Of all the things that have been brought into sharp relief by the events of 2020 and the ongoing effects of the global pandemic, one of the most obvious is the importance of charity. With billions of people across the world cut off from their regular employment or forced into harsh living conditions, the need for charity has never been greater.

The importance of charity has come into focus not only because of the precarious conditions that the pandemic has forced many individuals to endure. On a more fundamental level, the ongoing effects of the pandemic have revealed deep social and economic divisions in society that were long under-scrutinised. And with the necessary measures taken by governments in response to the threat of the virus leading to the collapse and degradation of many of the support networks we have always been reliant on, the need for charity and philanthropy has never been more urgent.

In this context, we have begun to see changes in how people are giving and receiving charity in response to the events of the last year. With this in mind, the following article will focus on two charitable trends that became increasingly common over the course of 2020.

The first trend we will look at is how charity has ‘gone local’. For many decades now, the world of charity and giving has been dominated by the large, often international charities, which engage in massive fundraising efforts and distribute any funds they amass globally. The likes of Concern, UNICEF, Oxfam, and Trocaire are some of the charities that spring to mind when thinking about this trend. These charities are as close to multinational corporations as they are ‘charities’ in the historic meaning of the term. And in order to drive their massive, global fundraising efforts, they have a vast supporting network of offices and staff to facilitate the process. This organisational infrastructure can often be very expensive to run, however, with the amount of money it takes to run a charity always a hot topic in the news.

One of the unfortunate consequences of the pandemic is that these large-scale charities have been unable to engage in the kinds of highly publicised fundraising efforts that they usually rely on. As such, these large charities have been calling out for donations to not only distribute to those in need, but also to keep the charitable organisations operational.

In this context, we have seen more and more locally-focused or community-owned charities stepping in to pick up the shortfall. This has redirected philanthropic funds, which would typically be channelled internationally, back towards the local community that needs it most. In this sense, charity over the last year has become increasingly locally focused.

Another important trend, and one that goes hand in hand with the previous trend set out, is a marked increase in corporate charity. With many large charities struggling to amass public donations, we have seen an increasing number of companies across a variety of sectors undertaking charitable activities as a way of giving back to the communities in which they typically operate.

This is also known as ‘corporate social responsibility’, which is essentially a buzz word that describes companies giving back to the communities they service. One case in point that illustrates this trend in South Africa is the GrandWest Casino in Cape Town, which has displayed corporate responsibility with donations to schools.

The GrandWest Casino, which is a popular entertainment destination in Cape Town, has committed to supporting a local school through donations of meals to hundreds of children in need. They have provided the Valhalla Secondary School in Elsies River with a sizable donation to ensure that the 165 learners relying on the school feeding programme can continue to be fed. The casino has also pledged to support the supply and installation of a container kitchen that will enable the school to produce its own meals. Moved by the economic precarity that many were experiencing due to the ongoing impact of the pandemic, GrandWest Casino took it upon themselves to support those in need locally.

This situation not only shows how the pandemic is revealing deep divisions and unmet economic needs within societies across the world, but also gives us a sense of how an awareness of this is pushing us to give charitably within our own communities – and with a bit of luck, this trend will carry on throughout 2021 and beyond.