Reposted from the Cardus After Hours blog (RIP).

Robert Egger spoke at NetChange week at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto recently. You can watch the 45 minute video—skip the first 4:45 if you want to get to the core. I liked his attitude around charity suffering from a weak and passive public and self image problem. There is a lot going on that needs to be considered again. He suggested that his charity approach is different.

“My charity rocks. My charity roars. My charity is a money-making, poverty slaying love machine. My charity is anything but a charity in the traditional sense.”

There is so much work, so much good, done everyday by charities that goes mostly unnoticed. The funding structures that perpetuate dependence from both the charity side and for those that are sometimes served by charities, must be reconsidered. Charitable work in Canada and the US is massively important along many lines—social, economic, cultural, religious, and nearly any other social or economic vector we care to pursue.

I read a paper last week on proposed Social Impact Bonds that have worked in the UK and are being considered in Canada. It is but one among many possible arrangements that could change how we approach making our society better, closing up some of the gaps, looking after people who really need help in a way that is genuinely helpful, not dependence inducing.

For all of you who are in pursuit of more than just maintaining the way things are in the civic core, in the voting, giving, volunteering, charitable and nonprofit sector, let the flames be painted. Bring on the attitude. Yell at the donkey.