “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.  But as Lupton points out: what happens when the fish disappear from the lake due to pollution or overfishing? Then it’s time for a change of strategy. Teaching a man to fish is an individual matter; but gaining control of the lake is a community issue. That’s why we call it “community development” and not human services.  True community development work requires expertise and a long-term commitment and cannot be led by short-term volunteers.

Lupton suggests that calling short-term mission trips “insight trips” rather than service trips.  Lupton demonstrates that, in his experience, you need at least six months of being a listening, supportive neighbor before you should attempt to initiate any new activity in a place. Actively seek to learn about your community before assuming that you know what they need. Position of learner vs. initiator.

Lupton’s Principles of Community Development (to measure the effectiveness of community development service projects):
1. Focus on community
• Interdependent by design (economically, socially, spiritually).
• Community is defined both as place (neighborhood or village) and human relationships (networks or cooperatives).
2. Focus on assets and not the countless number of needs.
3. Focus on “front-burner” issues that are important to the community (and you must listen to find out).
4. Focus on investing
• When/if possible, invest with the poor to grow local assets and create wealth-generating opportunities.
• Grants should be in the form of incentives rather than charitable gifts.
5. Focus on leadership development
• Supporting local leadership builds capacity.
6. Focus on pace—don’t get ahead of the people since locals must remain in charge.