Charities

[Bumblelion]

I was wondering what other people's perceptions of charities are. I have always been quite coy about what I do for charity (monetary or time) but now my youngest has Sotos Syndrome I have joined a charity which specialises in her condition (Child Growth Foundation). It seems that since I have started contributing to this charity, attending conferences, etc. I am getting more and more telephone calls asking for my assistance. I have just had a telephone call (which prompted this message) from RNIB asking if I could help out with (1) their christmas raffle or (2) having a "small change" box to put my spare change in (I never have any spare change, I can always find something to spend it on).

I understand that each and every charity has their worthiness but, at the end of the day, I can only afford to support one charity and, for me, that charity has to be the one that is at the forefront for testing/recognition/acceptance of Sotos Syndrome.

... so why do I feel so bad when I say "no"!

I feel the same as you. I understand their need to drum up support/funds/whatever, and I do what I can when I can, but, I dont like feeling "harrassed" or hounded.

make sure you say no and tell them why.

I was phoned by a local political party asking for support with a specific campaign which I knew would take up loads of time so I explained that, while I was happy to support the campaign, I wasn't able to do any more as I was already busy with being a school governor.
The bloke that phoned seemed to appreciate that I had been honest with him as I got the impression some people had been saying they would do stuff and then not turning up or actually doing anything.

It sounds as if your charity has been passing your details on to others. You can write to them and ask them to stop doing this. You could also sign up to the Telephone Preference Service , which will stop most charity cold-calls as well as marketing calls.

They rely on you feeling guilty and not being able to refuse a request from someone who is speaking to you, and it's horribly manipulative.