Muhammad Babangida | Philanthropy

Muhammad Babangida is a committed philanthropist from Nigeria

Author: Muhammad Babangida Page 14 of 16

How Community Engagement Can Restore Trust in the Government

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On June 23, 2018

In Community Engagement, Muhammad Babangida

Trust in government is an essential element in any democracy. Unfortunately for the United States, it’s currently running on a near-empty tank, as the gap between parties widens further with every passing day. While this is disheartening, the gap is not unbridgeable; simple human interaction can work wonders for combating this divisiveness.

When it comes to restoring trust in the government, why is community engagement important? Essentially, because it’s easier to trust in a system when one is actively engaged in fostering its growth and working alongside others who share a common purpose. This is what democracy is supposed to be about, but the political divide has made it difficult to move forward, with one side shouting for one thing while being drowned out by the other. Working together on a small scale will make even the largest problems seem less insurmountable.

The International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) has created a template known as the Spectrum of Public Participation—a useful tool in breaking down the techniques of community participation along with a spectrum of public control. In essence, there are four different types of community effort: On the lower end, we have Inform, defined as reaching out to people and educating them on the issues; and consult, which is gathering feedback from said individuals and using it to move forward. As these two require effort mainly on the part of the community organizers, they’re satisfying when it comes to feelings of accomplishment, but limited in terms of control over the outcome.

On the higher end of the spectrum, there’s Collaborate, which partners the volunteers with the public moving forward; and Empower, which places the decisions solely in the hands of the public. These two don’t see much action in the community organizing process, because certain decisions are left up to elected officials. Still, those officials wouldn’t have been elected in the first place if it weren’t for the people working on both ends of the spectrum.

This is an important thing to remember when becoming involved in politics on any scale. It’s easy to become frustrated with the government, to imagine that the ones in power aren’t working in the interests of the public. In truth, however, this is a democracy; the public is the government.

How to be a Philanthropist Without Money

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On June 16, 2018

In Muhammad Babangida, Philanthropy

We often hear about the good that philanthropy can do for the donor, as well as for the recipients. The benefits of giving are numerous, regardless of the charity, but the media seems to focus on the charitable acts on the wealthy and the major corporations. Yet, one doesn’t have to be wealthy to be a good philanthropist. You only need to have the will to help and an open heart.

In fact, the concept of philanthropy without giving money was explored as early as 1940 by Corinne Updegraff Wells. In the article she penned for The Rotarian, Ms. Wells reveals that gift of philanthropy doesn’t always concern donating money. To prove her point, she shared the story of her neighbor who received the gift of “48 Tuesday afternoons” from a Mrs. B.

The gift of Tuesday afternoons was available any week, except in August, as Mrs. B was on a vacation of her own at that time. Otherwise, the lady took the place of Mrs. Wells’ neighbor, who was a mother of three and lived a hectic life as a stay at home mom. For each Tuesday, Mrs. B would babysit the children and take on all of the mother’s duties, so she could have those few short hours to herself.

While this story is quite dated, even today’s parents can recognize the value of a trustworthy babysitter. The gift cost Mrs. B nothing more than a few hours of her time, but, to that overworked mother, the gift was a tremendous gesture that offered her something that she might not have otherwise experienced.

Gifts of philanthropy can be of any nature. Even if you don’t have a penny to your name, there is certainly something you can give to another. A smile, some common courtesy, a little household help, or even a genuine interest in someone’s day can be enough to change a life. If you have a talent for music, writing, or art, those gifts can do more for one person than any gift of money.

Being a good philanthropist doesn’t always involve giving money or donating property. Instead, you can simply spend a little time each day helping out your neighbors or visiting with elderly individuals who may have no one else. Taking 20 minutes just to run to the grocery store for your neighbor may mean ensuring he’ll have food for the week. With a big heart and a willingness to help, you don’t need money to make a difference.

What Does it Mean to be a Philanthropist

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On June 8, 2018

In Muhammad Babangida, Philanthropy

In the past, philanthropy once solely focused on one’s empathy and desire to help others in society. Over time, that love for humanity has taken on a broader, more generalized theme, as people have donated resources to support the arts, new businesses, scientific research, and even government and political organizations.

A philanthropist is often one who is wealthy and one who has great resources to donate. He or she usually donates large sums of money to causes that mean something to them. In most cases, philanthropists will work through an organization to ensure their donations do reach the intended recipients. They may work alongside schools, art councils, private businesses, charity organizations, the media, or healthcare organizations. The desire to do good in this way can be prompted by any number of reasons, including a lack of meaning or morality in the philanthropist’s life.

Philanthropy Throughout History

When the Holy Roman Empire fell, so did the passion for philanthropy that the civilization had embraced. Those charitable endeavors were all but forgotten until the Italian Renaissance of the mid-15th century reignited an interest in humanism. Moral philosophy and ethics were especially important to the people of the day, influencing community leaders in the legal profession, business entrepreneurs, and in government.

