Daily Times

Charity as a social practice is intensely entrenched in the culture of Pakistan. People dedicate a specific amount for the welfare of the local community to support different types of education-related activities, orphanage houses, old age houses, hospitals, religious institutions, welfare organizations and individuals.

Most of the charity donor organizations don’t have organizational policy of allocating a standard portion of profits for social welfare and they provide direct cash or in-kind support to individuals than to charitable organizations. Generosity is a noble deed however, this generosity instinct needs to target more impact-oriented philanthropy. Civil society organizations need to expand their fundraising networks among the general public, and efforts should also be made to aware people that giving to organizations has a greater impact than giving to individuals.

Giving charity is noble act but the donors must know who the beneficiaries are if their charity makes financial support directly to individuals or groups because charities often work with agents, allies, contractors and others therefore make sure that that your charity’s money and resources are going towards.

If your charity is providing significant funds to, another organizations, check their governing documents and ensure that these documents clearly set out their mandate, and governance and accountability arrangements

There is need to sensitize public to promote safe charity at street level because large number of people donate money to needy and organized groups operating in the streets.

In 2017, the National Counter Terrorism Authority familiarized a model of safe charity regulations and guidelines, and recommended the provinces to legislate accordingly. There have been some good efforts by the government to promote safe charity, after an immense efforts Punjab came up with the Punjab Charities Act 2018, which is meant to regulate and register charities and prevent misuse of funds. The law aims to “make effective provisions for the registration, management and regulation of charities, fund-raising appeals and gathering of charitable funds for charities and other organizations.”

The private sector needs to contribute towards societal development to build resilient communities against the activities which affect peace of the society. The private sector must invest in peace building processes and conflict transformation to win hearts and minds of the communities.

The prime tenacity of controlling charitable giving is to prevent donated funds from being diverted to outlawed organizations. Despite the semblance of positive intentions, charities and non-profit organizations face a high risk of being exploited by criminal and outlawed organizations as means for veiling their fundraising efforts through apparently authentic fronts.

It is the responsibility of each individual and charity organizations to ensure that recipients of any donations are legally licensed before providing money. By exerting such restrictions on fundraising enterprises the government can provide a greater level of protection to the donations given by the donors, ensuring that they are put to good use rather than falling into the hands of criminal elements.

Businesses can practice social responsibility by donating products, services or money to social causes. Larger companies have the potential to have a lot of resources that can benefit charities and local community programs. It would be best to consult with these organizations about their specific needs before donating to make sure that the charity is spent for the welfare of the community.

If your charity is providing significant funds to, another organizations, check their governing documents and ensure that these documents clearly set out their mandate, and governance and accountability arrangements. It is also important to ask about the organization’s internal management and financial control systems.

The private sector must formulate a detailed standard operating procedures policy for regulating their donation (in cash as well as in kind) activities with the purpose is to check illegal fund raising for illegal and criminal activities. The charity organizations should conduct a reasonable search of publicly available information to determine whether its charity is suspected of activities that prompts threat to peace of the society and if it threatens peace than the charity organization should monitor their performance, not just using statistics, but with supporting information, such as qualitative reports. This will help them to understand common themes, identify risks and gaps to ensure addressing these issues.

The writer works with Sustainable Development Policy Institute Islamabad and the article reflects his personal perspective