Donating Money To Charity

[Evastar]

Does anyone else find the new trend in charity donations annoying?

Most large charities no longer accept cash donations in the street or at your door, instead they are looking for your bank details for you to set up a direct debit and make a donation every month.

I don't mind making the occasional donation to charity, but i like to be able to choose when and to whom i give it, not be intimidated by some cheeky brat at my door basically telling me that a tenner now and then isn't good enough and i should be, indeed have some kind of moral obligation to give them a donation every month?

You can't go anywhere without being accosted by them, with their clipboards, and this will only take a few minutes of your time, and now they are calling to the house every few months as well?

This same charity were on the radio the other day saying they are having to cut down on the number of countries they are in due to the funding cutbacks, maybe they need to cut down on the number of staff they have out hassling people in the street.

Are they saying they don't trust their collectors to hand in the cash? Or that they couldn't be bothered counting the money? Either way, i make a point of avoiding them now, and only give to the charities that are happy to take my cash.

[Lainie]

my motto is i never give to those that ask. i regularly give money to charity and even raise money for charity at work. im constantly giving stuff to the pdsa to sell - teddies, dvds, cds unwanted gifts etc and recently as ive been moving to my b/f's for a bit they have had loads and loads. i buy their xmas cards and calendars etc. i gotta say the big issue sellers particularly annoy me. they seem to be on every corner!!

[ruudvandan]

These charity collectors get paid. If I donate my money to charity I want as much as possible to go to helping those in need, not to line the pockets of University drop-outs.

They try to make you feel guilty so I always ask them, if you feel so strongly about this cause then wht don't you work for free? I don't accept the "I need money to live" argument as they can get a job and do their "charity collections" voluntarily on their day off

[forntida]

At least five charity shops in Kilmarnock have closed down in the last year. They say they can't afford the costs.
They get their goods and labour for free. Where is the problem?

During the Tsunami Disaster and the Eritrea Drought the charities were appealing for clothes urgently yet the charity shops were sitting full of them. Why were they not all emptied and sent to where they were needed along with any household goods that could be of help. It was probably because the fat cats sitting on their arses in Lonon would not be getting their regular wages.

I.M.O they should all take the Salvation Army as an example where everyone can see the good that they do.

I am not a religious person but I think the 'sally ann' is the only religious organization that dispenses charity, where it is needed, without seeking anything in return.

Rant over.

[caveman_nige]

At least five charity shops in Kilmarnock have closed down in the last year. They say they can't afford the costs.
They get their goods and labour for free. Where is the problem?

During the Tsunami Disaster and the Eritrea Drought the charities were appealing for clothes urgently yet the charity shops were sitting full of them. Why were they not all emptied and sent to where they were needed along with any household goods that could be of help. It was probably because the fat cats sitting on their arses in Lonon would not be getting their regular wages.

I.M.O they should all take the Salvation Army as an example where everyone can see the good that they do.

I am not a religious person but I think the 'sally ann' is the only religious organization that dispenses charity, where it is needed, without seeking anything in return.

Rant over.

a worthwhile rant however..

I remeber when i used to do a lot more charity work... the shops do pay the manager and assistant manager (very low wages though).. unfortunately they also pay rent and insurance etc as well... They stuff they sell is so low priced it barely covers the costs... Since some well known auction sites came to the interweb people started to figur ethey could actuallyeran themselves a few quid by selling it themselves and with things being financially tight i guess people are ahning on to stuff more as they cannot afford to replace it....

Its a shame though, the place i used to volunteer at went down years ago... but i still give my old stuff away to the charities, but i tend to given them to charities that give back to the UK or charities that deal with cancer... The old addage that charity begins at home...

rant over...

[ruudvandan]

just had a quick scan around to find out which charities spend the leaset on administration costs and found this: Humanitarian Services - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

100% goes to helping the poor and the volunteers meet all their own costs. Can't get much better than that.

[moh]

Most of theses collectors are on commission,its a job to them especially the collectors that chase you down the street,lets just say you give 5 euro,by the time the collector gets his/her commission,their immediate boss gets theirs,the organisation gets theirs i wonder how much out of that 5 euro is actually getting to the said charity that they pertain to be collecting for

[ruudvandan]

Most of theses collectors are on commission,its a job to them especially the collectors that chase you down the street,lets just say you give 5 euro,by the time the collector gets his/her commission,their immediate boss gets theirs,the organisation gets theirs i wonder how much out of that 5 euro is actually getting to the said charity that they pertain to be collecting for

mmy point exactly. I don't mind giving to charity, but I do mind it when the money I give to charity is wasted on paid collectors