Why donate to charity. Tatyana Konstantinova: I don't do charity work. How to make charity work a good tradition for every person

Recently, charity has become fashionable. Why do certain people do this? Is charity good or bad? And how do psychologists explain craving for it?

Text: Lyubov Astafieva

The essence of charity

If you decompose the word "Charity" into its component parts, then you do not need to go into the dictionary. To do good, good, and, moreover, disinterestedly, without expecting that you will be “rewarded” for this, or in this way you will atone for your sins. Giving away something unnecessary, spoiled, or giving it away because your company will have taxes reduced for it is not exactly charity. As well as help for the sake of "PR", to post a photo describing your good deeds on Instagram or Facebook. Real charity is quiet and sincere, it is always done with a pure heart and without regard to what you are "owed" for it.

Another thing is that in today's world of crazy speeds, careers and loans, we often do not have enough time to take care of even our loved ones, not to mention outsiders. Yes, and with money there is often a “tension”. But after all, charity can be of various kinds, and often it is not necessarily money. Donate some blood to a person in an accident, give some of your dresses to a girl from a very poor family, nestle street kittens in good hands All this is also charity. Yes, even talking on the street with a grandmother who has no one to talk to is also good, good. In a word, charity can be not only economic, but also moral and physical. Remember, when we grew up and were pioneers, there was such a movement "Timurovtsy"? Now it is called a different, more fashionable word "volunteers", but the essence is the same. Go to the grocery store for a sick old woman, visit the children in the Orphanage, fix something, paint, give a baby carriage to the needy large family- any of us is capable of all this, if there is a desire.

Why are we doing this?

Despite the fact that the essence of charity has spiritual roots, such as compassion and generosity, there is also a psychological explanation for this phenomenon. A person who feels the need to help another may be guided by the following urges:

- "Helping others, I drown out my pain". Most often, this is guided by people who themselves have gone through some kind of difficulties in the past (from psychological to material: the death of a loved one, poverty, illness, war). Helping people in the same desperate situation, they relieve their own pain, save themselves. This is a kind of compensation.

- "Helping others, I hide my own problems". This is most often done by perfectionists who need everything in their life to be perfect. By helping, they feel stronger, more whole, more ideal, thus closing their own "holes" in life. There is another reason: “in order to understand that everything is in order with you, you need to communicate with those who have real problems.”

- “Helping others makes me feel like a benefactor”. This complex of a "small" unloved and underestimated person is familiar to many of us - just look at our politicians, who are now completely engaged in charity. In fact, in this way they assert themselves, increasing their self-esteem and gaining a share of significance. And let, at least some benefit.

- "I help others because it's fashionable". But as soon as this fashion passes, a person will immediately stop doing charity work. Or, for example, someone's idol, a star does charity work, and a person tries to imitate him.

- "I help because it's profitable". In some countries, large companies that donate money to charities or public organizations and foundations are partially tax exempt.

- "I'm helping because that's how it's supposed to be done". Most often, religious people “sin” with this, who are driven into their heads during sermons that this is the only way they can become righteous and get themselves a place in paradise.

This list does not include the ideal reason for charity - pure altruism, the desire to help selflessly. This reason, from the point of view of psychologists, is the least common. But that is exactly what charity is.

By the way, scientists have proven that altruism and helping others help us cope better with stress, as well as feel much happier. They conducted a study proving that the more good deeds the participants did, the more positive emotions they experienced! Charity helps many to fight social phobia and depression. Therefore, if you want to make your life happier and brighter, help others. Sincere and disinterested.

Nowadays, in society, charity is becoming an important unit of the interchange of material accumulations and spiritual wealth between those in need and those who have. In order to find out what people involved in charity are called, it is important for us to understand what motives this phenomenon comes from and how it manifests itself in society.

Why do people give to charity

What pushes a person to such a high cause as charity? Why do some people do charity work and others don't? Psychologists have identified some factors that motivate a person to help others.

Saving others instead of yourself. Having experienced traumatic events in childhood, such as war, famine, violence, orphanhood, a person forever remembers this event as some kind of inner pain. Saving other people in similar situations helps him imagine that he is free of that pain for a while and provides temporary relief. So do people who "made themselves", "got out of the mud" and, having become famous, they provide support to those who need it, as they needed before.

