Everybody, Stop Saying “Help People in Need”

I am calling on everyone ─ everyday citizens, celebrities, corporations and nonprofits ─ to stop saying help people in need.

I am a nonprofit fundraising and communications professional, and I used that expression for years until a colleague challenged me as to why I was using it as a descriptor. My thinking has evolved since then, and my reasons for removing needy from my lexicon is this:

·??????It is ubiquitous ─ everyone uses it. It doesn’t represent nonprofit organizations or brands in a differentiated way.

·??????It is nonspecific. The needs are expansive; food, shelter, emotional support, training, job opportunities, healthcare, transportation, tutoring, so let’s list what is needed. ???

·??????It is non-emotional. Speaking from the viewpoint that words and impact matter, when we tell the story of people who could truly use support, we should evoke compassion and action. We should offer to donors the promise of what could happen if they joined our cause. We should address wasted potential, not hopeless suffering. (In my opinion, an excellent example of this is UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, and its seven decades-old tagline, A mind is a terrible thing to waste.?)

·??????It is not respectful. ????

I love when charity:water says, “Help bring clean and safe water to every person on the planet,” as compared to when they say, “Clean water for people in need.”

I believe this ask is strong enough without the suffix, “Donate to Reading Is Fundamental to help deliver free books, eBooks and reading resources to children in need.”

I believe we should strive to be more aware that the phrase in need is a label. Even if we don’t say the phrase poor people, the implication is that needy people equals poor people.

Stephanie Land, an American author who writes about poverty in the United States, has eloquently said, “Living in poverty is walking a tightrope over a floor that’s about to drop out from underneath you.” I believe our job as nonprofit professionals is to represent people living in poverty, or living on the edge of poverty, with respect.”

Donors and volunteers engage locally and around the world helping their fellow citizens, and their philanthropic motivations vary, but all giving is rooted in a belief that helping others is a good thing to do. However, supporters can sometimes be harsh or judgmental to the very people they are helping. I believe we could help lessen that behavior by reducing the use of unintentionally negative stereotyping in our collective organizational and personal storytelling efforts.?????

Stigma is a real concern that many nonprofits are actively addressing because a feeling of shame is a barrier to use. Additionally, in the nonprofit community, we know that emotional health affects holistic health and well-being, so we need to be concerned about how our program participants feel. Having to be in a position of asking for help can generate feelings of humiliation and inadequacy. The stress of dealing with scarcity on an ongoing basis is hard enough, without adding the emotional stress of shame and embarrassment, as well as the possibility of receiving disapproving reactions from those who have more than you do. ?

Safeguarding dignity requires conscious thought and action. Let’s keep improving how we connect everyone who engages or benefits from social impact work. ?