To think this is just getting someone else to pay for your holiday?

[poppymango]

A friend is doing one of those big adventure holidays for charity. It's a worthy charity (although I won't be donating as I'm really trying to save right now), but having looked up the details the whole concept has really started to bother me.

You only have to pay a couple of hundred quid as an admin fee, plus the cost of flights (which in this case is super cheap) and then commit to raising a minimum amount for "charity". This is 2-3 thousand, depending on the type and duration of your adventure. However, considering everything that's included in the trip I'm not convinced that much of this will actually end up with the charity.

Essentially, I feel like I've been asked to help pay for someone else's holiday while they get to feel good about themselves.

AIBU?

I'm pretty sure the charity places are £300-400 as opposed to iirc about £80 for a ballot, club, or gfa place.
The charities often use hotels near the finish as a Base for runners and might provide a free massage or goody bag so I guess that is factored in to the target to be raised too.

It's part of the conditions for signing up for the Guides trips we were offered that the girls fundraise for some of the cost of going. We would have paid if it was an option.

I think it depends on the scenario. My friend did one of these treks abroad for a cancer charity after having breast cancer. She was only in her 20s and the charity helped massively with the support they gave her. The trek was a huge achievement for her after what she went through and she did raise a lot (although obviously some of it paid for her to go). I didn’t begrudge sponsoring her because of all she’d been through. I think it’s different if you have no real connection to the charity though and just fancy a jolly under the guise of being amazing for raising money.

I recently did a sponsored sky dive but Paid for myself to skydive which was about £150 and all the money I raised went to the charity. I didn’t feel happy with people paying for me to do the sky dive.

Still a thing in my town too, my sons done it twice for different sports clubs in the last year at Tesco

Let them have their Gaaarp yaahhh!

No, I really agree OP.
My brother did this (years ago) and admitted when home that it had been a boozy, fun experience for the 'do- gooder' students, with lots of generosity from locals with meals etc and not too much work. All fundraised.
It does seem to be getting worse now with social media etc.

My DP did a week long ultra marathon in the states for charity. He paid the entry fee (nearly £5,000) and flights and all associated costs.
He went on to raise a significant amount of money for Help for Heroes, he didn't use any of it to pay for the trip.
Maybe I'm naive but it never occurred to me that people would use charity donations to cover their costs.

Excellent idea. It would be worth doubling the donation just to see their reaction.

I think it depends on the cahrity.

I do a lot of Habitat for Humantiy-- where I take trips and work on a team to build houses. We do the actual labor. And we pay for the trip, which has of course a donation for the costs of supplies (cement, tools, machines, wood, wires, etc), and for the local HFH office that supplies the labor of project planning and supplies the local required help (ie certified electrician), as well as our boarding and food.

I would be ok asking for donations for that part (supplies, project planning, local required help), yet not for my food/hotel/travel. Albeit food and hotel if it is provided for is ok, as we provide the labor.

However going away 3 weeks to do rowing to raise money, where you are not actually doing the work (ie build a house, teach kids, etc) that is not cool IMO. That is getting a rowing holiday for free.