What's on TV: Saturday, August 11

Compass

ABC, 6pm

Beginning at a Sydney cocktail party, where three small non-profit organisations are pitching in person to wealthy potential donors, this Compass episode provides a glimpse of the competitive future of philanthropy.

All three groups, whether they feed the impoverished, help female refugees adapt, or shelter the victims of domestic violence, are grass roots-based and sustained by the dedication of volunteers, and you might wonder whether the benefits of possible funding outweigh the valuable time spent on presentations.

In documenting how the six-minute pitches are constructed you get a sense of how necessary these services are, and how worrying it is that they have to go cap in hand to the privileged. CM