Later, the Europe of the 16th and 17th centuries embraced more traditional themes of philanthropy. This was especially popular among the Scottish people, who felt the “key to happiness” lay in acts of philanthropy. Additionally, themes of self-development and living in harmony with the world around us become common endeavors.

By the time philanthropy became popular in the United States, during the 1800s, there was a mixed consensus about the practice. Some touted the good works of philanthropists, while others criticized them as “do-gooders” and cast a suspicious eye towards their acts. By the 20th century, however, private organizations helped to give philanthropists a better image and gave them better ways of distributing their donations. This helped philanthropy enter the mainstream, so, over the years, it has attracted donors from all walks of life. Today, business owners and entrepreneurs are encouraged to donate and, in some circles, it’s even expected of the more successful businesses.

Over the years, philanthropists have become as renowned as the celebrities of film, television, and modeling. From Dale Carnegie and Lance Armstrong to Bill and Melinda Gates, philanthropists are celebrated for their generosity and willingness to help build a better society. Through their acts of philanthropy, the wealthy and fortunate are helping to build a better society.

6 Steps to Creating Successful Community Engagement

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On June 1, 2018

In Community Engagement, Muhammad Babangida

When looking to foster stronger connections within your community you’ve got to figure out how to create successful community engagement. It takes time, dedication, and consistency in order to do this and we’ve put together a list of 6 ways you can work towards creating more engagement within your community that will last.

Become familiar with the demographics

Familiarizing yourself with the demographics that are present in your community can help you refine your approach. No one needs to be targeted or excluded but becoming aware of the majority can give you a good place to start in building communal ties.

Encourage discussions to create relationships

One of the best ways to engage your community is by literally talking to them. Putting yourself out there and establishing a connection with others is a way for you to make them feel like they are a valuable part of the community and their presence and opinions are wanted.

Participate and host local events

Attend as well as host local events. By supporting other community efforts you will have more of an open floor to tell others about yours. This also makes room for potential collaborative efforts to create a bigger impact on the community.

Be a partner for your community

Become aware of the issues your community is facing and reach out to help them. Make them aware of the fact that their concerns mean something to you and get together to talk about addressing them.

Become aware of other community leaders

If you can build relationships with other community leaders you can promote each other’s efforts and even work together on particular projects. They also may have more exposure to the community than you do, and this can help to get your message out there and find those who it resonates with.

Start with your neighborhood

Do you know who your neighbors are and do they know you? Invite your neighbors over for potlucks, movie nights, or gatherings that talk about more serious issues in the community. Once you start having regular interactions with your neighbors they will more than likely start inviting their friends and family, further expanding the community.

Follow the tips on this list and watch at how the engagement within your community improves!

Starting Small How Much the First Donation Matters

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On May 20, 2018

In Community Engagement, Muhammad Babangida, Philanthropy

Running a nonprofit charitable organization requires more than the ability to share your cause with others in hopes of a monetary contribution. Understanding how to appeal to potential donors while onboarding those who are loyal to the cause you represent is key to maintaining and growing a successful nonprofit organization. Learning just how much your organization’s first donation matters and how to expedite the process is a way to ensure you are on the right path with any type of charitable nonprofit you run.

The Snowball Effect

Obsessing over receiving your first donation as a nonprofit organization is not uncommon, especially when you are extremely eager to share the work you are doing for any cause you currently support. Achieving your first donation is not only desired psychologically, but it is also desirable to others who have an interest in donating to your cause but prefer organizations that already have live backers who have given their own contributions.

Understanding the “activation rate” with nonprofit organizations online is helpful to determine the best method of attracting new donors while raising financial contributions. Once your organization has received at least one donation from a patron, it is much more likely to go on to receive additional donations, even from first-time contributors. When users see that an organization has loyal followers and donors, they are more likely to make contributions themselves as they have gained trust by viewing the engagement of your campaign.

Learn more about how your first donation impacts the success of your fundraisers by keeping track of the number of pages you have created for your fundraiser, how many fundraisers received at least one donation, and the overall outcome of each individual fundraiser page. Keep track of how well various fundraisers pages perform both before and after you have received your first donation. Remaining aware of which type of fundraisers work best for your organization helps to launch future fundraising campaigns that are successful and attract loyal supporters and donors.

The more actively engaged you are with your users and potential donors during a fundraiser, the easier it becomes to pursue contributions and donations directly to your organization. When donors and supporters become familiar and trust your fundraisers (due to past donations), they are more likely to donate financially on their own in the future.

Questions to Ask in Order to Spot Your Most Dedicated Donors

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On May 7, 2018

In Community Engagement, Muhammad Babangida, Philanthropy

Asking donors about their feelings and loyalty regarding your nonprofit organization is one way to ensure you are always moving forward in the right direction. Whenever you are seeking feedback from your most dedicated donors, there are three simple questions to ask allowing your donors to share their feedback on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being “strongly disagree” to 10 being “strongly agree”).

