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Too many people are after my money...

sikkinixx

sikkinixx

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 10, 2005
2,062
0
Rocketing through the sky!
Everywhere I go some group is asking me for a) money or b) my time and making me feel like a jerk if I don't.

I go to the grocery store

"Would you like to donate a dollar to the Children's Hospital?"

Sure why not, its only a buck and they need it more than I do I bet.

On my way out? Girlscouts

"Would you like to donate $5 for some cookies to help pay for our camp?"

ummm... I suppose so, the cookies are pretty good.

I get in my car. On the radio? "Call now to enter the Firefighter memorial lottery! $1 million grand prize!"

At the mall? Air Cadets needing money for new uniforms, more stores asking me to donate a dollar for charity. At other stores there are BBQ's to raise money for softball or soccer or dry grad or whatever.

I am getting mailing updating me on what the money a donated at the Canucks Place Telethon (Vancouver Hock Team charity) is doing and has an attached envelope that will sign me up to donate monthly.


Everywhere I turn people are asking for me to donate to all sorts of charities. Tons of commercials are for walks for Cancer or Aids or MS or Diabetes or whatever.

I understand all these things need support because government can't pay for everything (they need to keep their pensions nice and high you know) and I don't mind giving some cash or time to their causes but I feel so bombarded with people guilt tripping me into giving them money and they make me feel like such a jerk since they use images of sick little kids or abused dogs or whatever...
 
Yeah, it's difficult thinking about what others have (or don't have) when many of us have plenty. In fact, anyone who is posting from their home or work almost certainly have "plenty" compared to most of the world.

Give a little to a lot, or a lot to little. Don't feel compelled to give a little to everything, or a lot to everything.

But certainly, we don't want you to start giving nothing to nothing! :D
 
mithrilfox said:
Yeah, it's difficult thinking about what others have (or don't have) when many of us have plenty. In fact, anyone who is posting from their home or work almost certainly have "plenty" compared to most of the world.

Give a little to a lot, or a lot to little. Don't feel compelled to give a little to everything, or a lot to everything.

But certainly, we don't want you to start giving nothing to nothing! :D
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ummm....... yeah ... I get it ......... I think ?
 
I have a problem saying no to Girl Scouts selling cookies (I love those Thin Mints!) but I can say no to everybody else without a problem and not feel guilty since I do give to other charities.
 
What I donate, I donate based on my own values and research that I do myself, period. So my rule is, if you ever want money from me, don't ask, because the answer will be, now and forever, no. If I was interested in your cause in the first place, I would have sought you out.
 
sikkinixx said:
On my way out? Girlscouts

"Would you like to donate $5 for some cookies to help pay for our camp?"

At other stores there are BBQ's to raise money for softball or soccer or dry grad or whatever.

I am getting mailing updating me on what the money a donated at the Canucks Place Telethon (Vancouver Hock Team charity) is doing and has an attached envelope that will sign me up to donate monthly.
Click to expand...

Ok, I can understand the other things but these... What's the point? They're not exactly going to be benefiting the world if you donate to them. These groups should ask for donations at the place where they have meetings and stuff, or at the stadiums where they're playing. Not in the street.

Cancer charities, etc. I can see why. They're going to be putting the money towards a much more widespread cause and therefore they're more worthy of your money. But being approached by people asking you to donate to leisure activities is greedy and should be done within their grounds, not in the street. People are obviously going to oblige because they don't want see a group of 7 year olds looking disappointed at them.
 
I can say no to just about any charity… except animal charities…

Just show me a picture of a suffering donkey or cat and my wallet pops right open. :eek::eek:

Sigh…
 
scotthayes said:
It's the same in the UK, every 10 feet there is somebody asking for your money. I've got a simple policy, I've got a few charities I give to and none to all the other and I never feel bad about not giving to the others.
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Same here, you just have to ignore it I'm afraid.
 
I live and work in the financial district, with a homeless shelter located just blocks away. Aside from the ones that insist on wasting your time with some fabricated sob story, I don't really have a problem with them.

I do have a problem with those pesky "Save the Children" and "GreenPeace" teenagers that go so far as to grab your arm, or jump in front of you - denying further movement.

I was a monthly STC donor for 7yrs until one young woman blurted "liar", after telling her that I was already a donor. I went home and cancelled. It's like paying someone to harass and embarrass you.
 
I dont donate, period (except for the exceptions below). I figure enough of my money (in the form of taxes )already goes to help a significant number of people both here and abroad.

The only time I really donate are to veterans organizations, and maybe environmental organization.
 
I donate money each month to Sick Kids Hospital, they charge my credit card automatically. I got a phone call from them about a month ago saying that I'm a "hero" and they got a lot done because of my contribution. They wanted $10 more from me each month. I told them I can't afford it since I'm planning for a wedding and buying a house next year. She said it's alright, how about $3 more? I told them I really can't afford it and she basically hung up on me. :eek:
 
heehee said:
I donate money each month to Sick Kids Hospital, they charge my credit card automatically. I got a phone call from them about a month ago saying that I'm a "hero" and they got a lot done because of my contribution. They wanted $10 more from me each month. I told them I can't afford it since I'm planning for a wedding and buying a house next year. She said it's alright, how about $3 more? I told them I really can't afford it and she basically hung up on me. :eek:
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wow, amazing
it's a shame the kids hospital has people like that representing them!
i give to my church
and then i like to give to individuals, like i gave a new washing machine/dryer to a newlywed couple with a new baby, stuff like that
i like to know where my money is going
i've given away a couple of cars to people i know that needed them and would take care of them
donated to the humane society when i adopted my pets
etc
 
This is another reason I don't carry cash with me, I'm a debit person. But if I do have cash, it usually goes to the charities. Mostly stuff with kids or if it has a cool coin collector, like the spinny ones (yea I'm a sucker)
 
heehee said:
They wanted $10 more from me each month. I told them I can't afford it since I'm planning for a wedding and buying a house next year. She said it's alright, how about $3 more? I told them I really can't afford it and she basically hung up on me. :eek:
Click to expand...

