Rich people getting sponsored to do fun stuff

[SmuggleStudies]

Fucking hell, another extremely wealthy acquaintance has just done this. It makes no sense. You like running half marathons, so do it. If you want to donate, then great - you could give thousands and it would be like one of us dropping a tenner. Why ask your colleagues, who are on average considerably less well off, to give so you can further feed your ego?

AIBU to think most charity sponsorship bis bullshit?

Skydiving is the worst, no matter how much or little they raise £250 goes towards paying for the skydive, so they raise 500,250 goes to charity, or 10 of the 20 you donated goes to charity, I would rather the whole 20 I donated goes to charity thanks, I would love to do a skydive but the audacity of asking others to pay for me is outrageous.

I really struggle with the African school/orphanage visits. I listened to this programme on Radio 4 (the link is to the article derived from the broadcast) and was truly shocked.
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-46890772

I think this is one of the main points to think about: “The number of children living in orphanages in Uganda had grown from just under 2,000 in the 1990's to more than 55,000.

He said orphanages were now seen as "an economy.”

YABU mostly - They're doing a nice thing by raising money and awareness for a charity. I often sponsor friends or colleagues because I like to donate to different charities and they're often ones I wouldn't have thought to donate to otherwise.

However charity holidays/skydives are only reasonable if the person makes it clear that they are covering the activity with their own money and therefore ALL the donations will go to charity.

Also charities rely things like this to do their good work. Would you really want them all to stop just because you feel under social pressure to donate £20?

@TravelsWithChild

If these people are doing it out of the kindness of their heart to raise money for charity, then why not fund it themselves and not expect their friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintances to fund it?

And why is it nearly always 'abroad?' (China/Peru,Canada/USA/New Zealand/ Japan/ Thailand/ Egypt/ Bolivia/Nepal/South Africa/Eritrea yada yada yada....???)

Their sponsored bollocks is almost never in bloody North Wales or Scunthorpe is it?

YANBU. MIL strong-armed us into giving them £250 to walk the Great Wall of China. She wanted £500, and we were in the process of buying a house. I still resent it to this day. She is extremely wealthy, retired on a final salary pension scheme, has a large foreign holiday home, and she and FIL have benefitted from 2 large inheritances.

I can guarantee that if I announced I was doing exactly the same thing, she would refuse to contribute.

Its also the charities which run these things. How much actually goes into good causes and how much into them justifying their existence? Are they audited in the third world country in which they operate?

If people really want to raise money for a charity, surely the best thing they could do is get another job and donate all their wages. It wouldn't take more hours than training for a marathon/mountain climb. That wouldn't be as much fun though.

Exactly that.

Also charities rely things like this to do their good work. Would you really want them all to stop just because you feel under social pressure to donate £20?

Charities rely on donations. They don't need people to throw themselves out of planes or climb mountains. If you think a charity does good work them give them money. If someone is very keen to raise money for a cause then it should be enough to talk to friends/family about the amazing work the charity does and to ask them to contribute. Why would anyone in their right mind say 'well yes, it's a great cause, and I would love to give them some money, but only if you throw yourself out of a plane first'. It makes no damn sense!

YANBU. I remember when I was about 21 people local to us did a sailing across the Atlantic thing (or something like that) for charity which sounded like a great adventure and it was something they had always wanted to do but they carried on like they were the most selfless most charitable people that ever existed. They were constantly in our local newspaper and the sight of them used to drive my blood pressure up every time I saw them. The only time I gave in to someone going abroad for charity was a neighbour who was a newly qualified nurse going to a hospital in Africa. The sponsorship money covered supplies that they brought over for the hospital and then they worked for free for about three months in the hospital. As she was a nurse she could actually do some good not like a gap year teenager with no building experience going over to build a wall.

If someone is very keen to raise money for a cause then it should be enough to talk to friends/family about the amazing work the charity does and to ask them to contribute.

