Money grubbing charities

[sparkybird]

Sorry to come into this post a bit late, but I felt someone has to stick up for charities!

I worked in the sector for over 10 years and whilst yes, some of these things you mention do go on, they are not just limited to charities - what about the builder 'over ordering' his customers materials and then the excess 'finds' it's way into the back of his/her van....

The charity sector is huge in UK - in fact if it didn't exist, the country would be in big trouble - I don't think T Blair is going to cough up for MacMillan Nurses, Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Donkey Sanctuary, is he?? And if he did, either way the money would end up coming out of my pocket - tax or a donation!

In respect of salaries - the old adage, if you pay peanuts you get monkeys, still applies and even then if you look at the salary of an MD running a company with a turnover of say 10M, it will be way higher than the charity person doing the same.

SB (but no longer a charidee case)

 

[pipme]

Well, perhaps monkeys could do better then .. Sadly, the current crop do not seem to be cutting much ice hereabouts.
P

 

[felix]

I find myself almost agreeing with Sparkybird. I started this thread with some trepidation expecting to be branded a meanie many times over. I would never have believed that there was so much anger out there. It's a horrifying indictment on the reputation of big, brand name charities but I'm afraid they must have brought it upon themselves.

I'm not against charities per se but, like Kendor, I now support the smaller, local ones. I go to church fetes and buy the homemade cakes and I'm always disappointed if I don't leave with at least one white elephant. I put money in collecting tins. I used to fill those little envelopes too but I can't remember when the last one was. We put stuff out in collection bags and if nobody collects it I take it to a charity shop instead - but not that big one! We play the local hospice lottery. (Our other half insists on throwing money down the drain on the national 'clottery' too but what can I say. A tax on poverty? No, it's a tax on stupidity - and I hope our daughter doesn't rat on me ---)

The snack bar in the hospital waiting room is run by the WRVS and they work for nothing. When my sister who is a solicitor was unemployed she worked for the CAB, also for nothing. As a student I danced in the street and shook my tin for nothing. That's charity.

I don't resent full time charity workers getting paid a modest amount. What's really put me off is their money grubbing tactics and I've just remembered a classic case.

Remember Christmas Child? Great idea - at first. Our kids came home from school full of enthusiasm to gift wrap a shoe box and fill it with toys they'd grown out of. They even bought a few sweets and put them in too. That was the first year.

Anybody who's done this will know what happened next time. The kids came home with instructions on how to make their boxes but there was an extra for us parents - a 'bill' for £2 to cover handling costs. Excuse me you money grubbing s**ts! You're getting the boxes and their contents for nothing! When I give blood I don't expect to be charged for the anaesthetic. (And the day this happens will be my last donation.)

I found this trick doubly despicable because the kids really wanted to send those boxes - and if we didn't pay the handling charges would they be tossed in the skip? We paid that year but the kids, or maybe the school, must have been equally disgusted because they never did another box.

 

[petewood]

Anybody who's done this will know what happened next time. The kids came home with instructions on how to make their boxes but there was an extra for us parents - a 'bill' for £2 to cover handling costs. Excuse me you money grubbing s**ts! You're getting the boxes and their contents for nothing! When I give blood I don't expect to be charged for the anaesthetic. (And the day this happens will be my last donation.)

I found this trick doubly despicable because the kids really wanted to send those boxes - and if we didn't pay the handling charges would they be tossed in the skip? We paid that year but the kids, or maybe the school, must have been equally disgusted because they never did another box.

I'm sure we are not asked to contribute cash when we send these boxes, perhaps it depends on where you live. In fact one of my friends works on the distribution of these boxes and I know for a fact she volounteers, so I wonder where your £2 is going?

 

[masona]

When my father died in 1992, he has parkinson disease over 22 years so I decided to send off a payment of £200 from my dad will's to parkinson's disease society. Since then they will not leave me alone every year and they keep pestering me how much direct debit I'm willing to pay.