You should have said, "How about $10 less?"

SNAP!
 
oh man college campuses are bombarded with save the chidren save the environment, donate to this cause.....ugh I say no to all of them as each organization has asked me a trillion times throughtout the years, and sometimes many times a day


and dont get me started with mormon missonaries or jehovas witnesses that come to campus and try to convert me lol
 
I don't donate but my girlfriend does so karma is kind of restored. For a while I used to get phonecalls from various charities. They give some grand opening speech but basically I've just finished university so I'm kinda paying off my student loan and saving up so I can move out, get a car etc. So no!

A friend of mine works for some aid charity thingy and tries getting monthly donations off people in city centres. The fool, he hates it but tries to justify it with "I'm helping people". Which I suppose is true.

dukebound85 said:
oh man college campuses are bombarded with save the chidren save the environment, donate to this cause.....ugh I say no to all of them as each organization has asked me a trillion times throughtout the years, and sometimes many times a day
Click to expand...

Location location location! See why would you try getting students to pay for things? They're plenty in debt as it is. Homeless people here have it right - they go begging outside the churches in the posh side of the city. That's using your noggin. Not the ones who sit outside lower-end supermarkets, where shoppers come out with their hands full.
 
JohnNotBeatle said:
What I donate, I donate based on my own values and research that I do myself, period. So my rule is, if you ever want money from me, don't ask, because the answer will be, now and forever, no. If I was interested in your cause in the first place, I would have sought you out.
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great philosophy!!! much better to find out who really needs it as opposed to someone just looking for a handout...

being middle class I know there's no one helping me and I don't really care as I'd rather work for my money anyways, it means more to me, but for those who are truly trying hard and need some help then when I have extra(forgetting to mention that my life of "luxury" also includes the debt and stress that come along with it) I'll give
 
scotthayes said:
It's the same in the UK, every 10 feet there is somebody asking for your money.
Click to expand...

please don't tell me that 1 out of every 3 is a gypsy???

never got out to the UK but from what I saw in W. Europe Italy and Spain had the worst when it came to gypsies, thankfully they weren't as annoying in Austria, where I was for about 5 months and in fact it became very easy to just ignore them... the ones in Italy and Spain though make you have to watch your wallet at all times 'cause usually the begging is just a way to distract you while they pick your pocket... something I'm "proud" to say the beggars in downtown Chicago don't do... they just try to follow you and give you their sob-story, which I will agree that to live a decent middle-class lifestyle it's tough to find decent work at the moment(but still very possible), but to just have a lifestyle there are plenty of jobs out there that'll provide shelter, clothing and food that don't make one resort to such a low, one such example was on the radio where an example was given of a guy in an Elmo suit standing on the side of the street trying to get ppl to get into KidSnips, a barber shop aimed a kids, yea it's kind of embarrassing, but it's still work...

back to actual charities though, if they make you feel guilty for not giving then they really don't know the true meaning of charity which means giving for the sake of giving, not to feel better about yourself OR to feel bad if you don't...
 
I have friends & family that take part in charity walks, rides, marathons and even triathlons and I typically donate to them. I figure if someone is willing to sacrifice the time and effort to train and take part in an event like that the least I can do is cough up some cash. If everyone donated just a little bit (like even $1) charities would receive a ton of money annually. Unfortunately it doesn't really work like that. Recently I took part in a 150 mile bike ride event to raise money for MS and even though I asked for as little as $5 (I was trying to go for a lot of people giving a little amount each) I only had about 20-25% of the people I contacted donate.


Lethal
 
I am pretty unforgiving when girl scouts, coworkers raising money for JDRF/rainforests/asthma walks/PETA/whatever. I definitely support them all, but I think the most important charities should come first. I haven't donated a single dime to the Human Rights Campaign, who is defending my should-be-right to marry; I've not given anything to the EFF, who protects my right to use my content freely; I've not helped my favorite campaign for president, for governor, for legislators; I haven't tithed to my church. I could easily donate to these things, sure. I have however volunteered, cooked food, donated groceries and toiletries, and donate cash and cut a check annually to my local homeless shelter.

The poor turtles in Thailand, boys and girls clubs that keep little whippersnappers off the streets, and little kids who need a camp to go to so they don't cry about having to put in an insulin shot are important; they are however secondary to people who (a) have no place to go, (b) have no food, (c) have underlying mental and physical health problems, and (d) have no resources to use to pull themselves up.

I know everyone's choices are their own, and it is a gift, so they are entitled to give it to who they wish, and maybe some of the other charities that are health-related, children-related, nature-related (including animals), or political/societal-related are just as important... but I don't see any of them being as necessary as the charities for people who are literally on the bottom rung of Maslow's. They also do not seem to be the most well-funded... but then some charities can buy cars and thousand-dollar business suits and afford tons of advertising... it's weird. It sort of makes me mad, actually. But then I'm conflicted, as I'm not one to judge others. I dunno.
 
Call me cruel if you wish, but there is no shortage of inequity in this World.

I have chosen to look after our own, first.

And I don't do it with dollars, although they are important.
 
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