Help others to hide the fact that I need help. This is the motive of "strong" people who do not allow themselves to be weak.

Rise above others. Charity gives these people the opportunity to feel like a patron, significant, important in the eyes of others. It comes from an attempt to find in the adult world that love that was not received in childhood.

Tribute to fashion and imitation. A person can do charity work, because it has developed in society or because his idol does it. Most of the time this help is superficial.

Feeling guilty about your worth.

Speaking of external reasons, they can be such as the desire to receive tax benefits, the ability to expand their social capital, making their contribution to the development of society.

People doing charity work in Russia

The vast majority of people involved in charity work in Russia are big businessmen and show business stars.

Lev Ambinder founded the Russian Aid Fund, which provided assistance to sick children the total amount more than 40 million dollars for 14 years of existence.

The fund of the same name of the Russian entrepreneur Vladimir Potanin has been operating since 1999. The fund's annual payments reach up to 300 million rubles. Target programs, grants and internships abroad stimulate the development and support of education and culture in Russia.

The well-known fund "Give them life!" was founded by actresses Chulpan Khamatova and Dina Korzun. Working since 2006, Charity organization provides support in the treatment of seriously ill children, mainly in the field of hematology and oncology. By organizing extensive activities to draw attention to the problems of sick children and collect the necessary funds, the actresses collect several hundred million rubles a year for treatment.

Maria Sharapova is a UN Goodwill Ambassador and is responsible for AIDS programs. In addition, Maria organized her own fund to help children affected by the explosion. Chernobyl nuclear power plant, since the tennis player herself comes from these places.

Ordinary Russians also make their contribution to the development of charity. According to a study by Dobro Mail.Ru and VTsIOM, the majority of Russian Internet users (76%) have ever been involved in charity work.

True, the percentage of donations most often amounts to no more than 3% of monthly earnings.

Forms of charitable activity

Charity can be expressed in many ways and not always these ways require monetary contributions. Each person can choose for himself an activity to his liking, if he is determined to help those in need.

Selfless transfer of knowledge and skills that will help you adapt to the present environment, learning new skills to get the opportunity to improve your existence.

Provision of food, clothing, medicines, basic necessities.

Rendering social assistance vulnerable segments of the population (minors, the elderly, the disabled).

Free provision of services, performance of work, possibly of a legal nature. The so-called "pro bono" activity.

And other ways to support.

What is the difference between a patron and a philanthropist

Philanthropy in literal translation from Greek means love for people. So if you take this term literally, then a philanthropist is loving people. Often this term is perceived as "a person involved in charity." Most often this is true, a philanthropist helps those in need, often providing not only material support, but also direct physical or mental assistance. The most famous philanthropist can be called Mother Teresa. She devoted her whole life to serving humanity, helping the sick, the poor, the orphans and the needy.

Patronage - patronage of science and art. The philanthropist provides assistance not to specific people, but to all of humanity as a whole, sponsoring the development of culture or art. This option of assistance can also be attributed to charity, since this is done, as a rule, free of charge.

Video about people doing charity work

The top world ranking includes only six countries from the "big twenty", usually the leading positions are occupied by third world countries, - says Alexander Babkina, head of the Dobro Mail.Ru project. - In Sierra Leone, one of the world's poorest countries, 81 percent of those surveyed say they regularly help strangers. In Russia, many times less - 30 percent.

Charity - difficult process, which is influenced by many factors that international ratings are not always taken into account. For example, the level of poverty, conflicts on the territory of the state, natural disasters or religious traditions.

In Russia, according to the expert, charity has already reached new level. Only on the Dobro Mail.Ru service, the volume of donations in 2016 increased by 200 percent compared to 2015. But the leap forward, which funds and volunteers are waiting for, has not happened yet.

Until now, many have not understood that charity is not only donations. But both blood donors and volunteers who entertain sick children in hospitals, renovate nursing homes, chip in for nurses or take expensive medicines to another city.

Intellectual volunteering is actively developing, when lawyers, designers, accountants, journalists provide NGOs professional services pro bono (translated from Latin for the sake of the public good. - Approx. ed.), - says Alexandra Babkina. - Some companies pay employees for the time they spend working for the benefit of the non-profit sector.

