Joana Lee Ribeiro Mortari

According to the recent research promoted by IDIS and presented at the Brazilian Philanthropy Forum, 59 per cent of Brazilians who donate do it because it makes them feel good. Nice. When they understand that feeling good does not necessarily change things we will be heading somewhere.

This is the mindset change that has to be promoted in Brazil and Minister Gilberto Carvalho seems to have a legitimate interest in doing so. One of the first speakers of the day, he said that philanthropy in Brazil should not be understood as something done to make up for the insufficiency of the government but as part of each citizen’s civic duty. I happen to agree.

Brazilians often feel that paying our nation’s incredibly high taxes is their entire civic duty. In addition, businessmen often feel that their social investments are the most important piece of the cake … The world, nevertheless, is showing us that sharing efforts and information is key for humanity to find a way out of social exclusion.  Good start for the Brazilian Philanthropy Forum.

Joana Lee Ribeiro Mortari is the manager of Associação Acorde, an NGO that promotes empowerment of children and youth in São Paulo.