Occidental Impact Fund

Now Accepting Applications for Spring 2012 Investment Board

2012-02-09T10:24:00.000-08:00

Oxy Impact Fund is now accepting applications for the Spring 2011 Investment Board. Members of the board will work with 16 other students to invest $3000 in NGO's throughout the developing world. The board will invest this money in microfinance institutions or other such organizations to have an impact on global issues such as women's empowerment, environmental conservation, and economic development. Again, we will mostly be relying on Microplace (https://www.microplace.com/cause/understanding_microfinance), but will also potentially be vetting other opportunities outside its focus.

The board will meet every Thursday at 9:00 PM for five-six weeks starting Thursday February 23rd and finishing well before finals. Meetings will be approximately one hour and all meetings are mandatory. If you are available at this time please apply.

- What is Impact Fund?:
- The Occidental Impact Fund, established by students, for students, allows us to directly target and impact global issues that matter to us. Our mission: to research, advocate, and participate in sustainable and socially responsible investing to create positive global change. (See some of our past work at http://www.oxyif.blogspot.com/)

What will you do?:
Work with 16-20 other students to directly impact a global issues that matters to you. This process will be broken into three stages:

1. Select an issue that you want to impact
2. Identify a microfinance institution that directly or indirectly addresses that issue
3. Work with our other board members to fund your organization.

Your application must include the following in this order:
Name
Major (potential or declared)
Class year
What skills and knowledge will you bring as an Oxy Impact Fund board member?
In 5-10 sentences, discuss a particular world issue that you find important and/or interesting (Example: financial inclusion among women in India).
Please email completed applications, attached as word documents, to oxyimpactfund@gmail.com by midnight on February 17.

Investment Decisions Fall 2011

2012-01-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

$1500- Shared Interest
Shared Interest works as a catalyst for social and economic change in South Africa. Since our inception in 1994, we have used loan guarantees to bridge the gap between South African banks and marginalized people, previously considered “unbankable” during apartheid.
As a 501(c)3 non-profit social investment fund, we raise capital in the U.S. from individuals, foundations and financial institutions to support micro-lending, agricultural cooperatives and small businesses in South Africa. Along with our South African partner, Thembani International Guarantee Fund, we have helped make the promise of economic human rights a reality for over one million South Africans.

$1500- INSOTEC
We work hard to ensure that we are reaching those left out of Ecuador's traditional banking system and our numbers prove it. 45% of our borrowers are women and 30% are indigenous. INSOTEC is currently undertaking a strategy of expanding further into rural and remote areas with half the portfolio dedicated to agriculture and livestock, and the remaining across commerce, services, and manufacturing.

Now Accepting Applications for Fall 2011

2011-09-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

Oxy Impact Fund is now accepting applications for the Spring 2011 Investment Board. Members of the board will work with 16 other students to invest $3000 in NGO's throughout the developing world. The board will invest this money in microfinance institutions or other such organizations to have an impact on global issues such as women's empowerment, environmental conservation, and economic development. Again, we will mostly be relying on Microplace (https://www.microplace.com/cause/understanding_microfinance), but will also potentially be vetting other opportunities outside its focus.

The board will meet every Wednesday at 8:45 PM for five-six weeks starting Wedneday October 5th and finishing well before finals. Meetings will be approximately one hour and all meetings are mandatory. If you are available at this time please apply.

- What is Impact Fund?:
- The Occidental Impact Fund, established by students, for students, allows us to directly target and impact global issues that matter to us. Our mission: to research, advocate, and participate in sustainable and socially responsible investing to create positive global change. (See some of our past work at http://www.oxyif.blogspot.com/)

What will you do?:
Work with 16 other students to directly impact a global issues that matters to you. This process will be broken into three stages:

1. Select an issue that you want to impact
2. Identify a microfinance institution that directly or indirectly addresses that issue
3. Work with our other board members to fund your organization.

