Something I think about often is why people decide that they want to be involved in international issues.  What makes people get out their cheque book or attend a fundraising event?  And then the next question becomes what does this input from the average person do within development.  It seems to me that both questions are linked, with the why we give really affecting the impact of what we give.  For example, if we give a present, we hope that it’s something the recipient will love.  On the other hand, if we are making an investment, we want to be pretty sure that there will be a return.

I just learned about Beyond Good Intentions, a blog about what works in international aid.  Before even getting to the content, I was caught by the name.  There seems to be a huge emphasis on ‘aid effectiveness’ when it comes to governments giving grants to other governments.  But what about when individuals give?  If charity is passe for bilateral and multilateral donors (like Canada, or the World Bank), why isn’t it passe for individuals?  How do we think about our own individual ‘aid effectiveness’?