“Name of Your Nonprofit” is My Favorite Charitable Nonprofit Organization

Learn more about your donors by asking whether or not your nonprofit organization is considered a “favorite”. If your organization is not considered a favorite by an overwhelming number of donors, consider why this may be and what type of marketing or campaign strategies may work to remedy the issue.

I Am Committed to “Name of Your Nonprofit Organization” and Support Its Cause

Commitment is an important factor to keep in mind when running a nonprofit organization. Many donations to large charitable organizations come from repeat donors and donors who have been loyal to the nonprofit throughout the years. Building a long-lasting relationship with donors is essential for growth and expansion as a nonprofit, which is why it is key to inquire about whether or not your donors currently feel total and complete commitment to helping your cause. Determine the underlying root cause if donors simply do not feel as committed to your nonprofit organization to make the necessary changes for improvement.

I Have a Sense of Loyalty With “Name of Your Nonprofit”

Loyalty is also imperative when building a nonprofit, especially when you are doing so on your own or from the ground up. Inquire about the loyalty your donors have to your organization and whether there is anything you can do to help increase and boost loyalty with your most dedicated contributors. The more questions you ask your dedicated donors, the more likely you are to receive funds in the future when meeting the needs of those who contribute the most.

The better you understand your donors and where they stand on supporting and sharing more information about your cause, the easier it is to connect and communicate with them on an individual level. Getting to know the wants and needs of your most dedicated donors is a way to truly build a working and successful plan for any nonprofit organization you run.

Steps to Becoming a Better Philanthropist

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On April 18, 2018

In Community Engagement, Muhammad Babangida, Philanthropy

A philanthropist is a charitable person who uses his or her time, money, and energy to improve the living standards of other individuals. The philanthropist does not expect to be rewarded. Philanthropists are concerned with helping the unfortunate in the society by giving them necessities. Successful philanthropists focus on improving lives on a long-term basis by empowering poor people with the right skills and resources. However, it is good to understand that philanthropy should be a systematic approach which should always impact lives and bring tangible differences in the world by eradicating poverty. Below are various steps for successful philanthropy.

Goal Setting

A good philanthropist should have a well-organized plan that entails mission, vision, and objectives the organization wants to achieve within a specified period. Philanthropy usually involves finding a solution to the problems that affect people in the society. An organization with a plan will be able to research on the cause of the problem and involve the right expertise in solving the issue, which will play a significant role in saving time and resources.

Develop a Perfect Strategy

After setting attainable goals, a good philanthropist will concentrate on how to achieve them as soon as possible. Setting goals and developing a plan are the fundamental pillars of building successful philanthropy. Philanthropy usually depends on finances, philanthropic advisers, and government regulations. A philanthropist should look for multiple sources of income, which will assist him or her in achieving the set goals.

Perform Research Extensively

A successful philanthropist utilizes most of their time researching about the needy organizations and individuals before giving out their resources. Additionally, research helps the philanthropist in identifying the needy organizations that are worth to invest his time and money. There have been cases of ghost charitable organizations who keep on seeking money from philanthropists and misusing it rather than helping the needy.

Focus on Infrastructure

Philanthropy is not all about giving money and food. Good philanthropist focuses on the underlying issues in the infrastructure and establishes a permanent solution to the problem. In many regions, people have no access to clean water, medical facilities, and means of transportation. A good philanthropist will build hospitals to enable the community to access proper medical care. This will be a permanent solution, and the region dwellers will keep on benefiting from the hospital for a long time.

Therefore, successful philanthropists focus on the above essential elements and maintain their reputation that lasts for decades. Conclusively, philanthropists should mobilize people to work hard to attain their goals. They should be good role models.

Why Even Small Non Profits Need to Adopt A Digital Presence

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On March 23, 2018

In Muhammad Babangida, Philanthropy

There are many small steps that charities can take in order to make an impact. You should embrace the digital world if you have a small charity. There are several ways that you can benefit from doing this.

Free Tools That You can Begin Using Today

Many small charities are daunted by the thought of having a digital persona. However, you do not have to a dramatic online transformation to make a difference. Many of the digital platforms and tools are free. Raise the Roof Kenya is an example of a small organization that is taking advantage of the digital world.

Byrony Partridge works is the communications director for the organization. He stated that digital marketing is one of the things that has made the organization a success. He also stated that integrating digital into your organization is not a necessity. Appear.in, Whatsapp and Basecamp are some of the digital platforms that the company has used.

Byrony is thankful for digital marketing. Because the company now uses digital platforms, the company is able to increase their funding. They also have more time to work on other projects and expand their organization.