To get a copy of the application or if you have any questions, email oxyimpactfund@gmail.com. Please email completed applications to oxyimpactfund@gmail.com by midnight on September 25.

Impact Fund Goes to Nationals

2011-02-01T23:58:00.000-08:00

We are excited to announce that three of Occidental Impact Funds' research team (Megan Lang, J. Anthony Labarga, and Taylor Corbett) have been invited to attend this year's National Conference on Undergraduate Research. At the conference our research team will be presenting two studies that identify best-practices within the fields of microfinance and community directed economic development. The following are abstracts of both studies:

Study #1: Loan Use as a Function of Bank Distance in India

Central to microfinance is the idea that entrepreneurial poor can rise out of poverty given access to capital, enabling them to start lucrative businesses. However, some have argued that the poor cannot engage in full-time entrepreneurial activities given limited access to markets, causing them to use loans to access other services offered, such as savings and insurance, or for consumption smoothing rather than building microenterprises (Allen 2007, Johnson and Sharma 2007). This has led to assertions that microfinance institutions (MFIs) must maintain a high supervisory presence, suggesting that they are best located close to their customers. This leads to our research question: Does distance from a bank affect the likelihood of microloans being used for income-generating versus non-income generating purposes?

We examine loan use in relation to distance (in minutes) from a bank as recorded in the Centre for Microfinance’s Financial Inclusion Survey to test the theory: as distance to customers increases, microloan use shifts from income-generating to non-income-generating activities. Our preliminary findings show a bimodal distribution. Loan use for growth is high when banks are very close, lower when banks are moderately far, and high when banks are distant.

These findings indicate that arguments for high supervision are partly unfounded, as respondents farthest from banks did not use loans for non-income-generating activities. This suggests that MFIs do not need to allocate many resources for monitoring loans, as the poor avoid incurring debt unless it is necessary or lucrative. However, the data also indicates that MFIs close to customers may be effective at encouraging income-generating loan use, while those far away can take advantage of a unique incentive structure: Individuals are unlikely to take out loans for non-income-generating uses when reaching a bank is difficult. The correlations found between distance from a bank and loan use must be further explored to provide a clearer understanding of the optimal distribution of MFIs in developing countries.

Study #2 - Social Capital and Development: Utilization of Community Elite for Ultra-poor Development in Rural Bangladesh

Development organizations often ignore or isolate the elite of communities in which they operate considering them inhibitory to the development process. Yet, increasingly, certain organizations have come to realize these leaders can assist in achieving program objectives. One such NGO is Building Resources Across Communities (BRAC), and its Confronting the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction – Targeting the Ultra Poor Program (TUP), created to assist Bangladesh’s ultra-poor escape extreme poverty. As part of the TUP program, BRAC has established community support groups comprised of “elite” village members, called Gram Daridro Bimochan Committees (GDBCs), to protect the program’s gifted assets to TUP participants from theft or damage. This research intends to understand what additional non-material transfers GDBCs provide to TUP participants, and the perceived value of such non-material transfers relative to other assets or services offered under the TUP Program. The research is based on group interviews of 670 subjects conducted in June 2010 in 22 villages of Bangladesh’s Rangpur and Naogaon districts.

Conclusions from this sample indicate that 79 percent of GDBC transfers ranked most-important are non-material in nature. Of these “intangibles” education support, sanitation support, and advice/encouragement are the most common. More specifically it was found that the majority (52 percent) of ultra-poor sampled value GDBC non-material transfers of advice/encouragement more than material transfers offered by the program. This is due to GDBCs unique ability to tailor their advice/encouragement to the individual needs of each ultra-poor, with such advice frequently falling into three distinct categories (emergency, preventative, and asset management advice). This finding is significant in that past BRAC studies have failed to identify advice/encouragement as a notable transfer between GDBCs and TUP. More generally this study finds that GDBCs clearly contribute to the attainment of TUP program objectives, acting as a force multiplier, to which there is no close substitute. However, since the majority of these transfers are non-material, and thus difficult to observe and quantify, GDBCs are chronically undervalued in comparison to other aspects of the TUP program.

