Humanitarian appeal and the paradox of power

Applied ethics and allocation of foreign aid: disparity in pretensions and practice

“…This is consistent with Vestergaard (), who argues that humanitarian organisations select media‐friendly natural disasters for public fundraising while the so‐called ‘forgotten crises’ or complex emergencies are by‐passed. In line with that, the briefing paper Humanitarian Assistance from Non‐State Donors argues that ‘conflict‐related crises are far more dependent on institutional donors for funding than natural disasters, which raise a significantly greater proportion of overall funding from private donors’ (Stirk, : 21).…”

“…Third, using typology of disasters as criteria for the allocation of humanitarian aid violates the principle of impartiality. Compared to natural disasters, complex emergencies, epidemics and conflict‐related disasters are less media‐friendly, and underfunded by non‐state donors (Eisensee and Strömberg, ; Olsen et al., ; Stirk, 2012; Vestergaard, ). Further, in contrast to other types of disasters, donor interests appear not to influence the amount of aid allocated in natural disasters (Becerra et al., ).…”

Nonprofit Organizations Becoming Business-Like

“…For example, beneficiaries are reframed as consumers (e.g., McDermont, 2007), activists as entrepreneurs (e.g., Merz, 2012), and donors as investors (e.g., Vestergaard, 2013). For example, beneficiaries are reframed as consumers (e.g., McDermont, 2007), activists as entrepreneurs (e.g., Merz, 2012), and donors as investors (e.g., Vestergaard, 2013).…”

Faces of the needy: the portrayal of destitute children in the fundraising campaigns of NGOs in India

“…Since the early 1970s, the nongovernmental sector around the world has gradually expanded and now become an immensely competitive “industry” with “multi‐billion dollar businesses” (Polman, ; Vestergaard, , p. 444). The increasing competition in the sector is an important part of the reason why mass communication has become progressively more central to the operations of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) for mobilizing funds and for securing support and legitimacy for their activities (Tester, ; Vestergaard, , p. 444).…”

“…Since the early 1970s, the nongovernmental sector around the world has gradually expanded and now become an immensely competitive “industry” with “multi‐billion dollar businesses” (Polman, ; Vestergaard, , p. 444). The increasing competition in the sector is an important part of the reason why mass communication has become progressively more central to the operations of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) for mobilizing funds and for securing support and legitimacy for their activities (Tester, ; Vestergaard, , p. 444). NGOs are increasingly forced to adopt “media logics” by selecting beneficiaries for fundraising campaigns guided by media (and political) agendas and focusing on the theatrics of giving (Moeller, ; Vaux, ; Vestergaard, , p. 511), including the use of shocking tactics to get their messages across (Breeze & Dean, ; Cohen, ; Holland, ) and adopting a “sound bite“ approach supported by negative images (Cohen, ; Holland, ; Lissner, ; Stride, ).…”