Brazil raises only BRL 5 billion in Covid-19 donations

The Covid-19 crisis has sparked an unprecedented wave of donations in Brazil. According to a donation monitor, over BRL 5 billion (USD 904 million) have been raised since the pandemic reached Brazil. By international standards, though, the amount is rather unimpressive — Twitter and Square chief executive officer Jack Dorsey alone has donated more than the entire total of all Brazilian donations so far, with USD 1 billion of his own money.

Still, Brazil has never developed a culture of philanthropy. A 2016 survey shows that Brazilians do engage in charity, but that usually only comes in times of great distress, such as a tragedy. 

Rafael Andrade, director of the endowment fund of São Paulo law school FGV Direito SP, told The Brazilian Report’s Natália Scalzaretto that the pandemic exposes inequalities in society to the point that people are moved to give money. However, it is too soon to know whether Covid-19 will represent an inflection point for Brazil’s philanthropy culture.

• More on this: Could Covid-19 spark a culture of charity in Brazil?

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