Do you sponsor people for charity?

[Tapoopoo]

I decided a long time ago to not sponsor people eg charity sky dives.

If I sponsor one person I have to sponsor everyone.
I dont always agree with the charities and sonetimes actively dont want to support them.
Limited funds.
Why should I pay for someone to have a jolly? If they want to jump out of a plane, then they should pay for it.
I have seen a few people get quite aggressive/guilt trippy when people say no.
I have tried to fund raise once. The same people I have sponsored in the past were not intetested. I ended up paying most of the sponsorship myself, which I genuinely don't mind (see previous point) but it did stick in my throat.
When I made this decision I had a couple of charity DDs set up. I dont now. I do still give to charity ad hoc.
If I'm honest, I just dont want to. I dont like being asked for money.

I now manage a large number of staff, some of whom are serial fund raisers. I still don't sponsor them (luckily they have never asked me directly and I think they've realised I don't). My staff know I earn about £6000 more than them.

My manager has criticised me for this and thinks I should sponsor them. They sponsor them about £10 a go. They do this for optics, not because they necessarily support what they are doing. If I'd sponsored them at £10 a go, so far I'd have spent at least £120 this year (that I know of).

YABU - you should support your staff. Dont be so mean, it's for charity.
YANBU - you shouldnt be guilt tripped into donating money if you dont want to.

For reference, if you give money, you are not funding 'a jolly' or a 'walk from a to b' or a 'mountain climb'. You are supporting a charity which desperately needs cash

In theory perhaps - except that all too often the costs of organising these things can mean there's very little left for the charity, and that's before we get to "volunteer tourism" and the abuses which can go with it

I'm already heavily involved in fundraising/giving in a field where I know exactly where it goes, so don't feel the need to anything else where this won't necessarily be the case

He found a charity who was doing it, like me he didnt care what charity, he just wanted to abseil.

This is one of the things (by absolutely no means the only thing) that I hate about chuggers. The assumption is that they are passionately raising money for a charity that's close to their hearts - and many people think they're volunteering; when in reality, they're just wanting to use the name of any old charity to make commission from, and they probably only find out which one they've been assigned in the morning before they start their shift.

Yes. If they are my friends or family.

They have to charge extra for gift aid visitors, though, to comply with the rules. If you're only paying them the standard required entry fee on return for getting to visit the place, you're not actually giving them anything; you're just buying a service.

I'm not sure how they swing things with GA visitors: whether they can only claim GA on the extra amount over and above the ticket price, or whether they twist the rules and claim that you've decided to give (a significantly larger amount) to them, so it's all a donation and, as a thank-you, they then give you free entry as a supporter?!

No i don't and i disagree with the companies that run these kinds of fundraisers, you just know that someone is making a decent profit out of them.
I actually don't give to any of the big name charities just small local ones or a go fund me for something that pulls at my heart strings.
I would always give to a child doing something like a sponsored event.

Okay, this actually makes sense, thank you! I’m sure I’ve visited other places where I’ve ticked gift aid though and it’s still been the same entry price. One of life’s mysteries I guess 😁.

I sponsored a colleague who was doing a half marathon for a domestic violence charity. But I am not a manager. I agree as that as a manager you can’t sponsor one and not the other.

No thanks I don't want to pay towards your child's gap year.

I also notice that the more grand charity experiences always seem to be in aid of the huge charities. Not necessarily if it's something like a run in the park, but Great Wall of China, Machu Pichu and the like.

I presume you have to be a certain size to have the resources and economies of scale and the numbers to be able to organise such events - and also the reserve funds to be able to risk making a loss or very little profit.

Even so, whilst I'm not saying the charities aren't good causes, when you look at their annual incomes - often in the hundreds of millions and sometimes over a billion - it does seem like your donation will vanish into nowhere, and will make far, far more of a difference to a small local charity.

The National Trust are always super hot on raising money at every opportunity, and they often play on being a poor, vulnerable little charity; but they get over half a billion in every year!