People are more willing to support environmental projects than transfer money to a seriously ill adult

But when it comes to buying expensive drugs or special equipment, building shelters or paying for rehabilitation courses, the only thing that can help is donations. The problem is that 50 percent of Russians, according to VTsIOM, refuse to help because they do not trust those who collect money. Serious funds rely on openness, publish all reports, actively communicate with the media and in social networks. But first they must double-check their potential wards.

90 percent of our wards are patients of leading federal centers who come to Moscow for treatment from all over Russia, says Irina Bakradze, Managing Director of the Sunflower Charitable Foundation for Helping Children and Adults with Immunity Disorders. - We will definitely meet with them personally, check the documents, communicate with the doctor, and only after that we sign a cooperation agreement with the recipient of assistance. It states that charitable assistance is not a substitute for state aid.

This means that at first people go and receive all the benefits they are entitled to at their place of residence. And the fundraiser is opened only if the patient does not have a legal way to receive the necessary assistance from the state. The Sunflower Foundation also closely monitors the assistance that their wards can receive, for example, in other funds.

This is important for reporting. Monthly detailed reports are a guarantee of our transparency and a guarantee of the trust of philanthropists, Bakradze explained.

But the NPO's efforts are thwarted by scammers. They have learned how to forge reports and medical documents, create duplicate websites of respected foundations and arrange charity events on the street, offering to buy a bracelet for a symbolic 100 rubles.

Honest foundations and animal shelters never collect money on the street, and people who ask for "a ticket home" or "treatment" in the passages and subway cars are the victims of a terrible system in which they themselves have practically no rights, explains Alexandra Babkina.

But there is another problem - the Russians are more willing to support environmental project than transfer money to a seriously ill adult. In 2015, everyone was shocked by the FOM data: only one percent of Russians, given a choice, are ready to help adults.

If you offhand remember at least three funds that help adults, you are already a great fellow, - says Victoria Agadzhanova, director of the Zhivoi Adult Assistance Fund.

There are still very few foundations dealing with the problems of treatment and rehabilitation of adults in our country. People from all over the country, from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka, apply to the Zhivoi Foundation.

Attracting donations to pay for the treatment of adults is much more difficult than seeking funds for the treatment of children, Agadzhanova continues. - Children are the future, it is touching and defenseless, and adults ... And what about adults? You must save yourself.

According to the expert, this fundamentally erroneous philosophy leads to the fact that we help everyone around, but not ourselves and people like us. But it depends on the health of an adult whether his elderly parents will be well-groomed and cared for in old age, and his young children will be fed and clothed. Society needs to understand that when an adult falls ill, the whole family suffers.

Charity in numbers

• 10 percent of Russians say they help someone regularly.
• 77 percent of Russians want to know where their money goes.
• 66 percent of Russians believe in the honesty of funds.
• 41 percent of Russians in a difficult situation rely on the help of relatives,
• 22 - to help friends.

Lydia Moniava, manager of the children's program at the Vera Hospice Assistance Fund: "Something joyful happens all the time"

“I became a volunteer at the age of 16. There was such a project in RCCH*: volunteers walked around the hospital together with children and took photos. My friend and I decided to participate, and I really enjoyed talking with the guys, they seemed to me much deeper and more talented than ordinary peers. Probably because, unlike healthy children, who can do a variety of things (go to school to study, walk in the yard), they have a rather small range of activities - they can draw, write, compose ... As a result, they devote a lot of time to creative things, and that's why they're doing great. And although they do not feel well at the same time, I came to them not because I felt sorry for them, but because I was interested in them.

One day I decided to go to work in the Gift of Life Foundation. I hoped that then I would have the opportunity to spend even more time in the hospital. But it turned out the opposite - as soon as a person comes to work for a charity, he does not see children at all, he sits with papers, reports, a computer, collects money ... On the other hand, I understand that families with sick children have so many needs that in the first place you need to help them with this. I write about some of our needs on Facebook. I always try to write from myself personally. And so as not to offend anyone: neither the mother of the child, nor the father, nor doctors, nor friends. Nine years ago I did the same thing, but on LiveJournal. At first, she simply told stories about what I had in the hospital, and when there were a lot of subscribers and they began to offer help, I realized that I could ask her.

