“One might argue that charities have more need of money than any particular individual’s skills, but in most cases I doubt that to be true.”
If you mean what I think you mean by “particular individual”, I strongly disagree. You seem to be saying:
“For any given person X and charity Y, it’s more probable that Y would benefit from X’s skillset and time than from an equivalent amount of their money.”
However, most people do not have skills which are especially useful to charities, particularly international development-related charities. Furthermore, merely having strong and applicable technical skills is not enough; charities often operate in environments where cultural infrastructure is very weak, so an effective volunteer also needs to have strong people skills, and an ability to adapt and work effectively despite culture shock.
Actually I meant that most skills would be of use to some charity, not a particular charity. Certainly there are some skills that are not of value to any charity I would support.
To further clarify, I am considering charity to mean non-profit enterprises whose purpose is to benefit more than their own contributors.
Too many courses on population models have led me to believe that resource availability has to climb a steeper curve than population growth for sustainability. I am not certain that short term support for individuals living in inadequate conditions is a net positive. Cultural standards particularly regarding family size are difficult to alter. I choose to apply my efforts to a different set of problems.
“One might argue that charities have more need of money than any particular individual’s skills, but in most cases I doubt that to be true.”
If you mean what I think you mean by “particular individual”, I strongly disagree. You seem to be saying:
“For any given person X and charity Y, it’s more probable that Y would benefit from X’s skillset and time than from an equivalent amount of their money.”
However, most people do not have skills which are especially useful to charities, particularly international development-related charities. Furthermore, merely having strong and applicable technical skills is not enough; charities often operate in environments where cultural infrastructure is very weak, so an effective volunteer also needs to have strong people skills, and an ability to adapt and work effectively despite culture shock.
Actually I meant that most skills would be of use to some charity, not a particular charity. Certainly there are some skills that are not of value to any charity I would support.
To further clarify, I am considering charity to mean non-profit enterprises whose purpose is to benefit more than their own contributors.
Too many courses on population models have led me to believe that resource availability has to climb a steeper curve than population growth for sustainability. I am not certain that short term support for individuals living in inadequate conditions is a net positive. Cultural standards particularly regarding family size are difficult to alter. I choose to apply my efforts to a different set of problems.