Travelers' Philanthropy Handbook - Center for Responsible Travel

strong ethical understanding, a strong Trust board of trustees, much debating and deliberating,the two remain in a healthy, mutually beneficial ‘marriage.’• Some SolutionsToday, we have a Calabash Trust UK, through which money is channeled to Calabash TrustSA. We have found organizations like SA Partners in the USA, who are able to assist withgetting money to us, cost-effectively. This also allows donations from U.S. residents to be taxdeductible. We have found the UK based Travel Pledge NGO a very effective way of creatingincome for targeted causes.We have a Tours/Trust committee that meets regularly to unify the work of our two entities. Thedevelopmental imperative and the commercial imperative of each are respected, with bothentities seeking common ground and mutual synergy.Our guides are well briefed on the Trust projects, and gently feed this information into their tourcommentary. Trust brochures are always on our busses. Promoting the Trust and its project isdone with great subtlety and caution. And yet it generates income.In addition, the Trust understands that acknowledged donors become long term friends, so weensure that we honor the commitment of the givers.• VoluntourismThree years ago, it seemed a logical step to move our focus from ‘treasure’ of donors, to include‘talent and time’. We launched a self-funding, responsible volunteer program, which has been ofgreat benefit to our projects. We found a partner in the UK, called People and Places, thatshared our vision of responsible tourism, and travelers’ philanthropy.One of the great benefits of incorporating Voluntourism into our offerings is that this kind oftraveler really understands the needs of the community having spent a month there. We findthat the volunteers take their inspiration and understanding back to their own communities andshare it with others. The combination has resulted in an effective skills transfer from volunteersto the project participants and subsequent donations of treasure for projects.• What is the Structure to Ensure Accountability?Critical Success Factors are as follows:oooooWe have always worked in an honest, transparent way. We believe this has beenimportant to our relationships with communities, projects, Calabash Tours, CalabashTrust and donors.We have a strong board of trustees at Calabash Trust.Calabash Tours and Trust have a shared vision.We sought effective and meaningful partners, and placed trust in people abroad, likeCalabash Trust UK.We developed a reflective culture, looking at what worked, and what did not. Dogmahas no place here!65