Charity Reality – the show that never was?

In his most recent post, Vu Le of NonprofitAF, encourages nonprofits to be louder, more obnoxious – and more visible. It reminded me of his blog a year ago, about the series ‘Loot’ on Hulu, which in turn reminded me about my idea for a reality show on charity. So here we are.

(Confession; I use charity because it sounds better than ‘Nonprofit Reality’, don’t you agree?)

Quite obvious, Loot is loosely based on MacKenzie Scott and her post-divorce life, giving away literally billions of dollars to nonprofits around the country, and the globe. Her legacy is already cemented as being one of the most generous individuals of all time, disbursing massive quantities of funds at lightning speed, without prior notice or with input from other than her staff, or at least that’s what we’ve heard. Her last installment of giving invited nonprofits to apply; more on that here.

Vu’s review of the show calls out its pros and cons while offering a few improvements and pointing out shortcomings, mostly based on the power dynamics and yes, realities of the sector that has often been overlooked. Naturally, this is (mostly) fiction and a show that’s created to make money, so it might not depict the ‘realities’ of philanthropy or nonprofits as this might compromise its success. But reality and fiction are not necessarily contradictory, and Vu gives some great examples of how to jazz up the tension and give it that ‘real world’ feeling.

The idea for a ‘real’ show formed when a film director participated in a few days of meetings for a foundation that I was engaged in at the time. Continuously observant, he threw glances at me and others throughout the proceedings, and I saw him staring intently at people’s interactions, comments and other goings-on over a few days.

But what would an actual show from this sector look like?

Envisioning a veritable “Charity Reality”, laying bare what is hiding behind the scenes; a real take on how the power dynamics play out; how boards are composed, managed, and disintegrating; how management is…. managed; how leadership is….. organized; and how money is the guiding light for it all.

I find a charity reality show an intriguing idea, but maybe it would be scary for some, as it would get close to the heart of the matter.

But the benefits are manifold. Most people are unaware of the realities of a nonprofit, that it is a business like any other, running programs, dealing with people, finances, bureaucracy, administration, board, leadership, you name it. It also has situations where there is a fierce leader, refusing to give up control because that person is also the founder. But there is a slight difference, for example when there is a conflict played out that is spurred by an emotional attachment to the cause. Or, when there is no money or time to save the roof from falling in, not always metaphorically. This can happen anywhere, but when emotions are playing a part, the currency is not as stable.

Alluding to the name of this blog, charity is where emotional industry is practiced in real life. The emotions that go in to performing the daily work, the caring and concern, are not quite the same as in an enterprise driven mainly for reasons of making money. Here, other values take priority, setting a different agenda, and also entirely different expectations.

Emotions are utilized in the nonprofit sector as a major driver to get work done and for people to work for less pay and often, for free (not to mention guilt, but that deserves its on post.) Emotions are not seldom exploited and extorted for the benefit of the organization, be it from staff or others, with a totally straight face. Because why not, if emotions drive nonprofits to do the impossible?

For a sector that is hard at work competing about money, emotions play a huge part. Most people outside of this world believe that emotions and a calling are what drive people to do good work. But in previous blogs, I have expanded on many other drivers and reasons for people to dedicate their lives to this work.

Money is a universal language; emotions are too, and they are both bound up in a sector that doesn’t readily accept or acknowledge the massive and equal drivers that they are. The transactional nature of philanthropy has rarely been sorted out or fully explored, or as I argue here, truly exposed. Because of its universal nature, money is the most important factor in all of the endeavors in charity just as anywhere else. But where money is treated somewhat differently, and emotions are taken for granted.

Putting the spotlight on feelings, emotions and actions, isn’t that what we are all looking for in the Bachelor, Survivor and other reality shows? The charity sector, so full of emotions and also of action, and the hunt for money, should be offered the same opportunity.

While we ponder what a show about charity would look like, if there is a director out there with some funding, let’s produce a charity reality!

 Promotional photo for the show on Apple+