Donated and then got unsolicited phone calls.

artbaron

paddyrg wrote: »

MSF/DWB is certainly a very good and worthy charity, although if it is something that concerns you, it is worth noting that the US wing (the one you linked to) pays $4.5M a year in non-operational salaries, including $2.8M to fundraisers salaries (according to their own annual reports).

It's never straight black and white, it seems

Interesting. Question is how much expenditure do they genuinely need. Difficult to tell but it's worth looking into.

dealer_wins

Giving to "charity" these days means that 5% of your cash goes to help if that.

Better off spending the money yourself LOL

Lou67

I give to a few local charity shops (clothes and bric-a-brac,) as I know that the money goes to the charity concerned, but otherwise I never ever ever give.

I utterly DETEST the charity muggers (chuggers; ) I get sick to the back teeth of being hassled and hounded in my own high street and shopping centre by these jokers who are only out to line their own pockets with their commission, and don't give a damn about the charity (pretty much like the people who run it. )

People are very naive if they think that they give a damn about the people they are supposedly raising the money for. Sadly, these charities with their manipulation and bullying ways, have ruined any compassion or empathy people had. Nobody I know gives to charities begging on the streets anymore, as they are sick of the irritating little gimps that they employ, trying to be all jovial and charming, but just coming across as total tits.

I also get sick to death of seeing the ads on the cable channels with some dreary voice trying to sound 'sad: "Little fudozy has not eaten for a week... can you help little Fudozy?" Maybe... But anything I give won't go to him will it? It will go to the fatcats at the top of the charity. I reach for the mute button when these ads come on now.

I just worry for the elderly and vulnerable who are taken in a lot easier and believe things a lot more. These kind of companies prey on people like this.

ThumbRemote

dealer_wins wrote: »

Giving to "charity" these days means that 5% of your cash goes to help if that.

Better off spending the money yourself LOL

Utter tripe.

paddyrg

artbaron wrote: »

Interesting. Question is how much expenditure do they genuinely need. Difficult to tell but it's worth looking into.

Absolutely, and don't get me wrong, MSF is a superb charity and probably maintains lower overheads than many, however these things are complicated. The best known cancer support charity spends millions on campaigning for supporters, but make hundreds of millions for its charitable work off the back of that. Where is 'the line'?

I always will do a bit of background research on charities I support. It can make fascinating reading. One small 'childrens cancer' charity turns out was advocating kids not taking the medicines from the NHS, and favouring completely unproven miracle berries from woowoo land...bought direct from the importer (a trustee of the charity) art what seemed very expensive rates to me. I wished them to hell in a box, the kid trying to get me to do a direct debit didn't realise what hit him, he was just earning minimum wage and asking people if they had 30 seconds for children with cancer. Sickening.

I am a bit jaded with the sector, full of crooks. Did you know convicted perjurer Jeffrey Archer claimed the first 2 properties he bought were bought with 'commission from Oxfam', from the money he raised for them? Worse still, Oxfam vigorously deny ever paying 'commission'. Join your own dots as you see fit. However, your local dogs home, night shelter, childrens home etc will always benefit from donations of money, goods or time, so just do your research before the minimum wage kid gets £5/month of you to enrich his employer and endanger lives.

/End of outraged post/

[Deleted User]

I am very careful about who I donate to these days. If they send someone to cold call at my door, give me a sob story and try and wheedle a DD out of me, they go on the blacklist. Unfortunately Macmillan Nurses and Cancer Research are the first 2 on the list, which is regrettable as they do good work and as Macmillan is my employers office charity at the minute it means I am loathed to take part in their activities.

Third is a leukaemia charity who sent a leaflet wrongly addressed to my house asking the poor sod they addressed it to to change his will and leave their charity a legacy. It was poorly photocopied and had a photo of a dying child on it. Disgraceful.

marleyboy

A small brown envelope containing a donation for a chosen charity, posted anonymously with nothing more than the idea of being gratefully received, should be all it takes, that's as far as I am willing to go to make any charitable donation.

If its not enough, I will happily pass it on to a more worthy cause.

katejo

dj1 wrote: »

Sorry I don't know where to put this or even if this is the right site but I really feel I need to put this out there.

I saw an advert on TV last week for the plight of women in foreign countries who are denied schooling and forced into marriages.

To help, it said to text a donation of £3. I've done this many times before and find it an easy, hassle free way to sporadically give money to various charities.

I was angry and shocked to receive a text back saying they would be calling me soon to discuss my donation more. There was no STOP or opt out option.

I had 2 missed calls last week until I finally answered one today when they asked me for more money.

I told them that I would now never donate again to a text number and that they have spoilt it for other charities in the future. She wasn't listening to me and was extremely pushy. I ended up having to put the phone down on her.

I then found the company involve (plan-uk) and spoke to one of their supervisors. She agreed with everything I said and said it was a marketing company acting on their behalf. She apologised and said she would remove my number. I explained that that doesn't solve the problem. I enjoyed giving to charities in this way but because of this selfish, greedy and short sighted behaviour I will never do so again as I no longer trust the system. She understood and agreed with me. I got the impression she was a nice person who wasn't in a position to help me.

I put my gripe as a message on Facebook and a few of my friends said they have been through the same thing.

Let's say I give £50 a year this way and 1000 people like me are put off by this. That's £250,000. But I think this is the tip of the iceberg. I think this could be costing charities millions.

I don't feel I can just leave it there but I don't know what else I can do. Any suggestions?

I had a similar experience with a donation to the Syria appeal . I ignored all their calls and they gave up after a month or so . I have just cancelled my DD to another charity to punish them for persistently ringing me for weeks on end .

Baggieboy_2

Was donating £10 a month to Oxfam until I received several cold calls asking for more. Result? Cancelled direct debit so they now get nothing from me. Compare to the two animal charities who have never done this in the years I've been giving, and as a result they continue to receive my donations. Might be a lesson there.

ariba10

As an ex Squaddy. I have always had a soft spot for the Salvation Army.

Knowing of some charities methods of working I contacted them with a view of donating monthly, but warned them that if I got any begging requests my donations would stop.

That was over 30 years ago.

Still donate (and upped it a few times) and they have kept their word.