Investment Decisions - Fall 2010

2011-01-05T11:30:00.000-08:00

This semester 16 students comprised Occidental Impact Fund's Investment Board. Ranging from first years to seniors board members were pulled from a variety of academic departments including Urban and Environmental Policy, Diplomacy and World Affairs, Politics, and Economics. The board met multiple times through out the semester to learn about microfinance, define a goal, develop a criteria, and evaluate competing microfinance institutions for funding. The Impact Fund's fall 2010 Investment Board's funding decisions are as follows:

Pro Mujer - Mexico - $1000
Operating throughout Latin America, Pro Mujer is one of the world's most well regarded microfinance institutions. Building off a long history of success, Pro Mujer works to empower women not only economically, but socially through the use of micro-loans, business training, and support programs. Pro Mujer Mexico servers over 26,000 borrowers and has over 2,000 community banks throughout Mexico. Impact Fund selected Pro Mujer for funding due to their dedication to full spectrum programing. Not only does Pro Mujer provide individuals with micro-loans, but gives them additional training, health, business, and social support to ensure their entrepreneurs succeed.

Prasac - Cambodia - $2000
Created out of a partnership between the European Union and the Cambodian Government, Prasac works to rehabilitate the agricultural sector in six of Cambodia's 25 provinces. It's Prasac mission to provide efficient and sustainable financial services to individuals that lacked previous access to any form of banking. Impact Fund's Investment Board selected Prasac for its sustainable practices and unique target demographic.

If you're interested in joining Impact Fund's Spring Investment Board email corbett @oxy.edu, otherwise check back in the spring to see where our Spring Board chooses to invest.

Now accepting applications for Fall 2010 Investment Board

2010-10-24T20:47:00.001-07:00

This semester you have a chance to be part of something exciting, Occidental's first social investment fund. Established this past semester, Impact Fund gives Oxy students the opportunity to not just talk about global issues, but do something about them. We are happy to announce that this semester you can help us decide where we will have an impact by joining our investment board. Members of the board will work with 12 other students to invest $3000 in NGO's throughout the developing world. With this year’s focus on microfinance, the board will invest this money in microfinance institutions to have an impact on global issues such as women's empowerment, environmental conservation, and economic development. If this is an opportunity that interests you read below for more information on how to join:

What is Impact Fund?:
The Occidental Impact Fund, established by students, for students, allows us to directly target and impact global issues that matter to us. Our mission: to research, advocate, and participate in sustainable and socially responsible investing to create positive global change. (See some of our past work at http://www.oxyif.blogspot.com/)

What will you do?:
Work with 12 other students through a grantmaking style process to directly impact a global issue that matters to you. This process will be broken into four stages:

Select an issue that you want to impact
Develop a criteria upon which you will compare organizations
Identify organizations that meet the criteria
Select and fund an organization that lets us have the greatest impact on our selected global issue

What if you don't have experience in microfinance or investing?

Not a problem. For our board to be truly successful we need students from a variety of majors, classes, and backgrounds that can bring different perspectives to the board. Our first meeting will be spent giving everyone the basic knowledge they will need on microfinance, socially responsible investing, and the grantmaking style process.

When will it be?
The board will meet four to five times over the month of November, each meeting lasting approximately an hour. The exact dates and times will be announced once all the board members have been selected and we can compare schedules to ensure everyone can attend the meetings. This being said, ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY at all five meetings.

Why should you join?

Learn about microfinance, socially responsible investing, the grantmaking process
Practice advocacy skills that will serve you at Oxy and beyond
Have a REAL IMPACT on global issues that matter to you

How can you join?
The simple application (attached) is due before midnight on October 31st to our email oxyimpactfund@gmail.com.

If you still have questions feel free to email us or come to our meeting next Friday, at 12:40 in Fowler 207, to meet current board members and decide if Impact Fund is right for you.

