to expect a local celeb to narrate a story for free?

[screamingsiblings]

I'll have to be careful how much info I give away here, so sorry if I'm a bit vague.

Basically, I run a not for profit children's saturday morning thing. We do not take a wage, and just cover our outgoings.
I was wondering if IBU to ask a local celeb to narrate a story at a performance we're giving to parents?

What do you think?

YANBU to ask (although they may say no).

You're not unreasonable to ask. They're not unreasonable to say no.

Not unreasonable to ask but not unreasonable for them to say no.

Cross post!!

You can ask anyone anything and it's their right to say no obviously.

Good luck.

YANBU to ask, YABU to expect.

ok. thanks. I'll write a nice letter/e mail.

Everyone knows which house they live in.

Should I pop it through their letterbox, or try and contact through the agent?

You can ask but they can say no

But celebs get asked to do absolutely everything for free. Don’t be surprised if it isn’t the one

Your thread title says "to expect it".....yes YABU to expect anything for free.

This exactly.

YABU to expect it!!!

In your letter, I'd explain you are not for profit etc, but don't be miffed if they say no. They might get asked to do free things all the time!

A lot of celebrities avoid doing this by having a charity they are ambassador to,

Ask through their agent. No one likes to feel stalked.

Do they have kids of their own of a similar age, or any other interests or known connections that you can link to your activity? They might be more likely to do it if there is a personal connection for them.

I've a friend who's a professional musician, lovely woman who'd do anything for anyone BUT she really dislikes the expection that she'll work for free as a favour, esp when it's put forward as being 'good exposure' for her 🙄 She's earned a living doing this for 40 years.
So if your celeb likes your cause & has time free they might help, but don't 'expect them' to for heaven's sake.

ok, I should re-phrase my OP.
Would it be off to ask the celeb if they would consider doing this, even though we can't pay them?
It is kind of related to what they do.

"Dear Celeb,

We run a volunteer charity and we're hoping very mich that you would be willing to donate 3-4 hours of your time to narrate a story for us?"

Words along those lines.
But it may be tricky with narration of any type, giving away a recording of the voice could have rights, royalties, perpetuity issues etc etc.

Write them a lovely note, via their agent, saying something like ‘as our charity X works with people who are Y, I know they would be thrilled if you might consider doing Z. The local community is so proud to have you as a member and so, whilst we can’t offer any payment, I hope you’re not offended by my taking the chance to write to you.’

Go through their agent. If you put a note through the letter box they might see it as invasive and you won’t get what you want.

Neither. Put a stamp on it and post it.

Is it mr tumble lol he won't do it for free

@NoSquirrels
That's lovely. I like that. Thank you.

Would definitely write to the agent as pushing it through their door might seem really cheeky.

If it's appropriate you could also invite the local press. Celebs often like having their picture in the paper showing them 'doing good'.

YABU to expect them to. ‘Celeb’ or not, exposure doesn’t pay the bills. It’s still what they’ve ended up doing for a living and they deserve to get paid like anybody else.

They might be willing to do it for a reduced rate in your case as it’s for a non-profit, some may even offer to do it for free if they believe in the cause - but you can’t go in with that expectation.