The cost of charity events

[llamawearingasombrero]

I am new to charity events and of course I know they have costs to cover ( Venue costs and so forth) but are they too expensive??

I have been looking at a particular event for us to participate in during summer to give the kids both a good day out and to help those in need. This particular event will cost us

• £50 for the two adults *£20 for two dcs ( under 5s free) *£5 to park the car *and at least £100 in sponsorship from both adults

Yes I know if we don't want to pay the money we should not participate but isn't that too much money for a family on a budget? And I don't see many people donating simply because there's so many charities out there looking for money 💰 and frankly people are tired of hearing from charities.

And on top of it all they request your contact details so you 'don't miss out on important news'

Also how do we know that the money will be used to help those people who need help rather than paying salaries? It has been in the news a lot recently.

We donate to food banks, old dcs clothes to children's centres etc, so we are not heartless or anything.

So AIBU to be put off by the high cost of helping others via charity events.

If you don't want to pay don't go it's that simple. Doesn't matter if it's for charity or otherwise. Lots of things are too much money for people on budgets, that's why they're budgets. It is what it is.

As I said in the post yes I know not to go if I don't want to pay for it but isn't it too expensive?

Charity events are to raise money - that's why the cost of participating is so high. They need to cover the costs and make money. They also need to ensure they don't make a loss on the event so will price the tickets so that even a small number of sales should cover the costs and then they can be confident they will raise money rather than using charitable funds to subsidise the event.

Too expensive is subjective. Lots of families might spend £175+ on a day out to a theme park. Lots of families might spend £175+ on a charity day out.

Without knowing what the event is, it's impossible to say whether that's too expensive. If you prefer, you can go for a different, cheaper day out, and make a separate donation to the charity. If you want the experience that's on offer, you have to both pay for it and ensure that there is a donation to the charity. Charities are there to raise as much money for their stated aims as possible, not to provide cheap days out for families. That's a legal obligation, not a callous opinion. They can't run events just for the sake of it.

It does seem like a lot of money to participate, think charities are getting increasingly aggressive in their fundraising. I got a phone call on behalf of McMillan yesterday about leaving them my property when I die ....... err no !

It's really easy to research how charities spend their money, all their accounts are on the charity commission site so take a look. Charity events need down payment and minimum sponsorship because so many people sign up but then drop out otherwise and that costs the charity money (eg in terms of staff time, admin, chasing people etc).

There's nothing stopping you organising your own event though if you're worried about the cost of this one! Sponsored walk, swim, anything. There's plenty of websites (, just giving?) to set up your own sponsored thingy.

Finally, charities have to spend money on salaries, they need to be professional and well run. You can check the accounts of individual charities which will state how many people earn higher salaries within that organisation, if that's a concern to you.

I used to work for a national charity where the chief exec was on 90k. Considering he worked constantly in a stressful, complex role and had taken a huge drop in salary (coming from the corporate sector) , I didn't think the salary unjustified.

They will usually also have further fund raising activities during the event, raffles, silent auctions, profit share on refreshments or even just basic bucket shaking. They will be trying to make money every step of the way because that's how charities work, both to cover costs and have a respectable looking amount raised. The event itself has a value as a PR exercise, crucial for attracting new supporters. So your participation and the money you'll be spending enables all of this to happen. Only you know if the event itself is too expensive as it's your income and spend and time. If you're worried where your money goes there are often are other ways to give, via wish list donations, volunteering and legacy. The only way to really know your donations reach those you are helping to support is to get down and dirty and drive that truck to Syria or take the hay bales to the donkey sanctuary. Everything else is being part of the modern machine of giving.

We can't say whether it's too expensive as you have not said what type of event it is. It does at face value seem expensive yes, but we don't know what the event is or how much is going to the charity

Also how do we know that the money will be used to help those people who need help rather than paying salaries? It has been in the news a lot recently.

Well I have a paid job with a charity. Because someone has to do the work and I'm a professional with decades of experience. If you object to that, why not volunteer instead of paying for an event? Kills two birds with one stone.

Why are people so weird about charities spending money on salaries? Do you think all the hardworking people employed by them should be doing it for free? Would you work for free?

If you have concerns about a particular charity you can look up or request a breakdown of their annual spend.

Also how do we know that the money will be used to help those people who need help rather than paying salaries?

Well of course salaries have to come out of fundraising income. Many charities receive no statutory funding and have to generate all their own income. Do you think everyone who works for a charity does it for nothing?

I work with a small charity. It would be much more effective in achieving it's charitable aims (helping people) if it had paid staff to do the running of it, rather than relying on a handful of volunteers giving up their spare time (and taking days holiday from work). With volunteers there's only so much you can expect from them, you can't performance manage them, you can't do any work that requires someone to be available at the end of a phone during the working week, etc, etc.

Just because a charity pays staff, doesn't mean that donations aren't going on charitable activity!

Damned if you do. Damned if you don't.