Teach a Man to Fish and Teach Congress to Care
NGOs confront the challenge of promoting foreign assistance spending to a Congress faced with unprecedented economic pressures. Without a domestic constituency, the conventional wisdom says that aid funding would be easy to cut. However, as the speakers during the workshop, “Why Does America Provide Foreign Assistance? Effectively Selling Humanitarian and Development Programs Without Selling Out” explained, the American public is supportive of the work done by international NGOs and they are prepared to support it with both their private dollars and public funds.
David Winston, polling expert from the Winston Group, said that the most powerful motivation for the public was that foreign assistance was the “right thing to do.” Many in his politically-diverse focus groups used the example of the old adage that teaching a man to fish was the right way to provide help. This motivation stands in stark contrast to the most compelling arguments for Members of Congress and their staff, who are more focused on security and economic benefits associated with aid.
Tod Preston of USGLC said that the national security frame has been compelling post 9-11, but that economic arguments are increasingly effective. He said we needed to confront our community’s reticence to talk about how aid matters to the U.S.
Adam Taylor of World Vision quoted the bible, saying we need “to be wise as serpents, as innocent as doves” in combining both a clear-eyed assessment of what works in the political environment with what motivates NGO workers and their donors.
All the panelists felt that the best way to inspire new champions in Congress is to tell compelling stories about addressing real problems and to get the beltway crowd out into the field to see development projects first hand.
Contributed by Jean Brodeur
Photo credit: Stephen Elliot