Best,

Taylor Corbett

President - Occidental Impact Fund
Diplomacy and World Affairs, Economics
Occidental College '12
corbett@oxy.edu

Occidental Impact Fund Executive Board - 2010

2010-08-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

Over the course of the summer our leadership structure has been finalized. We are happy to present Occidental Impact Fund's Executive Board for 2010/2011:

President - Taylor Corbett (corbett@oxy.edu)

Research:

Director - Anthony Labarga (labarga@oxy.edu)

Director - Megan Lang (mlang@oxy.edu)

Investment:

Treasurer - Matthew Tandy (tandywidolff@oxyconnect.oxy.edu)

Investment Advisor - Chris Best (best@oxy.edu)

Outreach:

Director - Lily Reed (reed@oxy.edu)

Keep back throughout the year for as we make additional positions and opportunities publicly available

Poverty and the Information Highway

2010-08-19T16:47:00.001-07:00

Taylor Corbett is a student at Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA, pursuing a double major in Economics and Diplomacy and World Affairs. This post is part of a series he wrote as part of an internship with BRAC’s Targeting the Ultra-poor program in Bangladesh.

Within 30 seconds of reading this you can get a seven-day weather forecast for Rio de Janeiro, Delhi, or Tokyo. You can learn how vaccinations work, get instructions on how to construct a pig pen, and even learn the definition of poverty… in Japanese. The point being, we live in an information rich world. With 1.7 billion internet users, some of us clearly have access to limitless amounts of information that the remaining 5.3 billion do not. However, when one goes further and looks at the billions who do not even have access a public library, the world’s 72 million children who are not enrolled in school, or 774 million that are illiterate, this information gap becomes almost unimaginable, but its consequences are very real.

When I first heard I was going to be working with the “ultra-poor” of Bangladesh, admittedly I was thinking in purely economic terms. Poverty to me was defined by a lack of financial resources (money) or productive assets (capital such as land, livestock, or a business). Thus, I thought the “cycle of poverty” was driven by economic disparities in which the poor, lacking any means to make money simply became poorer. However, after talking to a few hundred of Bangladesh’s ultra-poor I found this isn’t exactly the case.

Many of the individuals I have worked with live in isolated villages miles from the nearest paved road or electrical socket, are illiterate, have never been to school, and have never seen a computer, world map, or library (yet alone know how to utilize one). As a result ultra-poor individuals are severely handicapped when it comes to obtaining knowledge beyond what they already know or are experienced in. Thus, problems and opportunities that require additional knowledge beyond what an ultra-poor individual already possess poses great difficulty for them, such as a new business venture, or an illness within the family. This lack of access to information is undeniably linked to the ultra-poor’s financial condition. However, the distinction must be made that these are in fact two different types of poverty—one financial, one informational. In doing so, it becomes clear that the “cycle of poverty” cannot only be attributed to a lack of financial resources, but knowledge resources as well. But why is such a distinction important?

The answer is perhaps best explained through an analogy given to me by a villager in Islampur, in the northwestern corner of the country. The man told me, “If I am sick, and I have all the medicine in the world, but I don’t have the knowledge or advice on which medicine to take, what good does it do me?” His point is simple yet significant and has wider implications for development organizations. In order to truly tackle poverty, development organizations must willing and able to address the both types of poverty simultaneously. Not only must they present individuals with opportunities and resources, but they must also give individuals the knowledge to utilize those opportunities or resources. The implications of not doing so can be disastrous and render organizational efforts and donor dollars useless. As one women told me, “If I am given a cow it is just a cow, only once I am given training and advice does that cow become an asset.” BRAC has done a wonderful job to identify and address both types of poverty that entrap so many ultra-poor by giving them not only material support, but social and educational support as well. However, some other organizations have yet to embody this reality in their programming, greatly reducing their potential impact.