If we collect money, we will never tell scandalous stories about, for example, how a father left the family and does not help, or how a doctor in a hospital scolded someone ... This is parallel information, it does not help anything. We do not publish photos of sick and unhappy children, on the contrary, we post photos that parents like. We do not write what is unpleasant for the family, what does not make sense to make public ... We just say that we need a ventilator. We explain: if he is not there, the child's life will turn into hell, because he will remain forever alone in intensive care. If we collect the money, he will have a normal human life, a normal childhood...

Why is it possible to collect such amounts? Because we are friends with the families we help, we love them. If a person does something very important for very important people for himself, everything works out. It is important not to work formally - then everything is found. The problem is that we have 170 wards. They all need something, but you can't post 170 requests a day on Facebook. We are very grateful that people in general help the fund, transfer money, then we can cover other needs.

I have enough strength, because when you communicate with people, they talk not only about horror and grief. Life consists of pleasant little things, for example, the nanny showed live butterflies to one boy, the temperature of another decreased, and he felt better, the teacher came to the girl for the first time, and now she can study ... Something joyful happens all the time. As a result, it turns out that we have much more good than bad.”

Varvara Turova, actress, social activist: "No one is obliged to help anyone"

“It’s interesting to me, because every person is interested in doing what he can do. If I see that, thanks to my actions, a person is alive, but could be dead, or a person is free, but could be in prison, it turns me on incredibly. But there is a deceit in this, fate deceives us, because after the first success it seems that it will always be like this, and it will be like that once out of ten. A lot of things don't work out. But what happens, brings such satisfaction that I want to continue.

Not in Russian good word in order to determine my status. No matter how we say “social activist” or “human rights defender”, it still turns out to be a Komsomol worker, a pioneer. And this immediately leads to another meaning, which is read by many when I write about something, for example, on Facebook - ardor. And in the most unfavorable sense, something like idiocy, and I would not like to think that I make such an impression. In fact, I am a rather pragmatic person, as a rule, in my actions there is always specific meaning and purpose. And if, relatively speaking, I stand on a stool and start screaming very loudly, I do it on purpose, knowing full well why. For example, I understand that I need to write in such a way as to attract as much attention as possible. Or I need to get the attention of specific people. Then I need to make a big fuss so that they get it too. And it works.

I can't say that it's hard for me to do this. That is why I feel embarrassed when they begin to praise me. It all started by accident. In my opinion, it was inconvenient or embarrassing for me to refuse ... And then, when it turned out, I was hooked. Now a lot of people write to me. And this is my biggest problem. Because desperate people turn to me, including those who have sick children, and I can’t imagine anything worse. And they literally write the following: "There is only one hope for you." There are many, many such people, I receive 20 letters a day ... There is a big risk of saying: “I can’t help everyone ...” The main thing here is intonation. In no case should you pronounce these words, rolling (from fatigue) eyes. I hope that I am catching this process in myself, because it is terribly important not to lose the ability to hear people. I really can’t help everyone, but sometimes it helps if I just answer them, honestly say that I don’t know how and what to write to them, how to refuse ... But it becomes easier for them simply because they are not indifferent to them. Many do not need money, but support, because they feel alone and lost. Giving support to me is much more difficult than writing a post on Facebook so that people start transferring money. Everything is simple: you need to talk about it regularly and loudly. And without aggression: no one is obliged to help anyone. This is a very important thing. Once you forget about it, people stop responding.”

Tatyana Krasnova, lecturer at the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, coordinator of the Envelope for God community**, co-founder of the Galchonok Foundation: "It's a strong drug"

“Most things I do for my own pleasure. I really like being a decent person, and I like myself when I manage to behave decently. And this means - do not offend, do not get angry, help, improve, correct. I am convinced that this is a strong "drug" - a feeling of satisfaction from one's own behavior. And it is not unique to me alone. Children are often brought to our charity meetings. I will tell you an amazing story. Once a boy of about five came to us. His mother brought money for the treatment of the same five-year-old boy, but a cancer patient, a Tajik from a poor village. And her son brought his best car as a gift to this unknown boy. New. Packaged. He felt sorry for the car, but his mother told him about the sick boy, and he decided. Brought. Gave the most expensive - almost crying. If only you knew how we praised him! We told him that he had done something incredibly important. And he was happy. Moreover, he wanted to repeat this amazing feat. He comes to us with his beautiful mother. He draws pictures for our wards. I think his mother is raising a great son who knows well what real joy is. In fact, everything is done for her sake. ”