Charity - what is your feeling?

[Orangejuicemarathoner]

I have been active in many charities for a long time.

There was a time when you could go around asking for contributions and get a "yes" or a "no".

These days I keep getting "OMG- how racist/patronising/politically incorrect/non-woke is that, you are a terrible person".

I don't get it really. Poorer people need help and support from richer people. Sometimes the poorer people are next door, sometimes hundreds of miles away and sometimes on another continent. Sometimes in the past, the poorer person has been me and I have needed and accepted charity

Why have people stopped thinking sharing is a good thing?

I know some charities are ineffective, and some unhelpful, maybe even damaging. I am not talking about specifics. I am talking about the general principle, if you know the charity is effective.

YABU - charitable giving is evil - stop it at once

YANBU - altruism is important

I think if you keep getting these responses you need to look closely either at the charity itself and the way it presents itself, or at the way you talk about it. It would be unusual to be continuously accused of being racist, xenophobic, patronising etc unless there was something about either the charity or the way you talk about it that is causing people to have those reactions.

@negomi90

I don't like people asking me in the street to donate. If I'm going to give to charity, I'm going to do my research and make sure that I give my resources to somewhere which shares my values. I do give to charity. My local supermarket has a food bank collection point and every time I go in, I buy something for it and donate. There's nothing wrong with charity, they are brilliant. But some have serious issues and wanting to donate to things with values to your own is normal. I didn't vote, because I think you're both reasonable and unreasonable at the same time.

Totally 100% I do donate monthly to charities of my choice, and also give food and toiletries in food bank collection points, buy poppies etc. I don't mind putting money into a tin but hate chuggers.

I have major giving fatigue.

I am bombarded by requests. TV adverts. Social media campaigns. Street chuggers. The table set up by the entrance of the supermarket. The million and one unsolicited letters through my door. Emails. People collecting for one thing or another in the office, at school, at the GP surgery. I am constantly trying to unsubscribe from them all.

I donate, voluntarily, to charities of my choice, tax efficiently and with matched giving, through my work payroll. I am time poor and usually get approached by chuggers at times and places that are hugely inconvenient. There are also vast numbers of charities (especially for things in africa) with a religious background and I do not donate to those.

Its about respecting that you don't have a right to bother people for money constantly. Set up your stall in the train station and wait for people to come and give if they wish.

It's so hard though.

I set up direct debits along the lines of " for just two pounds a month, you can save...."

So I did. I won't name the charities but they're household names with heart-wrenching adverts.

The one that I do £2 a month continues . The other £2 per month charity quickly contacted me and asked for £5 per month. I couldn't think of an excuse when they told me how much suffering was being suffered... so I agreed to £5 per month. After a couple more months I was told of how 'desperate' the situation was and would I consider £25 per month. I refused and told them that I didn't earn much as I was part time in a lowly position. This didn't phase them and... I can't believe I fell for this... but we ended up bartering!!! I managed to get them down to £7 per month!
It was a horrible and guilt ridden conversation but we settled at that.

This continued for about a year until another phone conversation where I was informed about the desperate suffering and was actually asked " don't you actually care about ...?" Because I wouldn't up my contribution to £25!!!

Bizarrely, I've never contributed to this world famous charity again, as my monthly contribution was dropped!!! By them!!!

@crowsfeet57

I think a lot of people are wary of giving to charities these days. My own experiences make me very wary indeed.

When my mother in law died, it fell to me to sort everything out, she was a calm, sensible lady so I was astonished to find that she was giving more to charities than she received every month and eating through her savings at an alarming rate. Tens of thousands had gone. She would have had nothing left within months.

Every day letters arrived with pictures on the envelopes of children or animals saying things like "Emergency please save me" or "I will die if you don't help me." It was appalling. She had loads of direct debits to these charities as well.

I believe it all started six years earlier when she donated money in memory of her deceased husband to pay for a child in Africa to have an operation on a cleft palate . That charity must have sold her details to other charities and it snowballed from there.

Charities were bleeding her dry and I hate to think how many other old people have fallen prey to them. A couple of years ago I answered an appeal to donate a blanket to a Syrian child by texting a number, for the next four months I was bombarded with texts and phone calls wanting more money. Never again!

maybe your mother in law was happy with this situation

I volunteer for a charity and have NEVER had the response you're describing. I find it a bit weird that you get people saying these things to you. Are you a pushy street fundraiser?

Also I'm another person who has read a lot about the relative impacts of many charitable initiatives, vs decent economic, commerce based initiatives.

All these stupid programs giving people micro loans for goats and sewing machines and teaching people low value skills for industries that are unproductive and already saturated locally.... when actually what the country needs is for it's own government & state staff to stop embezzling funds and use it on schools.

