PA Group Holds Aid Orgs Accountable for Relief Efforts
by Ed Thomas
February 22, 2005
(AgapePress) - The CEO of a Pennsylvania-based organization that specializes in identifying successful charitable projects in Third World nations says it takes good stewardship to properly track tsunami aid or any other giving across the globe.Geneva Global, Inc. of Wayne, Pennsylvania, helps to facilitate grants for needy countries and causes throughout the world -- but only after thoroughly checking the distribution channels for financial and material aid before wealthy donors give a dime. CEO Eric Thurman says like business investors, charitable investors want verifiable results.
"The good news about giving internationally is you can see more change than you ever imagined by going straight to backing what the local Christians are doing -- but you have to do it wisely," he cautions.
That means pre-qualifying local ministries and secular aid groups with a track record and in-country, grassroots participants -- then checking regularly to see the tangible results of the resources put in their hands. "If I take the attitude that I've done all that God wants me to do the minute I let go of my money I have given, that's an incomplete picture," Thurman explains, "because stewardship is making sure that the results happen as well."
That is why he tries to make sure that philanthropists who give money generously to charities in Third World countries get tangible results.
"The secret for having things turn out well is to find out that the organization that's local has actually been there for some time and is accustomed to working in that community [and] has a track record of delivering results." Also, Thurman says, it is important to know what the money is going to be used for.
"And then we always cycle back around at the end of every grant to check and see what actually occurred," he concludes.
Thurman says local aid groups investigated and approved by Geneva Global were already helping victims in the tsunami-stricken areas at least a week before most international help arrived. And he anticipates they will be there long after international attention has waned.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
