Philanthropy in Pakistan: Moving Beyond Conditional Generosity

Article Source: Schuitema Article by Afia Mansoor

 It is interesting that in Pakistan, as per the National Survey on Individual Giving in 1998, voluntarism is 58% of individual giving. This is twice the global voluntarism rate and even exceeds that of the USA.

What this means is that Pakistanis are highly driven to voluntary acts of giving (time, money, gifts-in kind) benevolently. Some of the highlights of the survey are intriguing and very insightful. For instance:

§  The individual giving is estimated at Rs 41 billion in cash and goods.

§  Religious faith is cited as the greatest motivation for 98 percent of donors.

§  It is estimated that 34 percent of aggregate monetary giving or approximately Rs. 14 billion is given by individuals with little or no income.

§  Only 27% of the Zakat (obligatory poor due on Muslims) goes to organizations, the rest goes to needy individuals.

This data gives remarkable insights into what drives Pakistanis to give and why do they give it where they do. A Schuitemic Analysis infers this:

1.      Lack of Trust:

Pakistanis don’t trust the government with their hard earned money. This holds especially true if one witnesses the huge rush at banks for cash withdrawal before the first of the holy month of Ramazan when banks deduct Zakat from all Muslim account holders (except those that have expressly refused the permission to do so) and transfer it into the Government’s Baitul Maal (Official Zakat Collection Office) which uses it for charity and development causes. The most commonly cited reason for this is that the government is corrupt and cannot be trusted with money.   

The Survey also revealed that the bulk of charity donations are given to a few organizations which are headed by noted social workers. These individuals are deemed to be extremely trustworthy. This shows that a majority of people trust only themselves or a few individuals with their money when it comes to charity disbursement.

2.      Lack of Unity:

The lack of trust is not only restricted to issues of money. It is manifest in every sphere of society. If Pakistanis are as benevolent and generous human beings as these figures indicate, then the very donors should produce immense abundance at places where they work. For surely, the public and private sector organizations employ the same benevolent donors. Why then does the country suffer from deep rooted corruption?

This is precisely why corporate philanthropy flourishes in Pakistan and Corporate Social Responsibility partnerships are still nascent.  Surely, if resourceful individuals team up to do good, it shall produce massive results in the social development sector, rather than money going to individuals in unsustainable forms.

The Layton Rahmatulla Benevolent Trust (LRBT) Pakistan is a foremost example in this case. The Trust was formed 25 years ago by Graham Layton; a British with Pakistani citizenship, and Zaka Rahmatulla with a total of Rs 1 million and with a vision to provide free eye care to Pakistanis irrespective of their religion or creed. Today, the Trust has flourished into 16 custom-built hospitals and 39 primary eye care clinics providing state-of-the-art treatment at absolutely no cost, across the length and breadth of Pakistan.       

3.      Temporary Relief:   

The usual means of charity in Pakistan are cash payments to individuals or gifts in kind. A more prudent approach to charity is that which enables the recipient to self reliance. Sustainable framework of charity disbursement needs to be taken up by individuals so that greater good comes to the society. For instance, rather than distributing food rations among needy widows, sewing and garments finishing machines can be distributed after a funded vocational training programme.

4.      Conditional Giving:

Edhi, the most prominent social figure of the country laments in his autobiography on the reasons why people give charity in Pakistan, “Those who gave something, gave without understanding the purpose of giving. They contributed towards personal rewards, to forestall punishment, erase sins, assuage bad consciences and make impressions. Hardly anyone gave out of human compassion, a purpose greater to the Almighty than any good deed. In fact, humanitarianism was the only method that did guarantee His blessings. Even in that they were motivated by self-interest and the intention lost the reward. The world remained illiterate about Life and God.”

His view succinctly sums up the Schuitema Analysis that Pakistanis do good in great numbers, but they do good conditionally. The condition is better rewards from God. In our view, this makes benevolence a means to the end of greater rewards. The focus then is not on doing good, but gaining personal rewards in the hereafter. Which is why the great good happening is not begetting greater good in the form of self reliance, development and progress. 

 The Earthquake 2005:

On 08 October 2005, a colossal earthquake shook the northern areas of Pakistan. Estimated casualties exceeded 70,000. With mountains collapsing into each other, villages and entire bloodlines were wiped away without a trace.

The concerted community relief efforts in the wake of the devastating tragedy showed that Pakistanis are capable of donating, with no exaggeration, hundreds of planes full of relief goods with their hard earned money. This was perhaps the single moment in the country’s history where people contributed with unity, irrespective of their religious and social standing. The catastrophe had shaken up the public to such an effect that despite stories of relief theft and looting in the northern areas, people continued to give in whatever form they could. School children collected money for burial shrouds. Women wearing western attire sorted relief for shipment alongside heavily bearded mullahs. A nation which is otherwise averse to forming queues at public places witnessed car queues stretching several kilometers where cars would quietly inch ahead to deposit their contribution in the P.A.F. Museum Karachi from where relief laden trucks and planes were leaving continuously.

The tragedy showed that the nation is indeed capable of unconditional benevolence that is synergized and well planned.