 

[felix]

I'm sure we are not asked to contribute cash when we send these boxes, perhaps it depends on where you live

Interesting comment there from petewood. It may indeed depend where you live - or maybe which school organizes the collection. I wouldn't put it past some g*t (on commission?) to say "There's not many poor kids at this school. Let's see if we can screw their parents for some extra cash." I'd also like to know where that money went. Perhaps some of it helped pay for lorries and planes. That wouldn't be too bad though you'd think a shipping company would carry the boxes free in return for the good PR.

There has been a major shift in the way too many charities operate so I'll take a wild guess at their way of thinking. "We can stand in the street once a year and get a thousand people to put 10p each in our tins - or we can dummy ten of them into signing a £1 monthly direct debit and stuff the rest." The second approach is more profitable and a lot less work but it sucks big time.

I even observed this shift on a smaller scale at a local Guides group. The poster announced a 'Table Sale'. Now I'd never heard of this before so I asked if they meant a jumble sale. "Oh no" came the reply. "Jumble sales are far too much work for us. You pay for the table, sell what you can and keep the money." That sounds like the thin end of a very fat and ugly wedge to me.

 

[masona]

It's great that Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has decided to donate his coat for the children cancer charity. This make me sick when Cherie Blair said " It's great that Chelsea are working with CLIC Sargent on this" and yet a couple of month ago she has awarded herself £100,000 from another children cancer fund

 

[kendor]

let's not forget that the word "charity" suggests the giving out of choice, it is up to an individual whether they contribute or not , some feel satisfied to give money direct, some feel by doing the lottery they are giving, i think it should remain a choice, or do others feel it should be funded from a tax?
if there was enough money to go around then the health and welfare of all would be catered for but in real life sadly it is left to donation.
The question being asked is, is your contribution going to where it counts or is it being swallowed up by administration?
it seems that today charities are run like businesses with employees as opposed to unpaid voluntary workers whether this has been brought about due to the logistics of charity aid these days i'm not sure? Perhaps to be effective these days you need to be a big concern which is not feasible unless it is run business style?

 

[masona]

Cherie should've gave the £100,000 back, she doesn't need it, she earn over £250,000 per year but I never see her doing more than 40hrs per week. I understand what you're saying but this is pure greed.

 

[kendor]

Cherie should've gave the £100,000 back, she doesn't need it, she earn over £250,000 per year but I never see her doing more than 40hrs per week. I understand what you're saying but this is pure greed.

there are a lot of professions that i think are overvalued and i have my views on that but that's another story.

 

[masona]

there are a lot of professions that i think are overvalued

Do you mean they are taking money out of charity fund as well?

 

[pipme]

Gordo and Tone want to spend more on the third world .. yeah, like the tax Brown placed on pension funds ... As far as I am concerned that's part of the aid he'll be giving .. see it just doesn't come out right does it ? You get your own house in order, then help others with the might of the nation behind you ... I bet he does not have that at the moment !!

 

[sparkybird]

Good to see this still going! Just back from hols but wanted to share a few insider tricks with you!

Yes masona - once you have donated once you are a 'hot' potential donor (or should that be doner?!) and marketing professionals will contact you to try and get you to donate again and increase your donation. There actually are people who trawl old donor lists for a living!

Yes kendor - charity is big business and they are all chasing the same pound coin, so have to be clever and business like in order to beat off the other competitors.

Like some of you, I now donate to smaller local charities and do voluntary work myself. I did used to give monthly to a large children's charity, but when I was 'chugged' (charity muggers - those people on the street with clipboards) 5 times in 100 yards by the same charity I cancelled the donation. And do you know they never even bothered to ask why! I figured then that they didn't need the money afterall!

SB

Still can't work out how to do those quoty things - must be my bird brain....

 

[felix]

Still can't work out how to do those quoty things

It took me a few attempts to get quotes right. Start by selecting the stuff you want to quote then copy it to your clipboard. Now click on Quote. The word "quote" will appear in square brackets on your screen. This marks the start of your quote so follow it immediately by pasting from the clipboard.

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NB: It's vital that you don't get those start and end quote markers out of step. Until you get good at it I suggest you always preview your results.

 

[pipme]

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