Would you want Blair's gift?
Howard Lake | 16 August 2010 | Blogs
It’s the talk of the steamie, as they say up here. With everyone trying to discern the motives behind Blair’s gesture.
And it’s a pretty big one: Tony Blair has agreed to donate all of the £4.6million advance payment made for his forthcoming memoirs AND all the royalties from subsequent sales. Iain Martin, Depute Editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe, had done a pretty good job outlining the possible motivations and responses to the news.
But consider this: if it was a totally altruistic move, why has it been announced with such fanfare BEFORE the book has been launched? If the donation was just about the philanthropic gesture, then he could have made it and not have told anyone, other than the Royal British Legion. After the book had been launched and sold. There is definitely a whiff of trying to whip up sales about it.
And it does raise questions about the ethical nature of fundraising. Is it appropriate for a charity committed to supporting the casualties of war and conflict and rehabilitating them to take money from someone who has had a big hand in creating the conditions for which your charity exists? It’s not about whether you agree with the decision to go to war in Iraq or Afghanistan or not, but about whether or not you take money from people who cause the problem you are there to address.
Determining a hard and fast ethical policy is a tough one and taken to its fullest extreme, might mean that some charities wouldn’t accept money from anyone. Some charities wrestle with it admirably and come up with at least a few guidelines. Others take the attitude of it not mattering where the money comes from, it’s where it goes to that counts.
I’ve worked with a disability charity in the past and know that our policy was not to accept money raised from sources that caused disability. Like war. But I also know in the current economic climate, we would all have been writhing with discomfort at the prospect of refusing such a huge donation. That could do so much good. Nope not an easy decision to make at all.
And it also puts the Royal British Legion at the heart of the media storm. No doubt they will have given careful thought to the implications of the announcement and prepared accordingly.
But is all publicity good publicity? Does being associated with a controversial decision made by a controversial figure that re-opens the political faultlines on controversial government decisions create longer term issues for a charity? How many people, including families of deceased or injured service personnel, might reconsider their support for the charity in the coming months?
Or perhaps the adage “tomorrow’s chip papers” applies and by the time the Poppy appeal comes around, everyone will have forgotten all about it. Of course, they might not. And might decide what with money being tight and all, that Blair’s largesse excuses the rest of us from having to give this year.
One final thought. Blair was the Prime Minister of the UK, yet the Royal British Legion operates separately from its Scottish counterpart, Poppyscotland. Will they be getting a share? Indeed, do they want it?
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.