I needs your thoughts on this please. Upset with Brownie fundraising.

djtonyb

[FONT=&quot]I am a Brownie Leader (who is just about to be presented with my 20 yr service bar) and I am shocked by the way these leaders have treated your daughter.

I fully understand that money is tight and not everyone can give as much as others. I have some girls who give very generously and others who manage to raise 50p. Every one of my girls is treated equally. If prizes are to be given out I ensure that everyone gets a prize (even if I have to subsidise the prizes myself or give a small certificate in recognition of their efforts).

Please speak to your guiders as they may not realise the situation and this will hopefully not happen again.[/FONT]

pulliptears

djtonyb wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]I am a Brownie Leader (who is just about to be presented with my 20 yr service bar) and I am shocked by the way these leaders have treated your daughter.

I fully understand that money is tight and not everyone can give as much as others. I have some girls who give very generously and others who manage to raise 50p. Every one of my girls is treated equally. If prizes are to be given out I ensure that everyone gets a prize (even if I have to subsidise the prizes myself or give a small certificate in recognition of their efforts).

Please speak to your guiders as they may not realise the situation and this will hopefully not happen again.[/FONT]

Exactly what I was about to say. Im a Brownie leader too, and this would never have been allowed to happen in our troop.

zebidee1

To be fair to the Brownie leaders, it wasn't their personal decision to give rewards based on how much was brought in. The sponsorship form was a glossy printed thing and already had all this on it with pictures of the rewards that were to be given, and I'm led to believe it came from Brownie Headquarters, so it must have been a biggish fundraiser? All their sponsorship forms had to be returned there for checking.

I've just spoken to one of the other Mums who said if they raised £50 they got a cap and more than £50 got them the calculator along with the cap and some badges etc. There's no way I could have given that much just so my DD got the same. :eek:

The other Mum agreed with me but their family is quite large so their girl got sponsors easily.

Errata

I've just spoken to one of the other Mums who said if they raised £50 they got a cap and more than £50 got them the calculator along with the cap and some badges etc.

What planet are these people living on ! That's more than 50% of the weekly state retirment pension.

naturally_2

Maybe its all a big misunderstanding and her brown owl *(are they still called that?) will be terribly upset when you speak to her, but I do think its worth speaking to her, if not for the benefit of your daughter then for the benefit of whoever is in the same situation next year.

I wonder if the leaders *might* have thought she was/you were too lazy to participate? Worth pointing out your reasons why, which I think are entirely reasonable. Also worth bringing to their attention that she was really upset about the meeting, and had you known in advance that sponsorship and only sponsorship was what this week's meeting was about then you would simply not have sent her that week, no problems there.

Please don't approach them aggresively or with anything but kindness, as I do feel that as you say they could well be very upset if they had or do realise that she felt that way. They are volunteers and for the most part most of them do it purely because they enjoy spending time with the kids and contributing to their "life education" in some small way. I was a brownie and a leader for quite a while years back and those were the reasons why most of us gave our time.

zebidee1

I hope I haven't given the impression I'm complaining and angry about this?

As I said, I was upset that my DD was upset but I didn't know if it was all my fault anyway and I should just have given her money. There's no way in the world could I go to the Brownie leader and be agressive or angry.

I've been bothered about this since last night as I dont like hurting people's feelings and although I dont want DD to be in this position again, nor do I want to offend the leader.

stationaryace

bring it up. having been both a Brownie and a Guide leader in several different packs, i know how hard it can be trying to juggle arranging activities, following guidelines and official events and recognising the needs of the individual. you'll probably find they are happy to listen and probably just not aware of your feelings- we never knew the background of all our girls

*i got fed up of sponsored events in school as it ended up just being my mum shelling out each time so refused to do them *

ailuro2

Aw..poor thing, what a shoddy way to treat her.

tell your DD that the original Brownie story I was taught back in the seventies was all about good kids who were brownies who helped out around the house as a surprise for their Mummy, but did it in secret before she woke up, but they didn't expect any praise or thanks for it, they just did it because they had goodness in their hearts.;)

I'd suggest you talk to the brownie leader, ask her to let you know if there will be rewards next time and you'll keep DD home that night.If she responds less than well, then ask her what the Brownie story is these days??:p



Send a note into school also, letting them know that you won't be sponsoring any events, and please respect your decision on this.

If you think it will help the way other people treat your kids, you could tell them you already pay a monthly amount through Give As You Earn, as it's tax free, and optimises your donations.;)

My OH and I gave money to a national homeless charity last year instead of having gifts for each other - and we have received remiders every couple of months about how more money could be spent helping more people.

It's an industry now, with some people being paid pretty high salaries to direct fundraisers, and to me this goes against the grain of what charity should be about.:mad:

lizzie_dripping

It sounds like the Brownies took part a sponsored event for a major charity, where the charity and the group split the money raised between them, These usually give out rewards (Mr Men/Little Misses or Bubblegum characters) depending on the sponsorship amount.

I have done these a couple of times with Beavers but have always made sure that everyone who took part (even if they didn't contribute any money) received a prize. The Charity organisers don't usually see who has raised what, the Leaders just send off an order form for the prizes and distribute them as necessary.

I haven't done them for a while as the amount required for the top reward went up from £26 to £50 which I thought was extortionate.

I would make the Brownie leaders aware that your daughter was upset to not receive anything (did she get a certificate for taking part?) so that they can make sure it doesn't happen again another time, to your daughter or another child.

I would refrain from making too many suggestions about how they could have improved it though - they may make you organise the next one!

scattymam1

what happened to the days when you would sponsor someone 50p...£1 was like a really big deal. Last time I got asked to sponsor someone the previous pledges were £5 and £10. Phew!!!