To feel a bit "hmm" about charity treks abroad

[prettybutclumpy]

I am donning my hard hat, but am interested to know if anyone feels the same as me about this!

I feel a bit unwilling to give to charity for friends who are doing a charity trek or other big activity abroad. I think for some people they are just a chance for a cheap holiday and amazing experience which they sort of shame their friends into "paying" for. I do know that most people pay a fee for joining in the activity, but I am sure this doesn't cover all the costs for the charity - I think the charity relies on each individual meeting or exceeding their fundraising targets to cover additional costs. If anyone works for a charity, I'd really like to know whether this is true!

I also feel that I should choose which charities I give my cash to which are of particular relevance to me and my family, rather than to choose charities offering these experiences. However, I do feel pressed into giving funds as it is someone I know who has asked me directly to contribute.

Does anyone else feel this way, or am I just an old moany-pants?

Totally agree. Nothing more annoying than someone pretending to be helpful to third world impoverished families by going to Outer Mongolia or the mountaintops of Nepal to teach them English. What bloody help is that for 99% of the people they meet? It's like going back to bloody colonial times - oh if you learn English then you'll be fine. Ignore the fact that your family is struggling to feed itself, English speaking will be really helpful ...

I agree too. I know people who have done mountain treks etc. and have had to raise over £3000 just to pay for the trip and then the money they raise after that goes to their charity. One trek was accompanied by a week long holiday with safari. The guy raised a lot, but probably 75% of money donated went to the company which organised the trip for flights! hotel etc? he got 2 1/2 weeks in a hot country with a mountain trek which hobby climbers (like myself) can't afford to do, all paid for in the name of charity.

I don't know. Charities do make money from them, but I've gone off sponsoring them a fair bit.

I've done several fundraising and sponsored things in my life, all organised by myself, costs paid by myself, done by myself or with friends who all paid their share of costs so the charity could get maximum funds from our efforts. I'm not saying everyone should do this but I want to give money to the charity, not sponsor your holiday.

For people saying world scout jamboree is different- how is it different?
Had quite a heated discussion with friends about this tonight (while setting up a national jamboree that starts tomorrow) you go have a fab time, yes if you did not go maybe less kids would do kayaking/ craft/ stilt walking. But you are still going for your benefit. You fundraising in the local area is taking away from the kids being able to fundraise! Doing a fundraiser such a a pub quiz fine, but something like bag packing (where kids do get more than adults) not ok.
Asking for sponsor ship to go to wsj not ok as you would not ask it for poacher, norjam, wings ect!

Personally have never applied for wsj as could not justify spending that amount of money on a holiday.

As for charity hike pay for them your self and if people want to donate to the charity give them the charity details.

I think it is very cheeky to ask / pressurise others into sponsoring treks to the Grand Canyon etc for many reasons.
I don't like that people say "I have raised x amount" when really it is others that have given. I know one person who does endless things like this, but it is other peoples money she us raising , not her own. I give to the charity that means something to me quietly.
Even treks to snowdon or the Lake District cost local volunteers as they have had a big increase in rescues!

Scout jamboree - raising money to take children abroad to meet others and broaden their horizons is different, it is an outcome in itself .

Kayakinggirl - I never said I was doing a bag pack. I'm doing things it might well be hard for a teenager to do. Plus everything I do has some benefit (even if it is a slice of cake) to the person who gives me money.

And I'm not forcing people to donate.

When I worked on a local paper we banned these stories. Just because we didn't want old mrs brown taking money out of her pension to send to someone so they could go on a jolly to Peru.

I'm pretty sceptical of these holiday trip/fundraising ideas. I always wonder why the person doesn't stay at work for the duration fo the holiday and just donate their salary for that period straight to a charity.

Years ago, our supermarket had bag packers from the local public school raising money for a class trip. To the Sydney Olympics

I don't agree. My Dad went to Kenya this year to build a Sand Dam.

He paid for his flights, the money he raised went to a mix of funding the rest of the trip and to the actual charity which goes towards funding the next project.

The work they did in the 2 weeks he was away was amazing. From the diary that was posted online every day, the photographs and the things he told us when they got back, it was bloody hard graft. It was giving water to a village that otherwise wouldn't have had the man power or expertise to complete the project.

Last year sorry.

Also I would like to point out that in building the Sand Dam it will in turn allow children to go to school who would have before had to walk for miles every day to collect water and bring it back.

