I recently had the opportunity to hear Bob Lupton, author of Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It), speak at the co-lab conference in Chicago. I was especially struck by his take on the receivers’ response when we offer charity: · Give once and you elicit...
Why We Need to Listen to the Poor: HOPE’s Untold Story
HOPE’s mission is to invest in the dreams of the poor. But it wasn’t always that way. Before HOPE’s founding, we overlooked the simplest part of providing a service—asking our customers what they wanted. “No More Handouts” HOPE was founded out of unsuccessful charity. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, people in Ukraine...
Aid is not the Answer
While traveling in Africa, I often had people calling out to me, “Hey mister, one dollar, one dollar.” A common scenario, it’s still disturbing to me. Much has been written about this basic phenomenon, but I see it every time I travel internationally: charity never enables individuals to flourish. This isn’t new information. Yet...