In the wake of debacles such as Kids Company and Beat Bullying, where charities have egregiously squandered public funds, Iqbal Wahhab offers a scathing criticism on the cosiness between government and charity, and argues that the solution lies in business.
The sanctimony of charity and its persistent failure to do good with our money (our money, not theirs) is matched only by two things – firstly, the lives of the people they promised us they would improve and secondly, the inevitable truth that in the hands of business, social impacts are more sustainable, measurable and much, much larger.
Charities expand by the amount of hope and faith they can convince largely ignorant if well-meaning donors and philanthropists to finance them with. Businesses expand through success. Success wins over hope. Businesses win over charities in their ability to change the world.
