Not the land of philanthropy

The Italian charity's raffle to thank only those who do good has been a failure. It was blocked before the launch due to stinginess. In six months, only six tickets of 500 euros each were sold in Italy, so there was no opportunity to hold a raffle or to direct the sums raised to third sector charities. And those measly six thousand euros were returned to the respective recipients with great displeasure. Unsurprisingly, the Monopolies Agency issued a statement yesterday saying the "laughable amounts" were enough to cancel the draw for lack of the raw material: money. The great defeat that hides the troubling reality of charity: those who have the most, give the least.

But let's break it down in order. In 2018, a "charity lottery" law was enacted to encourage donations of at least €500. But it wasn't until 2021 that an ordinance was passed setting a time (extremely short) of six months, from February through July, during which the lottery was to begin. The event, by the way, started quite modestly, aimed mainly at large companies, which, however, ignored it. However, it was supposed to be a novelty in the Italian lottery world. The winner of the drawing would have the privilege of choosing and naming one of the philanthropic projects proposed by the Foundation: it would be a good moral satisfaction for the good done. Instead, this year, the projects that were slated for this year's lottery proceeds are vague: fighting poverty, social inclusion, and combating lack of education.

And there is a frustrated atmosphere at the Foundation. The six "beneficiary heroes" who had given 500 euros to support the social initiative were again tied up by the administration and returned the five thousand euros, perhaps a little surprised at such widespread indifference.

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However, the Fund assures that managers of 20 large companies have shown interest in the project. They should have bought a ticket for every big contract, but they forgot their intentions. But organizers will try again next year in an attempt to offer a wider distribution of the laudable initiative. The numbers don't inspire optimism, though. Italy is not as generous a country as we would like to believe. Italians donated just over 10 billion euros last year, just 0.2% of the 5 trillion euros of financial wealth of their citizens, who are among the holders of the largest private wealth in the world. The donations of Americans exceed those of our compatriots by 48 times. And the comparison is somewhat less brutal when it comes to what the British, Germans and French are doing.

The most supported sectors are medical and humanitarian crises, medical research, social assistance and poverty alleviation. But these are modest sums, mostly donated by individuals, even those who can't afford it. However, the richest of the rich are the least generous in proportion: they give away just 0.1% of their financial wealth. A few examples: the average donation from a fortune between 500 thousand and one million euros is 3376 euros, from 1 to 5 million about 4 thousand euros, and from 5 to 10 million the donation reaches only 6800 euros. In general, more can be done.