Background Research

With a literacy rate of 64.2%, Ghana has the 161st (out of 192) lowest literacy rate in the world, even though it has enjoyed relative political and economical stability compared to many countries in West Africa (List of countries by literacy rate). Although public elementary education is readily available to many Ghanian children, there are still under-served areas, such as the James Town Beach area near Accra, Ghana's capital. Many children in James Town roam around the beach, sometimes peddling goods, sometimes just wandering because their families cannot afford school fees, school supplies, or uniforms. In some cases, the family may need whatever small income the child is making selling goods; even if they could afford to send the child to school, they may not be able to absorb the loss of income. It is within this context that Streetwise strives to provide the opportunity of education to the children of James Town.

Africa is no stranger to relief and non-profit organizations, frequently receiving aid to address issues such as the HIV epidemic, human rights violations, poverty, sanitation, and education. Most organizations, such as Save the Children, choose to focus on a particular cause or demographic. Save the Children's main objective is to recruit donors who will give $28 a month to support a particular child. Donors are able to “choose” a child from a selection of needy children advertised on the website and thereafter receive correspondence from the child in the form of pictures, letters, and drawings. Perhaps the hallmark of the Save the Children campaign is the TV commercials that featured an actress—frequently Sally Field—and a desolate looking child or children huddled against a wall with only scraps for clothes.

Save the Children boasted an operating budget of $361 billion in 2007 – a clear indicator of success (Annual Report). Part of my plan for Streetwise is to create a website similar to that of Save the Children, containing stories and pictures of individual children benefitting from the donations. Unlike Save the Children, however, Streetwise will not allow donors to select a particular child to sponsor. Donations will be used to purchase school supplies, uniforms, and school fees for all 21 children currently enrolled in the program. While the money will be clearly accounted for, it will be distributed as seen fit by the administrators in Ghana. Donors will still receive correspondence from the children in the Streetwise program, but this method eliminates the potential problem of donors choosing a particular child because he or she is adorable or looks the most impoverished or based on some other characteristic.

Other differences between Streetwise and Save the Children involve the population served and the tone of advertising for the program. Save the Children operates in eleven countries in Africa, but Ghana is not among them. In addition, Save the Children spends the donor money on many aspects of a child's life, including, but not limited to, education. As a small, young, non-profit, Streetwise has a more modest goal of only providing the opportunity for education at this time. Finally, Streetwise will employ a more hopeful and positive tone than the ads produced by Save the Children. I have frequently watched a friend or family member change the channel when a Save the Children ad comes on because he or she finds the commercial “too sad.” It seems to be too awful to think about, so he or she opts to make the commercial go away instead of watching and feeling depressed and/or guilty. Although I have no concrete evidence, I hypothesize that less heart-wrenching advertisements might retain potential donors who are scared off by those produced by Save the Children. Streetwise publications and pictures will not attempt to convey a falsely positive illustration of the children's situation, but instead will feature photos of children in their school uniforms purchased by Streetwise or statistics regarding the number of children Streetwise has supported and how their lives have changed.

On a broader level regarding non-profits and their fundraising methods, eBay and other online markets have started a movement to donate a percentage of one's purchase to a qualified non-profit organization. I find this idea particularly clever because it requires so much less effort and motivation on the part of the donor than traditional online donations that require a donor to seek out an organization on his or her own and figure out how to make a donation.

eBay, coupled with MissionFish, provides a simple, user-friendly way to donate to a charity, even if a potential donor is unaware of a specific charity to which he or she would like to contribute. This system also eliminates the potential embarrassment a supporter may feel about making a very small donation. Many sites, such as the American Red Cross, Save the Children, and Habitat for Humanity International, actually require a minimum donation of $10, which may deter people who would like to make a donation of a smaller amount. To encourage Ebay users to support their charities of choice, Ebay also refunds a portion of the item listing fee when the seller contributes some of his or her profit to that charity.

Since Streetwise does not need to raise a gigantic sum of money—around $5,000 annually—a constant stream of small donations can have a significant impact on the fundraising efforts. Because Streetwise does not yet legally qualify as a non-profit, it can't be listed on eBay's list of charities; however, Streetwise can use the same model to accumulate small donations. For example, my friend Meredith Silverman (ITP '08) has a store on Etsy—an online market for handmade goods—and is willing to donate a small amount of every sale to Streetwise. Finding ways to generate donations—even small ones—without the massive amount of effort required to host a fundraiser—will be a key factor in providing Streetwise with a stable source of income. In addition, as part of my thesis, I will be beginning the process of filing legal paperwork to attain official non-profit status for Streetwise. When that is eventually accomplished, Streetwise can be added to various lists of charities needing support on sites such as Ebay.

On a much smaller and local level, Streetwise is also related to and inspired by the NYU Graduate Student Childcare Subsidy program. The program provides full-time graduate students who have children under the age of six with a bursar credit of $200 a semester (Childcare Subsidy). While the connection is not immediately obvious, Streetwise and the NYU Childcare Subsidy actually serve almost identical purposes. In the case of Streetwise, children receive an education, and the children's parents receive a stipend to recover any loss of income due to the child attending school instead of working. At NYU, the roles are reversed; the program helps adults attend school by contributing to any expenses they incur for childcare. This program also reflects the scale at which Streetwise operates; it can't provide a tremendous amount of financial aid, but it strives to increase the feasibility that a family member can attend school.