If wealth is equal to power, and power is equal to knowledge is it therefore safe to say that knowledge is equal to wealth? While the dynamics of poverty are much more complex than this, my experiences in Bangladesh seem to say so. In recognizing that the world’s poor are not only financially poor, but knowledge poor, development organizations can tailor their program approaches to have a greater impact on the individuals that they serve.

Taylor in Bangladesh: What are you doing here?

2010-07-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

As an American student in Bangladesh I have quickly learned that there is one question that I inevitably face in every greeting. Wedged somewhere between the handshake and friendly smiles slips the question, “What are you doing here?” It’s something I have been asked by customs agents, taxi drivers, chai wallahs, school teachers, businessmen, village leaders, and even friends. In Bangladesh this is a completely justified question. With virtually no tourism industry and monsoon season fast approaching, many wonder why someone would come to their country to tromp around isolated villages for days at a time. The simplicity of my response has, thus far, never failed to solicit a smile. “I have come to learn from you,” I always tell them.

The context of my response can be found eight months prior as I read Nicholas Kristof’s column titled “More Schools, Not Troops.” In his column, Kristof compares the different developmental paths of Bangladesh and Pakistan in the 30 years since their partition in 1971. Pakistan, choosing to spend its aid dollars on military spending has come to face a militarized and divided society. In contrast, Bangladesh has chosen to focus on educational and societal development, which Kristof argues, has led to healthier, better educated, and less radicalized society. He went on to attribute this progress, in part, to an NGO called BRAC for their education and development initiatives. As an international relations and economics major, studying how development organizations can provide effective solutions to pervasive transnational issues (such as terrorism or insurgencies) is my academic dream. Clearly interested, I did what any information hungry American does, I Googled-it.

What I found amazed me

With over 120,000 employees operating in 16 countries BRAC is the largest NGO in the world. The pure innovation and scale of BRAC’s many programs is astounding making it one of the leaders in the international development community. However, upon looking through all their programming, one initiative clearly stood out, BRAC’s “Targeting the Ultra-poor Program” (TUP).

Focusing on the poorest 10% of Bangladesh’s population, the TUP program works to remove the poor from “ultra-poverty” within two years. This is quite a feat considering that 62% of ultra-poor can’t even meet their dietary needs upon entering the program. Naturally, the program provides the poor with an array of economic support in the form of “transfers,” such as cows, chickens, or seed. However, more interesting (and less understood) are the social “transfers,” or social capital, that the program tries to create between the ultra-poor and the rest of their community. Specifically, the TUP program calls on village leaders to support the “ultra-poor” both economically and socially through village assistance committees called GDBC’s.

This focus on utilizing village leaders has become increasingly prevalent in other development organizations as well; perhaps the most notable of which is Greg Mortenson’s NGO, the Central Asia Institute. Working to construct schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan for over 17 years, Mortenson has come to amass experience with village level organizing, making him an influential figure within the development community. In his books, Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools, Mortenson clearly describes the process he goes through before a school can be built. Interestingly enough, he claims the first, and perhaps most important step, is obtaining the blessing and support (both socially and materially) of all a village’s leaders, without it he refuses to construct even an outhouse. Other development initiatives, such as the Afghan Government’s “National Solidarity Program” (one of the most successful development programs in Afghanistan today), also depends on support and cooperation of village elite to support the governments reconstruction efforts.

With many organizations adopting a similar approach of relying on village elite, I felt that I was on to something. However, what is perhaps the most striking about this strategy is not who uses it as a tool, but who doesn’t. In researching development programs a clear division in strategy quickly became apparent. Development organizations that originate in the developing world, run by individuals from the developing world seemed to universally embrace the importance of social capital and involvement of community elite. In comparison, organizations that are run from developed countries seem to completely disregard, or at a minimum, undervalue the importance of social capital. Instead these organizations opt to focus primarily on material and economic resources or “transfers.”

