---

When attempting to make positive and lasting social impact, philanthropists often speak of addressing “the root cause” of a problem.  Yet how, in practice, is this actually done? 

For any donor, the process should start with a long, hard look at the issue that he or she is trying to tackle.  But taking such a look is difficult when (a) the issue, such as social inequality, is particularly complex and (b) it is being played out many thousands of miles from the donor’s home, or otherwise many degrees removed from the world that they live in. 

At the Institute, we believe that there is no substitute for assessing such a challenge at its source; which is why, each year, we hold a week-long module in the developing world for participants and alumni of The Philanthropy Workshop.  During this module – held most recently in Rwanda, last month – philanthropists are able to see for themselves the various obstacles to a country’s progress, and to meet the people best-equipped to overcome them. 

Indeed Rwanda, given its difficult history of late, is an ideal case in point.  Not only is it a nation which bears a bitter legacy of tribal conflict – seen most cruelly with the 1994 genocide – but it also borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country whose resource-fuelled war has lasted several years.  In such situations, social unrest has no one cause; and, consequently, no one solution.  

Rwanda, whose leadership aims for it to achieve middle income prosperity by 2020, knows this all too well; which is why its people are taking exciting and diverse approaches to its development, from traditional models to “agri-business”, from a dependency upon aid to an investment in small businesses and burgeoning entrepreneurial talent.  Not only did our donors learn of these first-hand, but at the same time they heard of the plight of thousands of internally displaced Rwandese, and the reconciliation efforts being made in the wake of the genocide. 

This immersion in a country’s concerns is very useful for the budding or experienced philanthropist, in that it allows them to see – uniquely, if sometimes uncomfortably – just how the different pieces of the troubled mosaic fit together.  Armed with this knowledge, they are then best placed to identify the most effective and innovative paths forward.  That is why, when our donors wish to champion the causes closest to their hearts, we urge them first to go to the heart of the matter.

links

• Return to CEO Notes