Perhaps it should be enough but I doubt it would be - sponsored events are an effective social convention

I don't mind it as much if the person is covering their own costs and wants to do fundraising when they're there.

Eg one of my friends likes big challenges in their chosen hobbies is covering all their own jolly costs but have asked if people would like to sponsor them to do the challenge but (so all the money raised goes to the charity). People donate what they would like to or don't. It's a way to raise a bit of money that they may not do otherwise.

I'm also happy to sponsor trips where people are doing something useful from their professional background eg a nurse/midwife spending a month doing some work, a teacher training teachers, and so on.

But I won't sponsor anyone or anything who tells me they're raising £5000 to have some experience. I won't donate to people who take their expenses out of the donation pot.

I also can't stand school voluntourism too. It's all about the feel goods for a bunch of privileged kids to pay themselves on the back about how they build a classroom with precisely zero qualifications or experience. I also have a special hatred for the gap yah type trips where people volunteer at orphanages with children or volunteer at animal sanctuaries when they are utterly unqualified in every way to offer anything to the community.

my friend does this but he always pays the cost element himself eg the £1500 for the Great Wall trip, the sponsorship then all goes to the charity.

That's very honourable, but it does kind of beg the question as to why you actually ask people to sponsor you (i.e. give you money for your favourite charity) because you're doing something that you've decided to do and have funded yourself.

If you think about it, how is that different in principle from if I take my car in for its MoT (costs all self-funded) or mow my lawn (electricity bill all covered by me) - and ask people to give money to charity because I've washed my curtains? OK, you may say that those are mundane activities whereas your friend's holiday is grander, but how would people react if I asked them to donate because I was going off in the caravan to Skegness for the week or going to a rock concert?

On the one hand, expecting people to subsidise your holiday or fun experience with the idea that, after your costs have been covered by the donations (some of which you may put in yourself), any remaining donations go to the nominated charity is very cheeky indeed; but equally, covering the cost of whatever activity entirely yourself and then still soliciting donations on the basis of your having had a nice (self-funded) holiday makes no sense either.

I'm off to the shops in a minute. I will pay my own costs. Everyone on this thread should give ten quid to the British Lung Foundation. If I get a blister, you should double it. Look at how good I am. Leave your appreciation below. Hugs.

I also think getting sponsored to not drink for a month is hilarious!

A guy I know had cancer, was treated by a fantastic hospital and then did treks to raise money. He had to raise £2500 then go trek the Inca trail for 4 days. So his family organised a ball where they raised the money + some in one night, brilliant.
So probably £2000 on the trek and the hospital saw maybe £500. So he get a fantastic experience paid for by the families hard working friends.

He could have done the ball, raised awareness and made a huge amount for the charity then paidnfor his own bloody holiday.

Why do these charities organise amazing trips abroad anyway? Why not organise local walks, runs, assault courses.

Our local hospice does a midnight memory walk which is lovely, a time to remember loved ones, raise awareness and raise lots of money.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll
It depends.
Someone who is fit doing a long distance fitness challenge is fun for them and raises money for charity. I can't get annoyed at that. Endurance activities are still a slog at times and there's moments where its tough. It's worth it at the end. They put the effort in and train for these challenges and I can support people doing that.

I feel less inclined to give money to people doing the 5km race for Life in the local park (Big deal, people moved for approximately 30minutes to an hour and an hour is a slow walk) or wanting donations for not drinking alcohol (if you can't go 30 days without a drink then you have an alcohol problem).

A particular annoyance of mine as someone who enjoys running events is that so many good half marathons and marathons have been taken over by charity so there are some where it's very difficult to even get a place as a runner because they've made more and more places through charities, so if you want to get a place then signing up with a charity is the only way to do it. It also has the added problem of people who don't run / cycle / swim putting down finish times that ar nowhere close to what they will actually do so I have to struggle to get past people in silly tutus taking selfies walking within the first 3-5km of a half marathon because they've said they're going to run sub 2hours.A lot of mid level endurance sport events have gone that way.