It is at this stage that my interest was burgeoning—why is it that organizations in the developing world see elite as a valuable tool, while “Western” development organizations seem to completely disregard elite? I had to find out. With encouragement and support from my professors (and friends at Jolkona) I applied and was accepted to intern with BRAC’s TUP program.

Therefore, what am I doing in Bangladesh?

“I have come to learn from you,” I tell people here. They may not know it, but these village leaders and NGO field staff posses a unique understanding that many well-regarded western development organizations fail to grasp. I am here to learn from them, about them, and why it is they feel community elite are so important to their development.

“Why are you smiling?” I once asked a man in return.

“Because for the first time someone has come, not to tell us information, not to observe us, but to learn from us…God has brought you to learn from us, now let me tell you what I know.”

Investment Decisions - Spring 2010

2010-04-17T22:23:00.000-07:00

After a week of debate, we are proud to announce OxyIF's investment decisions for Spring 2010.

Thaneaka Phum (TPC) - Cambodia - 2 microloans ($166 a piece)

"Thaneakea Phum (Cambodia), Ltd. (TPC) is a microfinance institution (MFI) with a social vision and a business orientation that provides poor, rural men and women with the economic opportunities to transform the quality of their lives and their communities through the provision of effective and sustainable, client-empowering financial services."

Thaneaka Phum (TPC) was selected on the basis that it meets our required loan criteria. In addition, our investment will go to support women entrepreneurs, which the board has recognized as a critical aspect of economic development in many countries, including Cambodia.

You can find our more about TCP here:

http://www.tpc.com.kh/

Sinapi Aba - Ghana - partial loan ($168)

"Our goal as an organization is to build a stronger community for our clients and our employees to live in. We believe that partnerships are the way to strengthen these communal bonds. As such, partner with other local community organizations such as Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana, the Prisons Fellowship/Geo Trust, and the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation. In order to best serve the holistic needs of our clients we not only connect them with other developmental organizations, we also provide a wide variety of additional services of our own including HIV/AIDS counseling services, a youth apprenticeship program and have help to facilitate local community development discussions."

Their website is:

http://www.sinapiaba.com/

Sinapi Aba met all of our criteria as well making it an ideal MFI for OxyIF to invest in. When combined with Thaneaka Phum (TPC) our requirement for regional diversification is satisfied, thereby meeting all of our criteria. Both of these investments are made possible by the Calvert Foundation and Microplace.com. Please keep checking back over the coming year to see our club have an impact one person, one dollar, one impact at a time.

Microfinance Board Criteria - Spring 2010

2010-04-06T14:21:00.000-07:00

Over the past two weeks OxyIF's Microfinance Board has had two very productive meetings. As of our last meeting the board has finalized their loan criteria for the current lending period. We have decided to release this criteria to inform our donors what it is we value as an organization and to ensure transparency throughout the lending process. The criteria are as follows:

- Higher Interest Rate - We prefer to invest in institutions with higher interest rates ideally around 3% in order to keep pace with inflation

- 1 Year Maturity - Considering this is our first pilot loan we want the principle to be returned within one year in order to have fully completed the loan process before we lend the majority of our funding next year.

- Diversification - We would prefer a geographically diversified portfolio in order to have an impact across multiple continents while benefiting from security diversification provides.

- Sustainability - It is very important that the MFI we lend to is sustainable. This can be demonstrated by either complete financial self reliance, or if the MFI does rely on donors, donations must account for less than %30 of the MFI's income and their donor base must be diverse.

- Rural Lending - With a large portion of microfinance occurring in urban areas we have decided to focus on MFIs that service rural areas. We have done this in an effort to provide microfinance services to the full spectrum of individuals in developing societies.

- Extremely Poor - Given the limited size of our pilot loan ($500) we have decided to maximum impact by attempting to impact the largest number of individuals. As a result, we have decided to focus on "extremely poor" borrowers, defined as individuals that are only eligible for microloans under $1000.

