Telemarketers

[fancytalk]

Well, not exactly telemarketers but the people who go door to door soliciting money for causes. There must be a million of them in Berkeley alone.

I wish there was a "Do Not Knock on My Door" program.
Not because I'm unwilling to donate to the cause,
but because I don't give people money at the door.
And I'm not sorry.
I like information. I like researching who's behind what and where my money is going to go. I like to know what percentage of my donation goes to the actual cause and not administrative fees. Plus, if I supported every cause that walked up to my door, I would be broke within 24 hours.

I've also noticed that they aren't looking for $5 or $10 one time donations. They are always looking for $25 monthly donations. So if I donated the minimum $25 per month to the 5 or 6 causes that walk up to my door per week. Let's call it 5 for calculation purposes, that's at least 20 causes at $25/month for a grand total of $500 a month. Frankly, that would pay for a hybrid car or installing solar panels, which would cover 75% of the causes.

Please don't call me callous or uncaring. I do care about most of the causes. I just don't run a foundation that provides grants to every cause out there. I've got limited funds, so I've got to be choosy about who gets the funds I can spare.

Comments

Congratulations! You've struck a nerve. Big-a** comment to follow. ;-)

[yarbiedoll.livejournal.com]

I'm totally with you on that. Back in college, I adopted an "I don't make on-the-spot monetary pledges over the phone" policy. It has served me well. No matter how good the cause or reputable the organization, I require them to send me their information in writing, so I "can consider [their] request along with the many others I receive from worthwhile organizations". At first blush, it sounds wasteful - but I'm always surprised at the number of solicitors that bluntly admit that they don't send out information by mail because it's just not cost effective. They receive more money in far shorter time over the phone than make it worth the effort to mail out information.

I can respect that, even if it does insult me just a little. If I go to the trouble to ask you to send me something, you should be willing to accommodate my request if you hope to get free money out of me.
Otherwise, you'll most certainly get nothing. It is true that you may have a website I can go to, but I am far more likely to act if I have a physical request in front of me when I sit down to make those decisions. And if I'm not worth that effort on your part, politely thank me and move to the next person on your list instead of continuing to challenge my giving philosophy and complaining that I'm just being difficult.

Also, respect me when I tell you that another reason I don't make contributions over the phone is because my spouse and I make those decisions together. We receive more requests than we can accommodate and are therefore forced to choose which causes we wish to support on an annual basis. Several times, I've come very close to deciding to designate a particular month as "charitable giving month" at out house - a time when we could sit down and review all of the solicitations and make our giving decisions. It's October? If we don't have your information, you've missed your chance for this year. The problem I have with doing that is that several of my favorite charities do fund drives at specific times of the year and I hate to pass up the opportunity to help at those times when I can.

*sigh* Mostly, it just annoys me that a big part of the "joy" I experience charitable giving is trampled by my having to be so militant in responding to the many requests we receive. It's another reason why we should all just contribute our extra dough to The Human Fund.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[yesimthegirl.livejournal.com]

I really am glad that I'm not the only one who likes to have information in hand before giving money to any organization.

I think that because I've reviewed grant proposals as part of all the jobs I've ever had, then I use the same principles to review where I want my money to go and the how much and if I can specify how it is spent. Then if you want to get technical about it, that's how all of the major corporations manage their charitible donations. Circuit City for example will basically donate $100 to any non-profit that requests support. But you have to submit a proposal explaining what you plan to do with their donation and they will only donate once per year per organization. I can respect that. And if the proposal isn't any good - no moolah. Works for me.

RTL did an interview with the Christian Children's Fund several years ago and their philosopy on donations and how they spend their donations is AMAZING. A lot of respect for how they run things. I think that barely 5% of their donations go towards administrative fees.

The thing that bothered me the most with the latest door to door guy was that he kept saying "hopefully you'll make an exception today". No exception, no matter what - if you can't respect my need to have a "proposal" then please don't ask for money. Hmmmm. Maybe I should develop my own little one sheet proposal submissionn form. That would really leave them speechless.

Re: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[yarbiedoll.livejournal.com]

Maybe I should develop my own little one sheet proposal submissionn form. That would really leave them speechless.

I dare you. If it works, send me a copy!

I think I'm so particular about giving because of my time spent working at The United Way. I worked in the corporate accounts division so we handled all of the very customized giving campaigns for the large companies located in RTP. I became very critical of how money was allocated and what percentage went toward administrative expenses. A peek behind the scenes really does the trick, doesn't it?

The UW does an okay job in most areas, but eventually I became disenchanted with the organization, mostly due to the office I was working in. UWs are managed regionally, so my experience was not necessarily representative of the organization as a whole. These days, I enjoy supporting the UW campaign at the hospital where I volunteer by attending all the fun cook-outs and pancake breakfasts during the month of August. :)