to think that these "challenges" people do for charity are basically holidays?

[ohbugrit]

I know people who've done parachute jumps, abseiling, etc, but also some folk who're raising money so they can walk the Great Wall of China for charity. How does this work? Aren't they just getting us to pay for their walking holiday then also presumably getting us to sponsor them to do it? Or AIJB a miserly bag?

Someone I know was going to do a cycle ride in China a couple of years ago, for charity. She got thousands in sponsorship by constantly bugging people on FB. In the end for some reason she decided not to do the cycle ride and pulled out but just said in her FB status "the charity will receive more money as I won't be doing the bike ride" and didn't offer anyone, who had sponsored her to actually do the damn thing, any money back.

If these people really were doing for the sake of the charity, wouldn't they seem grateful when I tell them that I have sent an even larger cheque direct to the charity instead of going through their sponsor programme. They never do

haha the arguments i've gotten into over this topic in the past.
If you ask me to sponsor you to do a bunjee jump or climb killimanjaro don't get offended when I laugh and point blank refuse.

These were so popular when I was at university. People seemed to be happy to give money, I thought it was very odd.

I have an acquaintance, however, who recently had a fund-raising night for her Masters. She basically put on a gig and asked her friends to pay to come to it (fair enough) and then had a bucket asking people to put in money so she could pay to go back to university. Cheeky cow. Apparently loads of people put money in as well!

Maryz your daughter sounds incredibly mature, you have brought her up to be very sensible.

They piss me off no end. But...having worked for an NGO with limited funds I can see why so many charities are keen to incentivise people to fund raise for them.

As for the whites in shining armour on gap yahs [head explodes with rage]. How is sending an unqualified and monolingual 18 year old to a developing country really going to help? Odd that none of them want to hear that

I did an ultra marathon a few years ago. The entry fee was £2500 so I got two companies to sponsor me for that (my employer and one other in return for motifs on kit and a mention on the Just Giving page and charity's annual report), and then everything I raised from individuals went to the charity.

I met some people on the race who raised, say, £5k, but £2.5k was cost, so only 50p in the £ that people gave them was actually going to the charity. It does beg the question of "Why don't I just give you 50p instead of a £ and you can just stay at home?"

my DH always says: Why should I sponsor someone for doing something they ENJOY doing anyway? we just do direct debit to charities of our choice.

yanbu

Chandon It's hard, and I kind of agree with your DH. I wasn't going to get sponsored as it was primarily a personal challenge, and I know people are so "sponsorshipped out" but then loads of people I told about it said "Oh, well make sure you send me your sponsorship page" so then I thought I shd probably try to make some money out of it for a favourite (small, unsexy, local) charity. Then people sent it on and on and I ended up raising a lot. However, after I initially sent the page out, I didnt follow up/nag, so I hope people didnt feel they had to.

I think some people on here are being a bit miserable about it.

1. It's mainly students and young people who do this kind of thing (ime). They don't have massive amounts of money and are gaining amazing world experiences as well as both doing something good for charity and having a good time. Why begrudge a couple of pounds for a young person to be able to do that?

2. I've never done an official 'challenge' type set up but I have spent severa; summers working with street children and in orphanages in South America and it is most certainly not a holiday! I don't find it particlarly fun or relaxing to try and talk a family into giving their 8 year old son a roof over his head (they threw him onto the streets because he sexually abused his baby sister - now, where could he have learned that I wonder?!) It's not a holiday to look after young girls with untreated STIs, try to engage children who have been abandoned and abused, be followed through a favela by a man with a knife or build a security wall by hand to try and keep at risk children safe.

3. It's all very well for people to say they're not going to donate to a skydive challenge because they'd rather give the money directly to the charity but how many people would think to give the money to the charity if they hadn't been asked for sponsorship? These events raise awareness and get more people to give money than would otherwise have done. I don't see how that can be a bad thing.

As a cancer patient I am not mad keen on a great deal of fundraising things - stupid fucking pink tea parties and all that for breast cancer.

But a large number of the these challenges are undertaken by people who are recovering from/suffering from illness - breast cancer being a case in point. Or people who have direct experience of the charitable cause (raising money for children with CP etc.)
A group of women I know with BC secondaries did an epic climb. They raised a shitload of money as well as achieving a huge amount for themselves physically and emotionally.