- Microsavings - While not required, we would like to support an MFI that has a microsavings program that works in conjunction with their microlending program. Our desire for this stems from recent research that states that entreprenures are more successful in escaping poverty given access to both a microlending and microsavings program.

Going forward OxyIF's Microfinance Board will use this criteria to evaluate potential MFI's. Check back in a few weeks time see our final lending decision.

Launch of Oxy's First Student Run Microfinance Board

2010-03-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

The Impact Fund is proud to announce the launch of Occidental's first student run microfinance board. Now, all we need is YOU to help decide how and where our $500 pilot grant should go. This is truly an unbelievable opportunity for all students to have an immense lasting impact on someone's life! So grab your lunch and stop by. You have nothing to loose and so much to gain. Our first meeting will be this Friday, from 12:30 to 1:30 by the fountain. We will be running a seminar on the basics of microfinance, give an overview of the Impact Fund, and start to define as a group how we want to allocate our $500 pilot grant. We look forward to seeing you there!

- The OxyIF Team

The Gift of Giving

2010-01-21T23:44:00.000-08:00

Imagine something that has been proven to make you happier, healthier and more confident while being environmentally friendly, and having absolutely no adverse side effects. I am not referring to a new miracle drug or infomercial for aroma-therapy candles, but simply the act of giving. People have long known that altruism carries its own rewards. History is filled with references to the fact that in giving there is also receiving, however, there is still some debate as to why.

In his latest op-ed piece Our Basic Human Pleasures: Food, Sex, and Giving, Nicolas Kristof claims that giving leads individuals to live happier, more fulfilling lives (so far so good). Yet, he goes on to argue that because of this giving is, in fact, a selfish act. He demonstrates that we give not necessarily out of our interest for others, but because we feel good doing so.

While I don’t believe it was Kristof’s intent, he has fed the flames of an old debate, that volunteers and philanthropists aren’t out to help others, but to feel good about themselves. As an economics student I have heard this argument before, that of “Homo Economicus”, or the economic man. The premise of the Homo Economicus model is that human behavior is solely dictated by self-interest, or rather everyone is out for themselves. Under this model firemen wouldn’t run into burning buildings, there would be little volunteerism, and as Kristof asserts, charity would be self-interest in disguise. Yet, firemen do run into burning buildings, we do volunteer a substantial number of hours (over 8 billion hours in 2009), and we give an immense amount to charity ($230 billion in 2008 ). So what’s wrong with this explanation?

While there is no denying that being altruistic feels good, emerging research tells us it is for a completely different reason then self gain. It turns out we give because we are social creatures. In a recent study participants were asked to either keep a $128 research stipend for themselves, or donate part of their stipend to charity all while being monitored on an MRI. When subjects chose to give (and they often did) their brain activated “reward pathways” as if they were fulfilling a selfish act such as eating; however these pathways were stimulated by regions associated with social, not selfish behavior. The conclusion of course being that we are innately driven to give not out of selfish, but communal interest.

Within the greater context of human interaction such a behavior makes sense. Being group-oriented creatures, what tends to be in the interest of one is in the interest of all. Yet, we must admit that sometimes our selfish desires blind us to what is truly best for our community, and ultimately ourselves. Thus, our innate drive to give is our brain’s way of subconsciously combating our selfish tendencies of “Homo Economicus”, which explains why we give above and beyond what is purely advantageous to us. This research also tells us that giving to communal needs can be just as instinctively rewarding as fulfilling personal needs, such as food or shelter. This finally explains why those of us who give often are found to be much happier than those of us who don’t give at all. And, there is no refuting that happy people lead healthier, more fulfilling lives.

So what does this all mean in practice? The next time you are having a down day, happiness may not be found in another latte or a new pair of shoes, but a donation. Intuitively we know that a latte will only make us happy until we reach the bottom of our cup, but giving someone the amazing gift of a healthy child or an education will give us reason to be happy for days, months, and even years to come. When we focus on giving rather than getting we not only help others, but ironically help ourselves, which we know, buried within the depths of our brain, is the gift of giving.

