May Week Alternative: A different approach to giving
Alfie Eltis talks to this year’s presidents Abe Tolley and Rebecca Tyson about the movement’s philosophy, how MWA has grown and where it’s headed next
Since it was founded at Cambridge University in 2018, May Week Alternative has raised over £220,000, with donations from over a thousand students. Abe Tolley and Rebecca Tyson have been involved in MWA since 2018, when it started as an idea between friends, and now lead this year’s committee. Their enthusiasm is palpable, even through the stop-and-start connection of our Zoom call.
Most May Week Alternative donations go to the movement’s recommended charity, the Against Malaria Foundation, which provides long-lasting anti-malaria nets in countries across the Global South. MWA is partnered with the Against Malaria Foundation because of the charity’s effectiveness, rigour and transparency, which has made it one of GiveWell’s top-rated charities. However, students taking part in MWA can also pick a cause of their choice; Abe tells me these have ranged from large organisations like Cancer Research UK to small, local charities. All donations are matched by MWA’s partners, so “200% of your money” goes directly to charity.
“Covid-19 has inevitably posed challenges for MWA, but this year’s committee has still managed to raise over £70,000 from more than 400 students, helping protect around 85,000 people from malaria”
What is distinctive about MWA is their philosophy of giving. The movement encourages people “to adopt a positive approach towards deliberate, effective giving.” This is based on a belief that people in countries like the UK often donate to charity out of guilt, induced by images of suffering or discomfort with their own relative privilege in the world. This can produce a culture of giving that is sporadic, feels negative, and prevents real, lasting engagement with the causes people are donating to. Explaining his own decision to get involved in MWA, Abe says, “I just found the idea so incredibly intuitive, that charity should be something that’s celebrated, rather than an afterthought or something that you’re guilted into doing. And that is really the fundamental bit of the MWA philosophy, in everything we do.”
Part of this more “deliberate” approach to giving is the relatively large amount of money MWA recommends as a donation — £150, the approximate cost of a May Ball ticket. As this may not be financially feasible for some, students are also encouraged to donate any amount “personally significant” to them. Rebecca explains how this gets students to properly investigate the cause they’re donating to and budget around their donation, ensuring that the act of giving is “very deliberate. I have to think about that money.”
“Charity should be something that’s celebrated, rather than an afterthought or something that you’re guilted into doing. And that is really the fundamental bit of the MWA philosophy”
I ask whether the May Week framing of the movement – the symbolic donation of the price of a May Ball ticket, and the alternative Summer Party MWA holds during Cambridge’s Ball season – is a commentary or criticism of the May Ball tradition. They are both insistent that this isn’t the case, and that people can donate to May Week Alternative whilst attending regular May Balls. Abe says the group’s name is unfortunate in this respect. “It is an alternative way of thinking about May Week, not an alternative to a May Ball”. The aim is to “enshrine giving as another May Week tradition”, alongside its traditional events. The movement has also transcended its May Ball framing this year, expanding beyond Cambridge to Oxford, Durham and Glasgow University under the name Raise.
Covid-19 has inevitably posed challenges for MWA, but this year’s committee has still managed to raise over £70,000 from more than 400 students, helping protect around 85,000 people from malaria. They’ve maintained a sense of camaraderie over virtual socials, and are looking forward to food, drinks and live music at the upcoming Summer Party. Although government regulations could mean a more low-key, socially distanced event, Rebecca isn’t worried: “it’s meant to be a modest celebration”, as opposed to “something really lavish and all about the event”. Too grand a celebration of altruism would seem counterintuitive. Importantly, the party is not funded using MWA’s donations, instead relying on volunteers and separate contributions from attendees. The Summer Party brings the committee together with hundreds of donors, but it is not supposed to be the end-point of individuals’ involvement in MWA. Instead, the aim is that they carry its ethos of deliberate and effective giving with them after Cambridge, and make charity a regular and fulfilling part of their lives.
To find out more about May Week Alternative, or apply to next year’s committee, go to: http://www.mayweekalternative.org.uk/
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