Aibu to not want to donate money but instead donate things?

[12yearsinazkaban]

Just thinking about how food banks get food donations. People are actually putting food into a box.
Charity shops get donations of items.
But the school fund for example, asks for monetary donations.
HOWEVER they just had a party and one class teacher asked for food rather than £2 for the party food. We were chatting and she said she gets more 'donations' for food rather than money.
it reminded me of my children's old nursery) and they asked for seasonal items to be donated for activities (conkers collected for free, but also Easter chick's and stickers for crafts, mini pumpkins for Halloween activities, Xmas bits and bobs for Xmas crafts etc) and they always got loads of donations. Whereas their school now always ask for 1 or 2 pounds and sometimes the activity is cancelled due to lack of donations.

I think it goes further too where people find it easier to buy a homeless person food rather than give them money

I'm just wondering if people find it easier to donate items rather than money? I think the feeling of giving something is more powerful than giving money. i wouldn't ever donate money,I just don't have it spare, however while I'm shopping I do have space in my shopping trolley for bits and bobs asked for. I don't know why it feels different but handing over a bag of party food or craft items feels more helpful, more tangible, rather than sending in a pound.

Does any one else feel this way? I know it seems stupid but if a food bank or the school ask for money it feels sort of cheeky, but asking for donations of xyz seems different somehow.
perhaps its related to the 'you don't ask for money for a wedding or birthday' thing people do.

I find it much easier to donate money as I can’t always get to shops to buy things and have a memory like a sieve!

I prefer to donate money as the charity/school can then target the money where it is needed, and potentially get bulk discounts? Better than wasting a tin of beans when they already have a glut.

That being said, I also buy homeless people food, but only after I’ve asked them
what they want first.

It comes from a desire to control and a belief that the people you’re helping are feckless wasters who will make poor choices if given the dignity of a choice to make.

So no. I don’t feel more like I’m giving if I give what I want to give under the conditions I want to give it rather than giving the equivalent monetary value, no matter how small, and always within what I can afford, to the person in need or the informed people managing these charities who surely know far far more than I ever will.

I always donate items. Money was also gratefully received as it allows the food bank to buy in items they are short of.

It depends who you're donating to, I suppose, and how specific people can be about what they want.

My ideal would be to donate money so that people can choose how to spend it for themselves. I appreciate that it's complicated when things like substance abuse/addiction may be a factor, but as a general principle, I would prefer for people to have the dignity of making their own choices rather than me making choices for them.

I agree with you op.

It’s not that it’s cheeky but I often don’t have any cash on me. With food bank donations, even if I don’t have time to go to the supermarket I can 💯 grab something from my own cupboard which is ideal.

I prefer to donate money so that organisations can buy exactly what they need. Our local food bank is a case in point - they have limited storage and often have quite specific shortages eg nappies for 3-6 months so sending them 18 bags of pasta when their shelves are overflowing with fusili is not always helpful.

Depends what the item is e.g. food people probably donate things that they’ve bought but might not use now for whatever reason

I often wonder what the point of bake sales is. It would be better to give the money. The problem is that in the case of Easter craft stuff they wouldn't get the variety and a fair mix for every child. Personally I'd struggle to sleep rough without a drink, many middle class people struggle without a drink, so why shouldn't homeless people drink? I used to give one homeless man who say outside Aldi money, because once it got colder he'd fancy chips from the chippy, like anyone would. It's easier to give money for weddings etc. It's very controlling to want to buy a present when asked not to.

"i wouldn't ever donate money,I just don't have it spare, however while I'm shopping I do have space in my shopping trolley for bits and bobs asked for."

But unless you are shoplifting it, you are spending extra money anyway. However I do get that giving a "thing" makes it less obvious how much you have donated compared to someone donating 50p Vs the next giving £5. Also on a selfish level it is often a more enjoyable experience buying something than just handing over the cash.

I have a small monthly direct debit to the food bank. Much more use to them.

Food bank volunteers have to collect, sort and store the food donated at supermarkets, and it might not always be what they need. Our local FoodBank much prefers people to give money directly as I do, as they can buy at wholesale prices and get it delivered. Or they can give someone a fuel top up.

Sleeping rough must be grim, I agree.

Bake sales in theory work because you are taking inexpensive ingredients and donating your time to create something that sells at higher value. Or that’s the theory anyway!

I donate whatever is asked for as I trust those asking to know what is needed better than I do.

donating stuff isn’t always useful. Just look at what happened when the Ukraine war started. Piles and piles of old
tatty clothes donated, along with packs of nappies and various other things, that then needed to be driven across Europe. But the organisations on the ground were calling out for cash donations so that they could utilise existing supply chains where they were needed. But still people preferred to take binbags full of stuff to collection points often being organised by people who had no clue what to do with it.

It depends, our food bank accepts both because random donations don't always fill the shelves evenly, the monetary donations can buy items to fill the gaps

I donate whatever is asked for as I trust those asking to know what is needed better than I do.

