Giving, Giving, Gone By David Williams (he/him)
The fleeting nature of internet trends has resulted in a surge of attention and donations to charitable causes until a new trend replaces it. David Williams investigates and owns up to his own fickle charitable giving and explores the consequences of trending social causes. A common thread binds together an attempted insurrection, an apocalyptic Covid-19 wave, missile attacks against refugees, and a transgender weightlifter. In the first six months of 2021, each of these events captured our collective attention. They awakened our emotions, forcing each of us to decide where we stood on these issues. I was not spared from being ensnared by the emotional vortex that came from watching each of these events play out. To show that I cared, I donated money to causes that help alleviate the suffering of those caught up in the action or help fight those doing the damage. On the morning of Thursday seventh of January, we were all glued to our TVs and social media feeds watching far right insurrections storming the United States Capitol and pushing American democracy to breaking point. That day, I donated $10 to Anti-Racist Action, $11 to Black Lives Matter, and $20 to two prodemocracy organisations. When India was consumed by their second wave of Covid-19 in the first week of May, I donated $45 to World Vision’s India appeal. Three weeks later when Gaza was going through some of the worst
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bombing campaigns in recent memory, I donated $100 to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, better known as UNRWA – a relief organisation designed to help Palestinian refugees.
Donating to each of these causes made me feel good. I had done my part to try and make the world a better place. But secretly, I also donated to them because they were trending. Even here at home when transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard was selected to represent New Zealand at the Tokyo Olympics, resulting in horrible derogatory comments coming to the surface, I donated $10 to Rainbow Youth and $10 to InsideOUT. Donating to each of these causes made me feel good. I had done my part to try and make the world a better place. But secretly, I also donated to
them because they were trending. For a short period of time, each of the events I mentioned occupied a prime place in my consciousness because they were atop of the news cycle and across social media. I wanted to act like I cared about what was going on at that very moment. Sudden surges in support for trending causes are very common. Many charities and organisations reap the benefits of such surges. After far-right former politician Nigel Farage labelled the UK's Royal National Lifeboat Institution a “taxi service for migrants”, donations surged. They raised almost £200,000 in one day after his comments. This phenomenon occurs for New Zealand organisations as well. Tabby Besley from InsideOut, an organisation supporting LGBTQ+ people, saw a rise in donations after Family First sent a transphobic document to schools. “We made a tweet encouraging people to donate to help with sending our trans affirmative resource to schools. It got a great response.”