Or build roads.

maybe your mother in law was happy with this situation

And now you've lost us all OP. It is not ok to bleed an elderly person dry in the name of "charity".

maybe your mother in law was happy with this situation
What the fuck? Did you actually just say that @Orangejuicemarathoner

[quote madisonbridges]@Orangejuicemarathoner.
Still, I'd rather pay off the national debt than put 3 people in space. 🦕 🦖 🐊[/quote]
If we want to be able to defend the planet from extinction level meteor strikes then we need space programmes more than we need national debts paid,

It is absolutely unconscionable to bleed an elderly person dry and your callousness towards that poster is absolutely shocking.

No charity involved with Malawi will get a penny from me (not that they do at the minute but I’ll not be supporting any charity that can espouse those values).

I think I see what it is that means you’re getting the reaction you are op. You just showed your true colours.

@DeepaBeesKit

maybe your mother in law was happy with this situation

And now you've lost us all OP. It is not ok to bleed an elderly person dry in the name of "charity".

You are assuming she wasn't aware and hadn't chosen this.

I might very well choose this myself at the end of my life.

I know others who have

If people choose it with no marketing, no crap through the door, without their details being sold on, without being pressured to increase their subscriptions etc etc. This almost never is the case.

The reality is there is a known problem in the UK with over zealous charity fundraisers targeting regular givers and pressuring them to donate more than they can afford.

I think the best thing anyone can do is to help people to help themselves. Becoming reliant upon charity apart from in an emergency is not good for anyone. I lend money to people abroad to improve their small business through Lend with care, I have never been hassled in any way and I get all or most of my money back as they gradually repay the loan.

I think your answers on this thread have demonstrated why you might be getting accused of all sorts OP. Your attitude stinks IMO.

You are assuming she wasn't aware and hadn't chosen this.

I might very well choose this myself at the end of my life.

I know others who have
OP’s posts: See all

Yeah right. You’ve shown your true colours op and I now understand exactly why you get the reaction you do.

You’re disgraceful.

A few years ago I started donating to two charities via GAYE at work. I donated an amount to each, work did the same amount. Charity 1 wrote a flashy letter to me, thick paper, few leaflets etc saying that the amount I was giving was costing them more in admin, could I up it, etc etc. Charity 2 sent a low quality, single piece of paper, saying thank you for your donation here is the sort of things we are able to do with it it helps so much.

Cancelled my amount to charity one, obviously. Gave it to charity two

I might very well choose this myself at the end of my life.

Well aren't you a saint. Some people want to give money to their own families, or even just ensure they have enough to fund their own care etc. The person who mentioned their relative giving a lot at the end of their life also stated they were bombarded with requests. It's not ok.

I'd also like to add that at my local Co-op , two sets of 'chuggers' will congregate, regularly.
Both representing national charities.
They pitch up at the entrance and harass you you with "don't you care about wildlife?" Or " do you realise how animals are suffering?" as you walk through the entrance.

I can make my feelings known but this Co-op is slap bang in a large estate of bungalows which are inhabited by elderly and vulnerable people.

I suspect that's why these two particular charities congregate there; a walking vulnerable population who don't like to say 'no!'

I wonder if it's because the charity is in a country that criminalises LGBT+ people?

I'm not saying that the charity doesn't do good work; but some people feel strongly about not supporting states where this is the case.

I choose to support the charities I support.
I will not give to any chugger on the street, anyone who knocks on my door, and I think asking at work is really low.

I dont want to support peoples holiday, bike ride across continents, trek up mountains or across the great wall of China. No thanks.
I think asking at work is too much. The amount of things we get asked to contribute to is too much now.

Theres plenty of people who cant afford to keep contributing but do this because they dont want to look bad to their colleagues.

www.theguardian.com/society/salarysurvey/table/0,12406,1042677,00.html

I will never give to Macmillan

I will never give to Macmillan

Not meaning to pry, plumdeplum, but can I ask why?

FWIW neither would I, but that's because I once organised some grants which involved the charities doing something towards them and Macmillan said "Oh, most people just give us the money"

Plenty of others pay their CEOs more, though, or have given bigger pay rises, so unless you've had a similar experience I just wondered?

Are you a ‘serial fundraiser’ OP? That’s when I start to get annoyed. No I don’t want to sponsor an education project in Malawi/a dog/a.n.other obscure charity and I don’t want to be asked every couple of weeks.

I also object to sponsor me going on a jolly/climbing a mountain/walking the Great Wall of China, that’s for YOU not the charity really.

@Maestoso

My husband's job involved him working for and with agencies and charities. He asked the charity how much per pound would be directly spent on the children. That was the answer. He chose a different charity to work with the agency. It was over 30 years ago. Do they have to prove percentages now?

This isn't a good way of assessing a charity. They also need staff to do things and the more they invest in things that reduce overheads (like IT and accounting software) the more effectively they can help people.

The moden world isvery complex with tons of charities(duplicating each other's work) and obscure causes. And they all have to fight for a piece of the general public's attention unless they can get government funding/a few rich donors. But even these come with strings attached, you need someone able to write grants, build relationships etc etc.

This is an interesting discussion even though the OP appears unhinged.

The space programme is mostly privatised anyway so I don't see your concern unless your one of the people who feel it's not your hard earned money it's OUR hard earned money (except your the one doing the earning)