Benevolence is driven by an innate human behaviour giving hope to others. People respond to many tragedies with compassion, often stepping up to help others in different ways—assisting others, donating funds, or giving their time. Over the past decade, global charity, and humanitarian efforts to help others have been staggering. According to the Charities Aid Foundation, World Giving Index (2024), in 2022, Americans, the leading global donors, gave $499.3 billion to charity. These statistics, however, exclude unregistered, not-for-profit, or non-profit organizations and the small-scale charitable acts performed by individuals or groups. 

Despite the substantial financial resources and good intentions, increasing evidence suggests that advancement for individuals experiencing severe financial instability has yet to show consistent progress. Lupton (2011, 2015) argues that while people are very generous in charitable giving, much of their money is wasted or harms the people it is targeted to help. While the intention behind charitable giving and acts of kindness seems noble, its impact on broader societal improvement still needs to be investigated. Furthermore, there is a risk of perpetuating adverse outcomes, inadvertently turning good intentions into bad. Chang (2008) refers to these well-meaning but potentially harmful groups as "bad Samaritans" (p.19) who unconsciously support neo-liberal colonizer/colonizing dichotomies and are more generally defined as "helping behaviours from developed countries" (Pinazo et at., 2010, p. 393). 

This study was grounded in Niehaus's (2020) theory of good intentions, stating that "altruists' effectiveness often falls short of their intentions" (p.1). This research tested this theory based on the above arguments and the researcher's extensive work in a developing country that receives much small-scale charity. This research explored the behaviours, motivations, and initiatives of these good-intentioned, small-scale individuals and groups, assessing the perceived impact of their endeavours.  

A case study research method was chosen because of the qualitative methods of combining extensive personal experience with investigating individuals and groups of people in a localized area. (Yin, 2018). The terms unauthorized non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and charity groups were deliberately chosen to represent smaller-scale altruistic entities, distinct from the more prominent, authorized NGOs like the United Nations or Red Cross. Participant selection initially targeted a few known individuals and then employed the snowball technique. Criteria for participation included: i) involvement in charitable actions within the area over the past decade (2013-2023) and ii) not being affiliated with an NGO or registered charity group. Ten participants were interviewed, conducted both virtually and face-to-face in three months. The interview questions were designed to target participant demographics, how and why they started their charitable work in the area, the motivations behind their actions, the nature of their charitable acts, and their perceived impact. Following Yin's approach (2018) to data analysis, the data was examined and categorized. The primary focus was identifying recurring themes from participants' reflections and personal insights to offer empirically grounded conclusions.

The findings of this case study confirmed Niehaus's (2020) theory of good intentions, highlighting the frequent failure to achieve the intended goal of assisting others, often resulting in the giver feeling more fulfilled than the receiver. Additionally, the responses of most participants aligned with similar studies, indicating that well-intentioned individuals and their actions supported neoliberal helping imperatives (O'Sullivan & Smaller, 2023) and perpetuated dominant colonial ideologies. While these acts may offer short-term hope, they have unintended consequences. Reflecting on these findings and my work with marginalized people striving for a better future, I concluded that many well-intentioned efforts require more intentional purpose and direction for positive effectiveness and more sustainable and decolonizing change. Also, they are often driven by individuals unknowingly supporting dominant neoliberal agendas. Overall, good intentions lack sustainability and the development of the receivers' human skills to advance the betterment of their lives, often causing more harm than good. Rather than fostering economically self-reliant citizens and societies, these actions foster reliance on external aid, perpetuating colonization. The culmination of these findings underscores the urgent need for action: a call for all individuals engaging in well-intentioned behaviours to critically reflect on their beliefs, values, and actions to support shifts of consciousness (Gorski, 2008) and develop the capacity to identify any colonizing implications of their good intentions. This approach aligns with the principles of transformative learning (Mezirow, 2000, 2006) and transformative leadership (Shields, 2013). Extending this approach beyond educational boundaries is critical because of the growing global population of small-scale, well-intentioned charity groups and individuals.

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