CAMO founder shares insights into effective charitable giving
Grinding poverty. Deplorable living conditions. Disease. Hunger.
Through her nearly 30 years of service to the less fortunate, Kathy Tschiegg has seen it all firsthand, first as a member of the Peace Corps and later as the founder and executive director of Central American Medical Outreach (CAMO).
She’s also seen how generous Americans work to help those in need.
The question becomes with so much need in the world, “how do you choose?” said Tschiegg adding, “with so many organizations and so many people asking for assistance, what criteria do you follow?”
As Tschiegg told those assembled at The Pines for the Wayne County Community Foundation’s annual dinner on Oct. 12, to answer those questions, a donor needs to ask themselves these four questions about the charitable organizations they consider investing in – “Is it meeting a need, do they have a plan, are they being accountable and is there follow up?”
“There is a true difference between a charitable act and long-term investment,” said Tschiegg.
“With a charitable act, you get that short-term high because you did something good and that other person feels good too but you don’t know that outcome oftentimes,” said Tschiegg.
“When we try to define that person’s need or an organization’s need, but we don’t know them, we will make honest mistakes,” said Tschiegg adding, “if you have funds to donate, allow the need to direct the funds and don’t direct them only from your perspective.”
Tschiegg went on to describe how she was called in as a consultant after a natural disaster and found local relief officials drowning in unwanted items and struggling to distribute relief supplies sent to them unexpectedly by well-meaning donors who had no plan for actually getting the items into the hands of those in need.
Tschiegg also encouraged donors to confirm that the organization meets Better Business Bureau standards and has the necessary checks and balances in place both at home and abroad to provide accountability and to make sure that the organization follows up to determine the effectiveness of their programs noting that, “a well administered project or program will have follow up and measureable outcomes.”
“You have a choice,” said Tschiegg.
“You can choose between the pursuit of pure charity, which in the short term is a fix and will make you feel better, it will make that individual feel better, but your impact might not be as great as you would like it to be. But if you long-term invest in programs and projects that focus on the need and have a plan, proven accountability and have follow up, then your impact will be great,” said Tschiegg.
Tschiegg is the founder and director of the Orrville-based Central American Medical Outreach or CAMO.
Founded in 1992 using $35,000 in donations, CAMO has grown into a multi-million dollar international nonprofit organization delivering more than 143,000 health and community development services to more than 90,000 people in Central America annually.
In addition to sending containers full of medical supplies to the region, CAMO operates 16 health programs, seven teaching teams, four community development teams and a surgical team.
According to Tschiegg, the group has also provided more than $1.5 million in infrastructure to a local public hospital that serves over 600,000 people a year, built a gymnasium that serves one million residents and supports a cultural center, day care center, woman’s shelter and trade school.
To learn more about the work of Central American Medical Outreach, log on to http://www.camo.org.
Through her nearly 30 years of service to the less fortunate, Kathy Tschiegg has seen it all firsthand, first as a member of the Peace Corps and later as the founder and executive director of Central American Medical Outreach (CAMO).
She’s also seen how generous Americans work to help those in need.
The question becomes with so much need in the world, “how do you choose?” said Tschiegg adding, “with so many organizations and so many people asking for assistance, what criteria do you follow?”
As Tschiegg told those assembled at The Pines for the Wayne County Community Foundation’s annual dinner on Oct. 12, to answer those questions, a donor needs to ask themselves these four questions about the charitable organizations they consider investing in – “Is it meeting a need, do they have a plan, are they being accountable and is there follow up?”
“There is a true difference between a charitable act and long-term investment,” said Tschiegg.
“With a charitable act, you get that short-term high because you did something good and that other person feels good too but you don’t know that outcome oftentimes,” said Tschiegg.
“When we try to define that person’s need or an organization’s need, but we don’t know them, we will make honest mistakes,” said Tschiegg adding, “if you have funds to donate, allow the need to direct the funds and don’t direct them only from your perspective.”
Tschiegg went on to describe how she was called in as a consultant after a natural disaster and found local relief officials drowning in unwanted items and struggling to distribute relief supplies sent to them unexpectedly by well-meaning donors who had no plan for actually getting the items into the hands of those in need.
Tschiegg also encouraged donors to confirm that the organization meets Better Business Bureau standards and has the necessary checks and balances in place both at home and abroad to provide accountability and to make sure that the organization follows up to determine the effectiveness of their programs noting that, “a well administered project or program will have follow up and measureable outcomes.”
“You have a choice,” said Tschiegg.
“You can choose between the pursuit of pure charity, which in the short term is a fix and will make you feel better, it will make that individual feel better, but your impact might not be as great as you would like it to be. But if you long-term invest in programs and projects that focus on the need and have a plan, proven accountability and have follow up, then your impact will be great,” said Tschiegg.
Tschiegg is the founder and director of the Orrville-based Central American Medical Outreach or CAMO.
Founded in 1992 using $35,000 in donations, CAMO has grown into a multi-million dollar international nonprofit organization delivering more than 143,000 health and community development services to more than 90,000 people in Central America annually.
In addition to sending containers full of medical supplies to the region, CAMO operates 16 health programs, seven teaching teams, four community development teams and a surgical team.
According to Tschiegg, the group has also provided more than $1.5 million in infrastructure to a local public hospital that serves over 600,000 people a year, built a gymnasium that serves one million residents and supports a cultural center, day care center, woman’s shelter and trade school.
To learn more about the work of Central American Medical Outreach, log on to http://www.camo.org.
Published: October 22, 2011