If you don't want to sponsor someone then don't. But they remain a very effective way for charities to fundraise.
People who say they give to charities in 'other ways' need to remember that they are not being targeted by the charities with this - they aren't interested in getting money from people who give to charity already. They are trying to get money out of people who wouldn't give unless there was something in it for them. (A trip to Macchu Picchu etc.)

We didn't stay in hotels when I did it. We stayed in very basic hostels, often without no electricity or running water, sometimes at houses of local people who were paid to help put, therefore helping local economy a bit.

The other thing to think about is how many people who say they'd prefer to give money direct to charity (rather than sponsoring someone's "holiday") actually would give money to charity? I'm not saying they would deliberately refuse, but would they get around to doing it if someone didn't approach them directly?

I'm sure you'll all reply now with lists of the charities you support etc etc, but that isn't my point. Rightly or wrongly, these trips raise awareness and funds for charities who otherwise wouldn't have got the money. Sony all means refuse to sponsor people, but please find put what their charity is and give the money direct to them.

With no electricity, not without no electricity!

So by, not Sony. Got I hate this iPad sometimes.

And fine put, not find put!

I can see why charities do this and other fundraising geegaws. Sponsored runs are sponsoring someone's fitness regime, charity galas are a big and expensive party, challenges are sponsoring someone's holiday of a lifetime ... But people are more willing to give money to these things than the charities themselves. I suppose it is ok if the runner, trekker etc... pays their own way and then raises money on top of that. But still it is an expensive way to give to charity, as someone has to pay for the expense of the fundraising activity.

The school/scout/church/gap year trips to go and paint/build schools/hug orphans/deliver and distribute gifts etc... are a complete nonsense though. If there is one thing that developing countries are not lacking in it is young people in need of work. It is completely pointless to send a group of scouts from the UK to paint a school or whatever.
The

Oh no done it again, find out!!!

YANBU. There's a grown woman in the her 30s on my FB who constantly does these things. Pisses me right off with the continual begging posts to fund what is basically her holiday. Plus how pleased she is with herself for doing things for chariddeeeee.

No-one paid for my trips. I paid for them myself. Any money I got from other people went to the charity. What is wrong with that? Unless, of course, you're looking for an excuse not to give money to charity...

I go into mental shutdown the minute i hear the word 'challenge'.

Stupid and self-indulgent.
Two things i do not tolerate.

It is nothing to do with not wanting to give to charity.

The woman who constantly badgered me did not give a shit about the charity she was walking the great wall of china for. I said I would sponsor her if she matched exactly the amount I gave with a contribution to my fav charity. Guess what.. She was putting up nothing herself except apparently she would need new clothes
I give plenty to charity thanks. I just get irritated when people try to make a jolly into something virtuous.

Manicinsomniac - for the cost of your flight and accommodation and the staff time in recruiting, screening, training and supervising short term volunteers like yourself, couldn't the organisation have hired someone local to build a wall, and a local outreach worker who would have worked more permanently than for a summer? Is it really a good idea for temporary, foreign volunteers to build relationships with vulnerable children and families?

That's one argument Himalaya and I agree that it's a valid one but, on balance, I still think these trips are helpful.

For one thing, from what I've experienced in brazil, it is not part of the local culture to do things for free. They're not malicious, uncaring people (anything but!) but they just don't think about it. Most charity work seems to be done by foreigners.

Yes, the organisation could have sent the money over but, realistically, how many 16-25 year olds (average age of of a volunteer I'm guessing), are going to send £2000 to an organisation to employ local people to do the work. That might be the ideal but it wouldn't happen, the volunteers, rightly or wrongly, are only going to pay that amount of money if they go themselves. I'm perpetually in the red because of my work abroad. I don't imagine I, or many people, would put themselves in debt to simply give money to a charity.

The relationship building - another thing I've struggled with, I'll admit. But I think it's important to remember that these are children who've been through hell and may never have had anyone care about them or show them affection. The orphanage workers I've met have been genuinely wonderful human beings but they are so busy. They don't have time to have long conversations with the children or organise craft activities for them; the local authorities will not employ enough people to allow them to do anything but work and look after the basics. Also, the children find it amazing that people will come from the other side of the world because they care about them. Yes, they are sad when we go but they are children, they're fickle! When the next group of volunteers come along I'm sure they probably forget all about us!