This. It’s not about what you find more powerful or enjoyable.

I don't mind giving a homeless person money rather than food. They might not need food but might need a new hat or want to buy a hot drink later in the day or whatever.

I'd rather give nursery an item donation because I never know how much I should donate money-wise and it can be as cheap or expensive as you want to make it without feeling like someone might judge you if you're having a skint monthS

I know! It just is easier for my brain to let go of the thing than to let go of the money.

I suppose also, lots of people use cards not cash so if the school need money i need to go to a cash point (all cost £1.85 to withdraw or I have to get the bus (which is more!) to withdraw £10. then I have to spend some to get change. So giving the school £1 actually costs me closer to 5.

Another thing is sating the have to donate to charity selflessly. Well I can't. if it doesn't feel good I won't do it I think. I don't give to charity or donate to food banks by the way. But I do give my old stuff to charity shops and try to give the children however much for their school fund raising schemes. I don't think it's bad to wait to control the help you give? you control what presents you give for Xmas. Christmas shopping is fun isn't it?

I agree with the poster saying they don't know why they bother with bake sales when it costs more to bake the cakes than they sell for. I think maybe it's because you can control it better.

I think my point Is that if you want 100 people to give donations but you only ask for money you might get 50.
But if you ask for 100 people to donate and you ask for tins you might end up with more because some people find it easier to give things rather than money. I'm rambling.

right but isn't it better to have 20 people donating stuff because they enjoy it than 4 donating cash because they are oh so selfless

This was my thought too. Does OP think supermarkets are free!?

In my opinion, I think:

1. People are less skeptical when they're donating an item - like when giving food to a homeless person, you know they aren't spending it on drugs or alcohol or gambling, which many people have judgements about.


2. A lot of the things OP mentions are free (like conkers or feathers) so, yeah, people are more willing to give away things that cost them nothing.


3. With charity shops etc, people give away stuff that they don't want anymore - money doesn't go out of fashion and children don't grow out of money. It's not really comparable.


4. Also, when you donate an item, often you can look more generous than if you donate cash - for example if you got the item on sale or got cash back when you bought it or you're re-gifting something.

So, yes people prefer to donate stuff rather than donate money - but it's pretty obvious why.

Not always. Storage can be an issue in some cases. Some things can’t be used. Some people just donate shit they want to get rid of and then it can cost to dispose of it. It’s better to just donate what is asked for.

Well what's wrong with that? why do you have to donate the right way?
I don't want people to think I cam only afford 50p, but I have 3 packs of unopened stickers in the drawer from Christmas, so I'll give those... why? because it suits me. If the teacher said 'actually only cash please' I'd give nothing.

There was an episode on friends where phoebe is trying to do a selfless act of kindness and she can't do it. because giving or being kind made her feel good. but what is wrong with that? So if someone donates a bag of food to the food bank, they walk away feeling good about themselves and the food bank has food. So 2 good things.

it does feel cheeky asking for people to do charity in the proper way.

The only thing I don't agree with is people donating clothes to send to Ukraine. money would be better to send over seas.

That being said, I have been on the receiving end of 'controlling charity' refused obviously as its embarrassing and it didn't feel nice, but I'd still rather people give with strings than not give at all.

I don’t personally feel like this OP (because I’m disorganised and find it easier just to give money!) but at a population level I think your theory is correct and I find it really interesting.

When the war in Ukraine started, some local organisations stopped accepting donations and asked for money instead and a few people got quite nasty about it on Facebook. They genuinely didn’t seem to understand why the money would be more practical and seemed to see it as greed.

I also think we all accumulate a lot more stuff these days and people like to have an easy way to offload it which also makes them feel good. I used to volunteer in a charity shop and so many of the donations were absolute rubbish and not sellable. I know that’s a really cynical viewpoint and obviously not everyone behaves/thinks like this but it is a factor!

I think you have it all backwards to be honest.

Donating something useless because it makes you feel good isn't just failing to be selfless, it's actively inconveniencing another person. If you try to donate something and they turn it away, it's because it's not a useful donation and you're essentially just giving them a job to do (to throw it away) rather than actually helping.

Sometimes donating items is just as, if not more, useful than donating cash. But, if it's not then it's not - trying to donate useless items to a cash drive is done purely for your own ego and makes other people's jobs harder.

With Ukraine, the reason we needed to donate stuff and not money is because they could just go and buy clothes, could they? What use is money when you're freezing cold all the shops are empty? People weren't driving truckloads of clothes to Ukraine because no one told them how money works.

I prefer to donate money and normally assume that it is more useful to a charity or homeless person who knows their needs better than I do, or in charity or food bank cases can leverage mass buying to get more things for my money than I can.

Schools asking for the odd quid though, that's annoying because I don't carry cash and haven't for years. I'd have to go to a cashpoint, go to a shop to break a note and then have a load of change I won't use.