Against all odds: Winning a 2nd gift
File under: Establishing enough trust for a 1st-time gift
A Ugandan charity meets a US donor (me)
The online world of fundraising is full of shadows
I want to help. You want to help. But would you risk a donation to another country?
Below: A real exchange with a purported African dog shelter seeking funds. It says something about donor relations in general.
What happened: The founder of a nonprofit dog shelter asked to connect on LinkedIn. I was open to a new continent; see how charities there work. She was in Uganda. The mission seemed worthy enough. Said OK.
She then messaged me privately, to ask for help with the monthly food bill at the shelter. It was basically: "Hello. I hope you are well, my brother. Will you send us money?"
Welcome to a different world, a different culture, a different set of expectations.
One major thing stood in the way of any first gift from me:
Basic vetting was impossible
It's easy for me to check out an unfamiliar U.S. charity. Head over to Guidestar (of Candid) to pull down the charity's 990, the form annually filed with federal tax authorities. It's got loads of financial details. Secrets are revealed. I look at a few every month, getting to know folks.
Checking out a charity based in Uganda is utterly impossible like that.
Besides, it was a newly authorized charity, with no track record you could judge from.
Besides, I'd been successfully scammed in the past year, out of thousand$. That, by the way, was an extremely well-done fraud; quite classy, decently scripted, possibly from Scambodia. It covered months of back and forth. If you're going to be a sucker, go first class. I learned a lot.
This ask had a different feel. Raw. Real. I messaged her back the good news. She'd made a sale.
Chipped in. First-date gift, to see what happens. You need monthly donors to eliminate this shortage problem. Convince me you're real.
She sent me a photo of her government registration, to reassure me. I said,
Thank you for that. It's convincing-ish. I'll wait to see what you're up to. There are loads of great animal shelters online, making a fortune for their furry guests. Good luck!
I did NOT give a second time. She responded well, I felt.
Thank you for your honest response—I truly appreciate you taking the time to consider my work.
I completely understand your concern. In Uganda, it is not always as easy to verify small, grassroots shelters like ours online, especially compared to systems in the US. We are still growing and working toward more formal structures, but our work is very real and ongoing.
At Katakala Animal Sanctuary, we care for abandoned and vulnerable dogs every day with very limited resources. While we may not yet have the same visibility as larger shelters online, our focus is on giving these animals a second chance through shelter, food, and medical care.
I respect your decision to take time and observe. I will continue sharing updates and our daily work so you can see the impact directly over time.
Thank you again for your openness, and I hope we can build trust step by step.
Four months passed. She sent one ask monthly. I finally responded:
How much does it cost to feed the dogs for a month, I wonder?
She told me: affordable by my standards.
OK! I am ready to donate. Thank you for your patience. Let me reward your persistence. HOW do I give? Is there a GoFundMe page?
I gave my usual "second date" gift, four times bigger; messaged her, so she'd know.
All set & done. By the way: If you plan to raise more money from overseas, there are steps you can take that will establish "enough trust to donate" sooner. That didn't happen for me until I opened your LinkedIn profile. Which came AFTER you and I had had a series of exchanges, which were merely me drilling test holes to determine if you were spam, a scam or artificial intelligence.
Your sincerity somehow bled through all that finally. And applause: Your THANK YOU is exquisite. That is a 1-time gift. Your next task is to turn me into a monthly donor. Is that, for instance, the life beat of the shelter? Would you agree: "We think in terms of months here at the animal shelter. A month's supply of food, water, medicines. That's how we budget. That monthly number determines how many dogs we can shelter. We'd love to shelter more dogs. Which is why we love a lot all the time the shelter's monthly donors. Their hearts beat with the pulse of the shelter, which is its life. If we can reliably grow our monthly...etc."
She responded.
Thank you brother 🙏♥️ Tom we have received your donation May God bless you and your family. 🙏🐾❤️
When I made that second gift, I assumed this Ugandan dog home was not a criminal enterprise.
Now I'm not so sure. How can you be? Every reply from them could have come from AI. The LinkedIn videos showing dogs being fed? Could be staged. And I hadn't yet encountered nauseating headlines like this: Fake shelters are breaking dogs’ legs for donations Story here [WARNING: disturbing images].
I sent her the article, with a comment:
This is an impossible barrier • no one will give who hears this
She responded.
I understand your concern. It can be difficult to know who to trust online, especially with so many scams around. I'm a real person doing my best to care for rescued animals, and I never expect anyone to give if they are not comfortable. I appreciate your honesty and feedback, and I know that building trust takes time. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.
We'll see.
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