Don't think it's ok at work. Sponsorship is one thing if Jane wants to stick up a poster/send an email, but ideally I'd prefer it be anonymous-I always pick this option when I sponsor on socials etc, and at work people shouldn't have to worry they'll look mean if they don't sponsor.
With your office culture, what about things like presents (maternity, birthdays, leaving etc)? Because that's a bigger issue, as in people can feel pressure if there's cards/presents, if some people seem to "get" more than others, and if you're the boss, to me that's more relevant in that you could insist any sponsorships aren't discussed in office and people can be given a link to donate anonymously, but for presents etc that's harder.

Not sure about that. It's the only place that has ever charged me extra to gift aid my entry fee (which is why I remember it) and from memory the forms say you wont be charged extra.

I used to work for 3 big international charities and I won't sponsor or fundraise for them or any others as a result and seeing the sheer waste.

I have on occasion donated for smaller local charities that I felt the money might get to where it was meant to. (I'm not excluding admin- I know from experience that good charities require good governance and this requires money for decent admin and support)

I once sponsored (under a feeling of pressure) the son of a line manager who was doing what amounted to a jolly. I was new to the team and felt i had no choice. I sponsored him to the tune of the equivalent of a day's wage after tax of my own wage level. My line manager took the cheque (cheques in those days) huffed in sheer disgust and said 'I thought you'd be good for a couple of thousand'.

Fuck Right Off.

In the end he never raised his base amount but my line manager said it was fine as he'd 'managed to pay off his overdraft'.

Luckily there isn't really a birthday gift culture. Even for big ones, it's just a WhatsApp message.

There will be some retirements in the next few years and I suspect there will be a couple of marriages and maybe a baby but nothing that will make people upset that so and so got more than them last week.

There really should be some sort of governance. I remember when you were at school you have to prove you'd done your sponsored walk before anyone would give you their 20p pledge.

I remember when you were at school you have to prove you'd done your sponsored walk before anyone would give you their 20p pledge

Ditto, @Tapoopoo

I was genuinely confused the first time I was asked to pay upfront, and that was another one which didn't go ahead... all of which is why I now stick with purely local stuff and ignore the industry which too much of the sector has become

This, I sponsor team members I am close to, especially the charities that support a cause that have an impact in my family - cancer and mental health.

I don’t think you should be obligated to - but you also shouldn’t scrutinise those that do fundraise.

My Ddad knew a man who sky-dived for the local NHS hospital fund raiser … he landed badly and shattered his ankle - costing the NHS far far more than he raised! His on-going treatment went on for years.
I no longer sponsor people since the money raised at my workplace disappeared with the fundraiser, never to be seen again!

You sound a delight.

I don't sponsor anyone from work as there is just too many.

If a family member or close friend asked me to sponsor them , I would do.

Not anymore after a 2 year stint working at a charity I was horrified by how they operate. I won't go into gory details as it's outing but almost none of the money goes where it actually should unfortunately

I don’t think you should be obligated to - but you also shouldn’t scrutinise those that do fundraise

I'll have to respectfully disagree there, @TY78910
Though it may depend on what kind of scrutiny you mean, we're talking about other people's money given in good faith here, and personally I've always considered myself fully accountable to those who've been generous enough to give

The second one is a bit sad, but hopefully people feel the same way about you and when you leave no one will want to organise anything for you and they won't waste time and energy.
But yabnu about the collections for charity, there are loads of ways to get involved

Nope
Especially not... these hike the Andres/ trek the great wall of China
I'm not funding sporty Susan's hobby
Esp not when the ceo s of these charities are on ridiculous salaries

Do you mean in cases when somebody fundraises and doesn’t go through with the (marathon, skydive whatever)? Or that you don’t believe the charity will do what they pledge to do?

I don't know, then - that was how one explained it to me once. They may have been 'stretching the truth', I suppose! Maybe they sometimes just reckon that, if you've gone far enough to sign a GA form, they can tap you for more whilst they're at it?!