Travelers' Philanthropy Handbook - Center for Responsible Travel

• Travelers’ Philanthropy: Why Get Involved? A rationalTravelers’ philanthropy is an important element in the construction of a progressive societybecause it:ooooooooFacilitates community and good citizenshipFacilitates private action in public spaceSupports innovation and creates possibility for social transformationGenerates social and environmental capital for conservationProvides resources for social developmentMitigates the impact of state economic policyProvides moral leadership and,Offers a cost-effective means of delivering social and conservation services.While our experience demonstrates that these rationales are reasonable and acceptable, noneof them bear fruit in the short-term. Done well, travelers’ philanthropy requires in depth planning,robust finance, competence, and a long-term perspective in order to reach lasting results. Yes,there are certainly many worthy causes to be supported that doesn’t require a progressive ortransformative structure; unfortunately, they never seem to last very long.In this paper we have set out to discuss some of therequirements for progressive projects that aretransformative to the local society and require higherinvestment levels over longer time. And we look at howthey can be managed by smaller businesses likeBasecamp. One of the absolutely unique aspects oftravelers’ philanthropy is that it has the potential for longterm planning – for at least as long as the horizon of atourism business’ investment. It is easy to fall into thepattern of thinking and planning at a three to four yearperspective, since many NGO’s and developmentorganizations are tied to time frames of that length. With asustainable tourism business as the financial backbone,we can dare to look further ahead, at least five to tenyears, and hopefully longer. We know that challengesincluding poverty reduction, adaptation to climate change,environmental sustainability simply will not be addressedin the short-term.Dhow building cooperative, Lamu, Kenya.Credit: Peter JordanThis brings us to another unique characteristic of travelers’ philanthropy. Since one of thefundamental requirements for building sustainable tourism businesses is based on a return oninvestment over a long time, the basis for long-term donor funding is already there -- the visitorsand potential philanthropists. Serious tourism and travel businesses have the potential to deliverconsistently and sustainably to local projects through well-managed travelers’ philanthropyprograms.However, with economic, political, and natural disasters causing volatility in the tourism industry,124