Here’s the fine print on their donation pages (at least, for heifers, sheep, llamas, fish and goats; haven’t checked the others):
Gifts made through this catalog represent a gift to the entire mission. To help the most number of families move toward self-reliance, Heifer does not use its limited resources to track gift animals from donation to distribution. We use your gifts where they can do the most good by pooling them with the gifts of others to help transform entire communities. And, because you are helping Heifer fight hunger and poverty, your gift is tax deductible.
Am I just being paranoid, or are they hinting, “We’ll buy and send the specific type of animal shown here if we can, but don’t hold us to it.”
I’ve heard generally good things about Heifer Intl. and hold no brief against the organization.
They’re saying, “What types of animals we buy and send has absolutely nothing to do with which box you check in our catalog. We spend the money however we think best to fight poverty. Animals pictured are for illustrative purposes only.”
The fact that they spend their money wisely instead of being beholden to a silly gimmick in their marketing is one reason they have such a strong reputation among charities.
Yeah, it’s probably to deter people who want pictures of ‘their’ goat or pig or whatnot. Plus, you know, an address to send it birthday cards maybe. I wonder if they’d want pictures of the delicious meal it’s going to represent at some point?
The adopt-a-child charities work the same way, right? Your contribution does not actually go to a specific child, but rather goes into the charity’s general fund.
With regard to the Heifer people, they’re not even necessarily committing to buy an animal of any kind, right? I.e., they might decide that a particular community instead needs a truck.
It may go to the local community of which the child is a part. Sponsor a child in Honduras and it goes to that agency’s work in Honduras (or even the child’s village in Honduras).
I think it means, “We know you will be more likely to give if you have an idea of something tangible that the needy will get from your donation, so we’re going to tell you that we’re giving a family their very own goat. But in reality we’re doing what we consider to be equivalent to that but is actually more practical and doable for us.”
It’s this in large part. Cite: Sister works in the same building as a Heifer Int. office for another charity that has similar programs. Yes, people ask for pictures of “their” goat or whatever, and it would be an absolutely horrific waste of resources to try to trace that sort of thing.
Yeah I think this is basically the same metaphorical notion as gold vs platinum Visa cards or other cutsie names for donor levels at various charities. Donate to the astronomy club! For $50 you become an Asteroid Donor and get a keychain. For $1000 you become a Supernova Donor and get a signed Carl Sagan poster. Fine print: no actual asteroids or supernovas involved.
It’s not quite as disconnected as that. They really do give families their very own goats, and they really do price their donations to match the average cost of giving goats to families. There just isn’t ever going to be a 1 to 1 correlation between donations and goats.
I’ve sponsored various zoo animals, and one of the incentives is that I get a pic and bio of the animal. I wrote in and asked, and was told that my donation was pooled with other donations, as a single donation would feed the animal for about a week or so. However, I can certainly see how this wouldn’t work for an organization like HI.
Actually, one of the conditions of receiving a donation from HI is to pass on the gift. The first time the goat successfully reproduces, the recipient is supposed to pass on the gift, that is, give the (weaned) kid to another family. I’m not sure how HI avoids too much inbreeding, but even a group of inbred goats or whatever is better than no goats. HI doesn’t just give the animals, by the way, but also gives instructions on how to take care of the animals.
I have to say, HI is one of the charities that I donate to. I think that the aims and methods that it uses are admirable. If a family gets a one time gift of money or food, it’s consumed. If a family gets a goat or a flock of chicks or a hive of bees, then the gift keeps on giving the family food. And because the family gives the first kid or new swarm, it allows them the ability to feel like it was a loan, not a gift. And that might be the most valuable thing of all, the ability to give to someone else.
Regarding inbreeding, HI generally provides well-bred females already pregnant. They also provide the community with a well-bred stud animal. For each participant, the first female offspring is passed on (Passing the Gift) to another member of the community. All participants receive training in proper care of their animals. It is an outstanding organization to which I have donated towards llamas, goats, and camels. I have no expectation that specific animals have been given with my contributions. I think they use donors’ animal selections to help guide the focus of their programs in general.
I used go give to HI. So did my husband who was only boyfriend at that time. Once we were together I tried to get them to stop sending expensive, thick-paper, color-photo-filled catalogs to BOTH of us a couple of times a year. Actually I thought the whole catalog was a waste of money but was willing to grant that they needed to fund-raise. However, after sending them four (FOUR) letters asking that they send only one catalog to our house, I got a letter from them which basically said we will send as many catalogs as we want to. Huh? I don’t give to them any more. Sorry. It seemed like a good group but I think they waste their (your) money.
It’s one thing to say, “Once you give your money and we ship the animal, we don’t have the resources to keep track of what happens to it.”
It’s something else to say, “You think you’re giving a particular kind of animal - hell, you’ve even clicked on a link selecting that particular animal from among a coupla dozen options - but we’ll decide what actually gets sent overseas.”
I would have no problem with the first. The second is a bit misleading.