I think it is different for those who go and provide a decent amount of manual labour/expertise as opposed to those who slog for 3 hours then have 2 week jolly

I actually posted here some time ago about a relative who does this nearly every year. I really object to this as she does lots of fundraising events in the name of charity X. Facebook statuses "Thanks guys that's another £80 towards charity X" etc. All of the fundraising is actually paying for her ticket. She needs something like £3500 for her costs every time. People assume when she says "I raised £4100 for charity X that they actually got that amount of money, but the last one she did she only actually got £600 for charity. The rest was her costs. To me that is grossly deceitful to those parting with their cash, and also hugely ineffective. In order to raise £600 it costs you £3500. Why?

^Although whenever I voiced my concerns my family went all cats bum mouthed about it!

Actually I agree with the OP even though DS1 is working to get himself to Peru next summer to do the exact thing everyone is sneering about!

It must be bad enough being a Peruvian orphan without having to put up with a lot of clueless home-counties spotties turning up and getting under your feet ...

He wants to go to Peru - it's that simple - and he's got several jobs on the go to raise the cash to get himself there ( no sponsorship ) once he's there he'll be doing the working in the community thing and the climbing the big mountainy ruiny thing and generally having a fantastic experience of being far, far away from everything he knows.

He's worked bloody hard for two years to fund this so I reckon good luck to him and I hope he has a brilliant time, but you're right, it is a basically self-indulgant thing to do.

Wish I was going.

PS ... No charity involved in DS's trip - It's for school kids.

The point is, pikachooo, that the privileged Westerners flown in to do this stuff tend not to have any expertise either. Much better to work towards developing those skills locally. BTW who is going to maintain the dam?

Really, really wish I was going. DS can stay here and was dishes instead - it'll be good for him.

Feckless but he's paying for himself to go, he's not asking a load of people to sponsor him in the name of charity.

It's the sponsoring I object to, my friend gets an amazing experience every 2 years off the back of other peoples generosity.

Good luck to him, hope he has a fab time!

My cousin did one of these trips for a charity she was directly affected by. She paid for the entire trip out of her own pocket so every penny went to the charity. She fundraised for 2 years before the trip with several quiz nights and lots of street collections and fun day events etc. She raised over 13 grand single handedly. Yes, the trip itself was a personal challenge for her and so selfish in that sense, but actually the achievement of raising that much money was more than the 'challenge' she undertook on the trip.

We were all very proud of her

Yes I understand that some of these trips are just jollies and you are paying for someone else's trip, but not always.

I think they are a load of self-indulgent nonsense. Could not agree more.

Deep respect for Callani's aunt.

I have a friend who works in the charitable industry, as a fundraising manager. Every time she changes her job to a new charity, her focus changes, naturally, and she starts canvassing her friends. I am so annoyed with her using her friendship base in work capacity like this. The worst is that she is letting her CHILD front it all, with FB statuses like "Athenia is now walking through xxy place to raise money for ABZ charity, please support her in her efforts, it will mean so much to us!"

How can she use her child to manipulate money out of friends, for her charity, which is not one she has even chosen for her personal reasons, but because it gave her a job.

My friend recently died from cancer, and his widow set up a just giving page for the hospital providing palliative care in my friends last months, in lieu of flowers. That I can support.

I dont support people gallivanting across the globe "for charity".

wash dishes! Gah!

Several of DD's friends are involved with this group
www.ewb-uk.org/

That sort of thing makes much more sense to me, useful skills applied appropriately to design and create and complete projects of benefit.

I quite agree OP - I don't sponsor anyone doing this, but would consider donating directly to the charity in question if I felt it was a worthwhile cause.

Re the Scout Jamboree - DS had the chance to go, but we said no as it was too expensive. We had to pay a substantial amount ourselves and then raise the remaining funds through various fundraising etc. I'm sure it will be a fantastic opportunity (for the v small group of children from wealthy families who are going from our troop) but essentially it's a holiday which, to an extent, has been paid for other people.

"My Dad went to Kenya this year to build a Sand Dam."

Does he have long experience and expertise of building sand dams? If so then great, good for him. If not, much better to pay a local (and really, the developing world is not short of healthy young men without enough work) to do it in his place.

I will sponsor if

• there is a skills transfer- so carpenter goes to disaster zone and fixes stuff whilst ideally also training locals and forfeiting own salary

• for endurance races if the person is covering all the costs either themselves or through sponsorship ( eg some races are televised and you can get kit logo sponsorship) and all funds from me therefore go to charity.

Otherwise the incremental margin on these things is shocking. I think charities shd have to show their fundraising margin on challenge events separately in their accounts.

Years ago my old great aunt died and left some money to one of these charities. They send a letter to the next of kin saying the money already donated had been enough to earn them 2 free places on one of these treks to Nepal. The next of kin was too old to go so gave it to his son in law and his SIL took a friend. They had a great time but they went as a holiday, nothing to do with the charity for them. Thought it was a bit strange at the time. I thought about going myself.