I ran my 4th Great North Run this year. Did I ask for any sponsors? No. I wouldn't sponsor me so why would others.

Hoping for a place in the London Marathon ballot and if I do I will choose a local charity to raise funds for (not a big national one where most of my money will just go to the CEO), but will pay for the marathon, accommodation, travel (I live in the NE) and any spends myself. Wouldn't do it for any other race though, just feel like I have to for VLM. Having said that though its very unlikely I'll get in unfortunately.

I may not run for charity, but I do sponsor those I feel is worth it. Those who have been running a short amount of time, those who are running for a reason (like my friend who lost her daughter), really close friends who have taken the charity route to do said race.

I feel less inclined to give money to people doing the 5km race for Life in the local park (Big deal, people moved for approximately 30minutes to an hour and an hour is a slow walk)
On a side note, my running club are the marshals for our local race for life every year. I was the tail walker and it took me 90 mins to do the 5K. I was walking with 2 lovely ladies who were 89 years old. Now those two I would sponsor.

School trips etc Fuck no.

@LolaSmiles I'm a runner and 5k for some people is a long way. Thats how I started running and I was very proud when I'd done my first, it was huge for me!

running
GNR is one of those events that I really enjoyed when I did it but when I went back it felt more like death by charity fundraising and less like a running event. I'd do it again in due course, but wish they'd have some sort of qualifying times to go in pens from 2h30 and under.
I also marshall for local events (not race for life though because I have issues with it). I could sponsor those ladies at the back, but the overal bulk of able bodied adults aged 20-50 (abritrary range) should be capable of 5k at some pace.

London Marathon is one I'm undecided on. I'd love to do it, but ballot places are hard to get and some charities (most I saw) expect the runner to raise over a thousand pounds. A few even expected the runner to transfer the minimum donation across and then their fundraising themselves back to zero.

Looobyloo
Same! I was thrilled when I first hit 5km. Running 5km for the first time is an achievement.
The reality is though that most adults should be capable of getting round a 5km course. Even run/walking it's 45-60mins movement.
For that reason, it's in the same sort of sponsoring category for me as not having alcohol for 30days, going vegan for a month etc. At times it might be a bit tricky, but it's hardly a challenge.

Being sober or vegan for a month WOULD be a huge challenge for some people. I'd gladly sponsor one of my meat-loving friends to be vegan for a month!

Maybe I'm weird. I don't have anyone who is so wedded to meat or booze that 30 days without is the end of the world. It wouldn't necessarily be easy, but I can't help but feel there's two main camps for charity at the moment: one is expecting people to fund your holiday half way round the globe and the other seems to be "person does something that might be a little tiring or inconvenient so let's create adverts calling them a superhero".

I'm a miserable git at times.

@lola I've done the GNR for the past 7 years, sometimes I love it other times I don't. I know why you mean about race for Life. I did one a few years ago and they rang me a few days later asking if do like to pledge £10 a month! No!

If you want to do the London Marathon and you don't get in through the ballot (more chance of shitting gold) then most charities ask you to raise a minimum of £2500, from what I've heard if you don't raise the amount promised the charities get very nasty. I refuse to do it for charity.

I've just done a 35 mile ultra and everyone was asking if I was doing it for charity, I wasnt! Now I wish I'd said yes and given the money to my local fantastic hospice.

looby
That's what people have said to me about charities for London marathon. It all sounds quite aggressive.

Well done on the ultra. Doing one is on my bucket list. I'd happily donate to fundraising for ultras. The local charity sounds like a plan. I only ever do events for local charities, on the rare times I fundraise. Ultras for charity come under the long distance trekking and cycling banner for me. I don't mind they enjoy (some of) it, it's a challenge, as long as I'm not covering costs then I'm happy for them to fundraise and do a challenge of their choice.