At Dalia Association, we often hear people lament that Palestinians receive help but don't extend it. But it’s not true! All over the world there are Palestinians giving back to their community: money, materials, volunteerism, and more. However, these examples of Palestinian giving aren’t well known, thus we believe they should be cherished.
Dalia Association wants you – wherever you live – to document examples of Palestinians giving. We’ll publicize the examples to inspire even more giving. Think about it. There are 10 million Palestinians in the world. If we maximize our community resources, we would strive with self-reliance and rise with a stronger philanthropy to achieve self-determination.
Submit your examples of philanthropy in the form of short stories, poems, photographs, songs or videos and you may win a cash prize for yourself and for a youth organization of your choice. Full contest details are below or by calling +970-2-298-9121.
It’s simple: Research examples of Palestinians giving. Use the internet, social media, groups you belong to, your friends, or your own experience. Write down these examples to help explain the nature of giving, the giver, and the receiver. Be sure to express the giving to prompt inspiration in others to follow suit. You can submit in any of these categories (select the best one):
· Giving financial resources
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Giving in-kind resources
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Volunteerism
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Philanthropic events that embody spirit of giving
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Organized philanthropic work
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Reviving traditional giving
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Giving innovations
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Giving from Palestinians in Diaspora
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Giving from the Palestinian private sector
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Giving from the local community via available resources
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Meeting needs via sharing resources
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Other
If you need help finding inspirational examples of giving, look here.
How do we define giving? We don’t have a definition. We want YOU to decide what giving means to you. Join the discussion on our blog to get ideas and to share yours.
Out of our faith in the enormity of the Palestinian giving, the "Momentum for Philanthropy" competition is open to anyone anywhere, but we especially encourage participation by Palestinian youth all over the world. It's free to enter and you can submit numerous examples as you like. The application is online through the indicated websites and links in this page.
Even if you don’t enter, you can make the competition successful by commenting on the entries, supporting the entrants, and contributing to the discussion about how to promote Palestinian philanthropy.
The purpose of the competition is to help us better understand the range and scope of giving within the Palestinian community worldwide, and at the same time to promote an image of Palestinians as givers. In this way, we hope to encourage discussion about how we can increase Palestinian self-reliance by better using resources within the global Palestinian community.
How Does the Competition Work?
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Research real examples of Palestinians anywhere in the world who are giving back to their community. Document the example in a story of 1500 words or less, a video up to 3 minutes, a poem, song or photo essay.
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Upload your examples to the Dalia Association contest site before the deadline of July 31, 2012. You may submit as many examples as you want, but please submit each as a separate entry.
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Dalia Association posts qualifying entries on the competition blog and promotes their visibility through traditional and social media and community organizing.
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A volunteer committee of youth activists selects winning entries in each category based on the inspiration of the example. Creativity and professionalism of the presentation are also considered. One grand prize will also be awarded, half of which will go to a youth organization of your choice.
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The winning applicants are informed and recognized at an exclusive awards-ceremony in Ramallah in August 2012.
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Dalia Association continues to disseminate winning and non-winning entries as part of its ongoing efforts to build a culture of and systems for Palestinian philanthropy around the globe.
Eligibility
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The example submitted must be real, though it may have been finished in the past, ongoing, or in development for the future.
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All types of philanthropic projects are eligible, whether financial giving, voluntary work, giving via in-kind resources, or resource exchanges. Be creative in your entries!
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The applicant must have consent if revealing any sensitive or proprietary information about an organization or person.
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The competition is open without geographic restriction, that is, entrants can live anywhere and examples can illustrate Palestinians giving anywhere in the world.
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Dalia Association and contest partners reserve the right to check the credibility of an entrant or organization before awarding a prize.
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Submissions can be in English or Arabic. If your submission is in another language, contact us so we can explore how it could be translated.
The Selection Process
All entries will be evaluated by a volunteer committee of youth activists based on the inspiration of the example. Creativity and professionalism of the presentation are also considered. Members of the selection committee are not eligible to win prizes, nor are the organizations they present.
Prizes
Winners in each category will receive certificates of merit. The grand prize winner will receive a $1000 USD cash prize, half of which will go to a youth organization of the winner's choice. Awards will only be disbursed in Palestine, the operating area of Dalia Association. Winners outside Palestine may donate their cash prize to support youth initiatives in Palestine. We may also award Special Mentions to giving examples that did not win, but showed exceptional merit. Awards will be presented at an event especially organized for the benefit of social giving in Ramallah in August 2012. All entrants are invited.
Why Giving?
Long-term dependence on international aid has undermined local, diaspora and private sector philanthropy and volunteerism in Palestine. This has led to further undermine Palestinian self-determination in development. In order to reverse this trend, local initiatives should be resourced, as much as possible, from within the Palestinian community globally, and international resources should be used to supplement locally-led initiatives on local terms. Self-funding will improve development by making local institutions accountable to local communities and directing them to address local priorities not external agendas. Moreover, self-funding is consistent with Palestinian culture and the national struggle.
Dependence on international aid exacerbates hopelessness and helplessness by objectifying beneficiaries and making them feel like beggars. Palestinians’ lack of control over nearly all aspects of their lives—including how resources are used on their behalf—contradicts all enabling factors for health, democracy, sustainable development and non-violent social change.
Why Dalia Association?
We believe that after generations of conflict, dispossession, fragmentation and dehumanization, Palestinians need and deserve to lead their own social change and sustainable development efforts. To this end, Dalia Association mobilizes the abundant resources of the worldwide Palestinian community and their friends—steadfastness, traditions, creativity, faith, expertise and money—and facilitates community decision-making about how these resources should be used to maximize real development.
As the first Palestinian “community foundation,” Dalia Association seeks to make available respectful, accessible, locally-controlled funding that will be an alternative to the dominant international aid system, and simultaneously engage constructively with donors and international NGOs to hold them accountable to higher standards of development practice. Dalia Association aspires to carry on with these activities by allocating and investing in an "endowment" to generate income for upcoming generations, engaging in relevant businesses, and encouraging giving from the local community and the Diaspora. We seek to enhance the public’s trust in civil society and community institutions by promoting transparency and accountability in our own and others’ activities.
Questions?
If you have a question about any aspect of the “Momentum for Philanthropy” Competition, please contact Dalia Association at [email protected]. We will put your question and your answer on the contest blog so other entrants have the benefit of the information.
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