BN Feedback Box: Begging for Money – How Much? How Often?

Hey guys! I hope you’re having a great morning so far? At BellaNaija, we’re very grateful that you guys take time out of you schedules to stop by the site to read and even leave comments. It makes the effort all the more rewarding knowing that you guys stop by to visit EVERYDAY!

We’ve been having a bit of a challenge on the BN team and we decided to bring it up with you guys so we can have a feel of what you guys think. Feedback is a very essential part of how we work at BellaNaija and we’re ever so happy to have you guys.

Background
The fact that Nigeria has poor health care infrastructure is one worrying aspect of our society. There are a lot of people who are in need of good health care especially with a need for financial support and get a barrage of emails requesting that we offer assistance by publishing some of these requests. In the past, we have been particularly cautious about this because of a number of reasons which I shall attempt to explain.

BellaNaija’s Current Position
1. We do not have the staff strength to verify these claims or prove the authenticity of these requests, we are particularly wary about putting out information on the site which we can’t verify. We are very particular about this and maintaining BellaNaija’s standards of quality, we are unable to check that the stories and the photos sent to us are genuine and a true reflection of the infirmity.

2.We have no way of finding out if the funds gathered through our medium are being channeled to the actual problem. There’s the concern that there’ll be a mismanagement of funds or a diversion of funds for purposes not pre-determined. So, we don’t want a situation where we put out a call for funds and then there’s no accountability and somehow BellaNaija’s brand is brought to disrepute as a result of this.

At the moment, what we do is try to send an email back, inquiring if the people involved are willing to share their stories, thereby leaving it up to the readers to choose if they want to make further inquiries. Many times we don’t get any more emails, and we’ve gotten a few responses saying they’re not sure they want to share the intricacies of what their ailments entail. Some have responded that they aren’t averse to sharing their stories. So basically, it’s not an issue that we’re immune to or turning a deaf ear to.

We Need Your Feedback
We have decided to bring this issue to you guys to help provide some clarity on how to proceed. It is important to note that as soon as we open this door, we’ll be unable to close it down. Opening the door means, publishing every email (along with pictures) with the account numbers. This means we’d publish all emails which come to us as and how they are sent to us without any kind of verification with the caveat that BellaNaija shall not be held liable for any misappropriation of funds or any form of liabilities which arise from a reader’s decision to give to the cause.

The other option is to continue what we’ve done in the past; trying to follow as many leads as we have the capacity to do, given our limited resources, try to get the human angle of the story, share it and if anybody is inspired to give, they can go ahead and seek further information on how they can help.

Drop A Message
Please let us know what you think about this matter? We really appreciate as much feedback as we can get because don’t want to give off the vibe that we’re completely oblivious to the plight of people. However, we have to find the best way to tackle this situation for an optimal use of out platform to come to the aid of people in need.

Photo Credit: bronzeagebabies.blogspot.com