Real Life MMD: Friends won't sponsor me, should I say something?

Paul_Herring

Shiva42 wrote: »

Its fairly typical of the stingy small minded section of society

I totally agree...

(and is why we presently have the Tories in again)

.. oh. Ad hominem. As you were..

to go with the "I'll do what I want with my money" lecture.

But the thing is, we're forced to anyway - the government takes nearly half of what we earn to spend on their own little charaties leaving little for minor things like food and heating.

You are (nearly) all missing the main points here

And it seems to me you've missed a pretty major point - we already give scads of money to charities already without realising it. for example the NSPCC, the National Autistic Society, Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH), Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), Internet Watch Foundation, Age Concern.. the list goes on.

RuffRuff

Absolutley you should send a reminder email.

You are doing something great by getting off your backside and doing something to support a cause and you should be applauded and fully supported by your real friends. You should not be put off negative, bellittling and somewhat arrogant comments by some members of this board. You are not spending their money and if they chose to ignore you on the first email they may also choose to ignore you on your reply email. But, they may have forgot and so the reminder will raise a little more money for the charity. Similarly, if your friends may not support your chosen charity or already donate to other charities then perhaps ask them to donate a little extra on your behalf. This may give both of you a warm feeling when you are spending those endless hours training or however you are preparing for the event while unltimatley benefitting the charity. If your friends genuinely cant donate, or have donated elsewhere then perhaps they can support you in other ways. Maybe they could do extra pickup or drop offs to help you out, maybe they could cook a meal, maybe they could pass on things they dont use to sell on ebay, may send a good luck card / email as you get closer to the date.

If you dont get anymore donations then so be it, be proud that you have made an effort, that you have raised some money and go and enjoy the event. If your friends indicate that they are offended that you asked them to support you then dont hold a grudge but move them from your pile of real friends to your pile of fake friends.

*Louise*

Feel free to send a follow up email as a gentle reminder but asking why people aren't donating is just flipping cheeky.

No one should have to justify why they won't donate to a cause. Perhaps they already give plenty to charity, perhaps they are sick and tired of being asked by lots of different people, whatever the reason, it's THEIR reason and their decision so why should they be made to feel guilty about it.


Personally, I have DD's set up to give to certain charities so it's all budgeted for in my monthly outgoings. I hate sponsored things, mainly because there are so many of them and they would all add up to a fair whack if I gave to every one that came along.

Gillsx

Are you kidding? Just because you decide to raise funds for your chosen cause you think this is an automatic right to your friends cash? Let's gets the facts right:

FACT 1 - sponsorship is voluntary - you cannot force this and I don't think the charity would be too pleased with your tactics which could have a negative effect on them also.
FACT 2 - you have no idea what level of donations and sponsorship your friends are already making from their salaries. For instance, you have no idea how many people they have already sponsored to date, that level of sponsorship, how many donations of any kind they have made to good causes, etc. They could have already paid out hundreds and decided that's enough for one year. Did you think of that? Even if they haven't - THATS THEIR CHOICE!
FACT 3 - your friends may have chosen charities they already give to and stick to those charities. Yours might not be one of them.
FACT 4 - yours friends money is theirs - probably hard earned - so why should you and charities get it over them being able to reward themselves with 'luxuries'. This is their choice - not yours and how dare you look negatively upon them for spending their money how they wish.
FACT 5 - you are in the wrong and you could cost yourself these friendships.

I happen to give a lot to charity (hundreds every year), but have to reign it in and be selective in who I give to. I have also raised thousands myself for my chosen causes. So because I didn't buy a cake from the cake trolley that came round work raising money for charity that does not make me selfish or a bad person and I would never view anyone else in that way!!!

Tut-tut!

JayD

Absolutely NOT!

Whilst I admire your generous effort to raise money for a cause that is close to your heart, it may not be one that appeals to everyone else.

Also, it is entirely up to them whether they wish to sponsor you or not - and they do not have to come to you with explanations or reasons if they choose not to, or to ignore your request.

You have no real knowledge of their personal financial circumstances or commitments, nor of any charirties that they may already support - or how generously they may do so.

People have a right to make their own choices in such matters without recourse to you.

Good luck with your venture. I hope you raise a good amount of money for your charity. Have you approached any local businesses?

Brian_Steele

What other people do or don't give to charity is their decision and if it's the wrong one, it's their decision and not yours. You cannot tell them on what to spend their money or indeed which charity to support. Also, if you are raising sponsorship for something like a charity expedition, you have no idea whether they might resent the fact that you are getting a nice holiday out of it, however hard your fundraising.

I do a fair amount of charity collection myself and never let people's reactions get to me. For all I know, they won't give me 50p because they have either just been declared bankrupt or donated £10,000 to something else last week.

scrabbly

I am sick and tired of people begging for money for something THEY think is important !
They are only asking so that THEY can have fun
Why can't these people do something worthwhile with their time ?
eg Sponsored litter pick ? graffiti scrubbing ? old peoples gardens ?
river clearance ? etc etc etc
Running, jumping out of a plane, climbing Kilimanjaro! helps no one and is a complete waste of time and effort
I ALWAYS but ONLY sponsor useful tasks

scrabbly

As for "have you asked local businesses " - I used to have my own business and was asked at least twice a week to contribute to something !
A regular customer might get something but often they were complete strangers - they have a cheek !

Gavin83

I think a lot would depend on what the sponsored event was. If it was for a run or something simple I wouldn't have a problem but I'd never fund someones trip to Kilimanjaro or something along those lines.

ipod_killed_the_musicshop

If you feed the poor you are called a saint. If you ask why the poor are hungry you are caled a Communist.