There was one particular line in Heath Cabot’s article, Crisis, Hot Spots and Paper Pushers: A Reflection on Asylum in Greece, that struck me. He said, “On Facebook, people from places like California post their plans to fly to Greece to provide humanitarian support; they crowdsource their efforts on GoFundMe pages. But, frankly, this all seems to be coming a little late.” For whatever reason, this made me think of the frequent romanticization of nonprofit work, specifically within the refugee crisis in this case. Everyone says that they want to “make the world a better place.” Everyone says that they want to “make a difference.” Everyone says that they want to “elicit change.” But with what intention? It frustrates me to think that most of these people don’t have genuine intentions, that most of these people get wrapped up in the “glamour” of working in third world countries. Too many people volunteer just to say, “I volunteered.” If we genuinely cared about some of the systemic, global and domestic issues that are shaping our world, I feel as though we would have made an effort long ago – before the issue got “popularized” – before the issue gained media attention – before the judgment that would inevitably result from peers if you didn’t “contribute to this noble cause.” Too many individuals contribute with the wrong mindset and for the wrong reasons, and frankly, too many individuals contribute too late.

But I guess on the flipside, would you rather have people contribute with poor intentions versus not contributing at all? Does volunteering carry the same weight regardless if you do it to put on your resume or if you do it because you genuinely care? Does intention really matter? Personally, these are questions that I struggle with simply because I feel as though if you aren’t doing something for the right reason, then you shouldn’t be doing it. But that perspective has definitely been challenged. It’s difficult enough to raise awareness, funds, and build social impact campaigns as is, it would be even more challenging to do so strictly by means of well-intentioned, “doing it for the cause” people. So I guess this is where I struggle in my personal nonprofit organizations and it’s clear that it’s an issue among not only my generation, but the working generation above me as well. I’m not sure if there will ever be a black-and-white answer to this, but I certainly know where I stand.