Tapu Misa writes that charities always have trouble raising money, but sometimes one person can make the difference.
I don't want much for Christmas, just a millionaire or two. I'd ask for a billionaire but I don't want to seem greedy.
I don't mind if it's an American - the self-described "conscientious objector" Warren Buffett, say, who's promised to give away 99 per cent of his US$47 billion ($64 billion) fortune to charity, or one of the 95 or so Patriotic Millionaires who wrote to President Barack Obama recently, urging him to stand firm against Republican demands to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the richest Americans, which were due to expire at the end of this year.
"We don't need tax cuts," they wrote. "We have done very well over the last several years. Now, during our nation's moment of need, we are eager to do our fair share."
But tax cuts they shall have. In defiance of an already astronomical deficit, US$801 billion worth of tax cuts was approved last week - the reality of a Republican-dominated Congress, and the price, it seems, for getting time-limited unemployment benefits for millions of Americans extended past their expiry date.
The millionaire isn't for me, by the way, although some extra grocery money would come in really handy.
It is impossible when you're involved with a charity, even in a small way, not to be a little obsessed with fundraising. Especially when you know how many lives the money could save.
Even before the recession, raising money was the Everest that had to be climbed before anyone could even begin to think about getting to work.
Now even more time and energy must be spent chasing a diminishing pool of money.
Two years after the recession began, it's getting dire for many organisations. Some good people have had to be let go, and with them have gone experience and capacity.
As a result, fewer people are being helped just as the recession pushes up demand.
These are tough times for the not-for-profit sector. Thank God, then, for people who walk in through the door wanting only to help.
The nice thing about being involved with a not-for-profit is that it tends to bring you into contact with good people,; people who make a difference without ever expecting anything in return.
It's a welcome contrast to working in a business which is too often preoccupied with exposing the ugly side of human nature: the cheaters, the scoundrels, the vain strutters, and the know-nothing loudmouths. Who could blame anyone for thinking that we're all self-absorbed individuals who think only of ourselves?
The antidote to that bleak view of the world is people like Monique Rhodes, a young Dunedin-born singer-songwriter and a former award-winning marketing manager, who lives in the south of France when she's not making extended visits home.
She notes that from France, New Zealand looks idyllic.
"The French just absolutely love us. They love the All Blacks, and they think we're the coolest thing ... yet we have these problems that on some levels don't make much sense - the drinking, the P, the violence towards our kids."
She came home to be "part of the solution", and after two months of researching charities, she walked into the family violence prevention agency Shine this year, and offered her services.
The result is a uniquely New Zealand Christmas album So This Is Christmas, which is on sale at outlets like Farmers and Noel Leemings.
It features treasured Kiwi names such as Sharon O'Neill and Dragon, The Feelers, the Chills, Margaret and Peter Urlich, Jordan Luck, Hollie Smith, Elemeno P, plus a couple of exciting new talents found through a secondary schools competition - Auckland teenagers Massad, and Danielle Rana Feat.
It's been a mammoth undertaking. Monique talked the artists into taking part, found a private philanthropist to bankroll the production costs, and then single-handedly produced and marketed the album.
All the proceeds from the CDs go to Shine and its Safe@Home programme, which allows the victims of domestic violence to stay safely in their homes by strengthening their home and personal security.
I've written about Safe@Home in a previous column. It is hugely effective. Inspector Jim Wilson, area commander for the western suburbs of Auckland City Police District, is a fervent supporter. He says it's the first programme he's seen achieve immediate and tangible results for the victims of domestic abuse. It saves lives, in every sense.
But even at a ridiculously cost-effective $4000 a home, funding constraints have limited its availability in only parts of Auckland, and only until the end of this financial year.
I'm still looking for millionaires, but Monique's message may be more apt.
Doing good and making a positive difference in the world requires practice, she says.
"You don't have to do an album, you can just be kind to people around you ... there's a way in your everyday life that you can make a difference.
"You may be astounded at how even a little thing can make such a difference."
Have a happy Christmas.
Disclosure: I'm on the board of Shine.
Tapu.Misa@gmail.com