Digital can Make Your Charity Stronger

GDPR laws are changing. Charities that are not prepared for these changes will be left behind. Fortunately, there are several online organizations that are available to help. A digital skills report showed that 50 percent of the charities surveyed did not have a digital strategy. Only 27 percent of them have implemented their digital strategies into another organization strategy.

You will have to be able to effectively communicate with your beneficiaries in order to serve them effectively. The digital world makes it easier to communicate with your beneficiary.

It is Fun and Social

Being a member of a charity can be lonely. There are many online communities where you can chat with other people who are a member of a charity. You can even chat with people about things that are not related to the charity. It only takes a few minutes for you to set up your social media, and you can instantly start connecting with other people.

Where You can Go to Get Help

You can use Reach in order to recruit trustees who can enhance your digital experience. Your trustees can also help you improve your digital skills. Technology is not going to wait from us. We can all benefit from it regardless of how small our organization is.

Ways Your Charity Can Use Facebook Live

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On March 12, 2018

In Muhammad Babangida, Philanthropy

If you are doing charity, then you should consider using Facebook live. You may be able to get more support for your charity if you use Facebook live. It is estimated that 80 percent of people would rather watch a video than read a blog. Facebook live videos get 10 times more comments than blog posts. Additionally, Facebook prefers live content over any other type of content.

Facebook live allows you to reach a live audience. Your friends can share the video with their friends, which allows you to get the message out more quickly. There are several ways that you can use Facebook live for your charity.

Behind the Scene Stream

You can show people exactly what they will be supporting by doing a live video. For example, you are raising money to help build a new retirement community. You can give people a behind-the-scenes look of what is already being done.

Explanatory Stream

You can make a live-stream where you sit down and explain exactly what you are trying to do. You can also provide information for people who need help with things like filling out forms.

Q & A Stream

Cancer Research UK was raising money in 2012 to support a 14-year-old girl who was suffering from a rare form of cancer. The girl was able to increase the funds raised by having a live Q & A. She answered questions that people had about her cancer.

Me TV Streams

You can tell a story about your cause. You can also talk about things that are not discussed in the mainstream media.

Event Streams

If you have events for your charity, then you can also live-stream them. The proceeds from the Mile Cheer Point at the London Marathon were used to support the Macmillan Cancer Support. The event was live-streamed.

Storyful Streams

Live-streaming should not be a one-time event. It is something that you should be doing over the course of a few weeks or months. For example, you can use your live-stream videos to update people on the progress that is being made thanks to their support and donations.

For example, you are raising money to support cancer research. You can do a live-stream of someone getting their cancer treatments. If you are raising money for a soup kitchen, then you can live-stream people getting their meals.

Cute Animals

Everyone loves animals, so you can get more support by having them in your videos.

Keep in mind that live-streaming is not for every situation. There are some videos that are best scripted and edited.

Using Big Data in Philanthropy

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On February 6, 2018

In Muhammad Babangida, Philanthropy

Big data in the philanthropic sector could be optimized to produce a host of positive impacts. Like any entity that requires fiscal and operational management, a philanthropic organization should be ideally guided by data-driven goals and objectives and supported by staff with the tech know-how. This ensures that big data are efficiently leveraged or used by the organization. Aside from this reason, there are several others that underscore the importance of big data in the philanthropic sector.

Analytical Tool

As an analytical tool, it helps philanthropy managers identify smart and doable goals. Non-profits, foundations, charities, social ventures are just some of the entities in the philanthropy sector. These organizations operate around a specific mission, from education, social enterprise, public health, among other social issues and causes.

Creating programs and services in support of the organization’s mission require data-driven facts. Nonprofit management, for example, cannot just claim to provide education and training for a specific stakeholder group without a data set to back-up the need. Every program and service starts with research and assessment, and this is where big data comes in.

Strategic Development Tool

Depending on the nonprofit cycle, at the end of a fiscal or calendar year, philanthropic groups often undergo an annual evaluation. The evaluation looks at different operational components, including financial management, programmatic accomplishments, among other aspects. Through big data, managers can report to the community, the nonprofit board, and other stakeholders, how far they have come in accomplishing their goals.

Nonprofit managers can collate the data sets to show whether they are fiscally robust during the previous year. They can also report how their programs were able to make a difference in the community. At the end of the fiscal year, these data sets can be used to strategize for the upcoming year, from fundraising to program development.

Conquering the Fear

While it could be integrated into aspects of nonprofit management, the challenge is to encourage organizations to embrace big data into their processes. The value of big data should be looked at based on several important factors. Aside from its analytical purpose, big data could also help the organization achieve their customer relationship management goals.

The philanthropy sector relies on public funding, grants, corporate giving, and donations to operate. They are entrusted with a responsibility to utilize the funds for the betterment of the community. With big data, these nonprofit organizations can use the information to strategically plan their programs and services.

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