Sources:

Kristof’s article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/opinion/17kristof.html

Research: Jorge Moll et al., “Human Fronto–Mesolimbic Networks Guide Decisions About Charitable Donation,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103 (2006).

Volunteer statistics: http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/national

Giving statistics: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105178804&ft=1&f=1001

Relief for Haiti

2010-01-15T01:00:00.000-08:00

Some students have been wondering how they can give to help the people of Haiti recover from the recent earthquake that has left the nation's capital, Port-au-Prince, in shambles. Here are a list of suggested charities that students should consider giving to:

American Red Cross International Response Fund:

http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies:

http://donate.ifrc.org/

Mercy Corps Haiti Earthquake Fund:

http://donate.ifrc.org/

UNICEF:

http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=1023561

UN World Food Program:

https://www.wfp.org/donate/haiti?utm_source=clinton&utm_medium=clinton&utm_campaign=clinton

BRAC USA:

https://s71165.gridserver.com/donations/view

(make sure to check the Haiti relief box at the bottom so 100% of your donation goes to the Haiti relief fund)

All of these organization have been vetted and are truly on the front lines of rescue and reconstruction effort that is going to play out over the coming weeks and years. While "cell phone philanthropy", or texting to make a donation has been popular this week, we encourage students to give online. This is due to the delay between when an individual makes the donation and cell phone companies release the funds, up to a 90 day wait in some cases. Thank you for your interest and support for the people of Haiti!

Success - Results of OxyIF's Holiday Giving Campaign

2010-01-05T01:35:00.000-08:00

We are happy to announce the results of our holiday giving campaign! In all over $700 were donated to causes around there world. Here are some of the highlights:

Paid for 7 girls in Afghanistan to attend grades 1-3
Planted 600 in Africa and South America to enrich the soil, prevent erosion, and help rural communities
Provided farm training and materials to 3 women in Sudan
Protected 1 acre of the Amazon Rainforest
Trained 1 local Nicaraguan Artisan
Purchased 1 solar stove for a family in Tibet

Great Job Oxy!

Holiday Giving Campaign

2009-12-05T00:39:00.000-08:00

Occidental Impact Fund is proud to announce our holiday giving campaign. This year instead of giving traditional gifts we encourage students to give donations, in an individuals name, to people and causes that truly need help this season. To do this OxyIF has teemed up with the Jolkona Foundation, a Seattle based micro-giving non-profit, to allowing students to give to over 50 causes worldwide. The gifts available through Jolkona are:

Convenient - this year students are pressed for time. Finals take place right in the middle of the holiday season. Jolkona's gifts can be bought online saving you all the time an energy you would have spent at the mall.
Socially responsible - Jolkona's gifts target numerous causes all over the world from educating girls in Afghanistan to saving old growth rainforest in the Amazon.
Green - Forget all the plastic and packaging that comes with normal gifts. Jolkona gift certificates can be printed out, or sent via email, reducing waste and saving trees.
Great price - with gifts ranging from $5 to over $500 students can find the gifts that fit your price range and make great stocking stuffers too
Truly Unique - Jolkona is dedicated to having a unique "proof" of impact" for every donation. After giving an organization, that organization documents your donations impact through either a photo, video, or letter, to let you, or your gift recipient know how your donation was spent.

If your interested in joining our giving campaign look for us on the quad at lunch this coming Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, or email corbett@oxy.edu.

Happy Holidays,

The OxyIF Team

Launch of the Occidental Impact Fund Blog

2009-08-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

Before the start of this next semester we here at the Occidental Impact Fund (OxyIF) have created this blog as an online giving resource for students on campus. Over the coming months we are going to be posting information here about events, lectures, and giving opportunities on campus, as well as information about our partners and the combined impact we have had as a campus. Take a moment to check out our partners and the various ways you can give through the fund! Thanks for taking the time to see our site.

Best,

The OxyIF Team