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Voluntary

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Charity is a thing that people do from the heart. A person sees a given situation in which another person is experiencing and is moved emotionally by thats persons situation and reacts by giving to help that person. This means that the core of charity should always remain voluntary and should never be compelled.

The first question I would ask the person compelling another to be charitable is, on what authority will they be compelling the charitable event? None of us have the moral authority to force others to be charitable and thus we can only encourage them. We can do this through persuasion, giving tax rebates and most importantly through example. Another very powerful way of encouraging charitable action from the public is be highlighting the needs of other in a manner that moves the heart. A person who finds himself always being presented with other peoples needs will likely react positively towards charity than one who is not.

A person's religious beliefs and upbringing can also have a huge impact on their attitudes towards charity. Parents, schools and religious institutions can be used as tools to instill a charitable character in their members by organising charitable events in which their members can voluntarily participate in. They can then persuade their members participate in the events. In doing so, the general public will learn to be charitable from an early age and thus be more responsive in the future to charity.

The government can also encourage charity by giving tax incentives towards those who are involved in charity work. They can for example give tax exemptions to companies that donate to charity institutions, give a tax exemption to employers who allow their employees to participate in charity events amongst other things. I so doing, people will be encouraged to participate in charity work and thus address the needs of others.

The media then can place it's focus by highlighting the issues. In Kenya we saw the media playing an active role in highlighting the problems faced by the people who were internally displaced after the post election violence that rocked the country after the december disputed poll. what happened was the press together with the banks and other institutions mobilized their resources in order to support the internally displaced persons (I.D.Ps) with the banks opening special accounts for the public to deposit funds into and the media houses becoming collection points for food stuffs, clothes and other material effects. In that way, they made it easy for people to voluntarily give and support the I.D.Ps

I to believe that charity work should always remain voluntary so that the people can be free to select the institutions and people that they will assist, the way in which they will assist the person or the institution, and to what extent. By allowing that freedom, the person will have a deeper concern for the institution or individual that theyt chose to support and therefore are likely to direct their support longer periods of time, building a long lasting relationship. They are also likely to feel more rewarded for their genuine and 'out of the heart' support unlike in a case where they are compelled to participate in the charitable event. They are also likely to be less critical of the charitble institution or of the person they support and thus reduce the level of stress in the whole activity and have a greater impact.

Learn more about this author, Magu Nguru.
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