MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Would you ask for the sponsorship money back?

Maj_Boothroyd

Several points
If I did not agree with the charity I wouldn't give at all.
If I sponsored someone I've entered into a quasi-legal agreement with them. I pay £50 to a cause and they in turn run 26 miles. If they don't run 26 miles then they are in breach of contract and payment would not be forthcoming. had payment already been made then I would insist on reimbursement from the runners pocket for ALL of the amount.

I have run 5 marathons myself and I always split the money raised 50/50; Half to my charity and half to the sponsors.
I divide the race up into finish times, I effectively sell 10 second slots to people. When I finish I contact the winner and ask for their chosen charity and pay half the sponsorship money to their charity.

I find people are a lot more generous if they know the money is going to their own idea of a good cause. Judging by a lot of the comments on here a lot of folk wouldn't touch me if I was running for cancer but if I was running for the RNLI/ BLESMA/Childline/Spanish donkeys etc then the money is generally more forthcoming. There's also an element of gambling and that appeals to alot of folk to.

TheKing_2

I would definitely not ask for any of the sponsorship money back at all. After all, the money is really for the charity, not the person taking part in the event. I am sure the person did not withdraw from the race lightly, even if he/she did go out the night before. They may have been foolish by going out the night before, that is all. I don't think the charity should be made to suffer for their foolishness.

wishiwasarichgirl

I have almost bbeen in this ssituation in the past. a girl i lived with promised to do a parachutu jump to raise money, she got loads of sponorship money, but on te day f the jusm it was cancelled caos it was so wet, that went on for months, she never did the jump i don't know what happened the money.

DaveBrum_2

I can't believe what I've been reading on this thread!!!! Cancer is a killer and research needs to be done. I had 3 weeks left to live when I was diagnosed with it and I'm still here because of the excellent work done in research.

I would be happy to let them have the money... I wouldn't fancy running a marathon, so praise be for them having a go!!!!

ryandj

stogiebear wrote: »

Yawn... So a few pompous 'scientists' have chimed in with their propaganda...

If the CR work is so important why do they rely on the guilt and stupidity of the public to line begging bowls?

Surely the government would be only to pleased to fund all this stuff no matter what the cost right? LOL!

The government does not have limitless amounts of money to spend on saving lives, they have got wars to be spending money on! Amongst other similarly important things.

meher

robo4711 wrote: »

Palastine would be a very good place to start.
Don't you think?

yes, when they accept Israel's right to exist - when they stop behaving like primitives - when they accept that the refugees cannot return instead accept the compensation Israel offers, set their sob tell tales as history like other nations have and move on

OP - no, once I've chosen to give, it would be without reservations attached

AngryTank

Take my money back from a charity? No.

But now i know my friend can't be trusted i wouldn't sponser him again!

ImmuneData

"friend actually completed less than half the distance becuase they were tired"
Tired after 13 miles of running?! Surely not?!

Some of the responses on here have been ridiculous.

Of all the people who have responded with "make them match the £50 to the charity" I think you're confusing real people with Tesco and your failing to grasp the world existing outside of your own little heads is laughable.

Are these people to match every donation that was made, or just yours because you are special? Perhaps the reason they are asking for donations is because they can't afford to just write the cheque themselves.

Whether they finished the race or not i would say is insignificant, asking for sponsorship is just a polite way that people think is appropriate to ask for money. Traditionally, talking of money is quite vulgar in English society although a 'I deserve compensation' society now prevails.

If this person is a friend of yours, you could always try jovial 'ribbing' and a bit of social interaction (that thing when your not on a forum), instead of finding a template letter demanding your money back, compensation, and for them to match your donation.

MpT_4

I can't believe how ridiculous 'Gibby's post is ! In fact I've registered especially to reply (after months and months of lurking and reading).

Scientists are amongs the most poorly paid professionals. My hubby, after good A-levels, a four year degree, which had to be a first classs one to apply for a PhD, then 3 years studying for PhD, then writing up over a 4th year while gaining further experience. Now 9 years of Post-Doc work, is on considerably less than £25 000, and short term, temporary contracts at that! (You'd have no chance of getting a mortgage if you were on your own, or both of you were paid like that :mad: . If Gibby can be so inaccurate with that throwaway statement, then I guess you can judge how accurate (s)he is with all the other rubbish (s)he is talking.



Re the actual point we are supposed to be discussing - I think that you are generally agreeing to give a donation to charity when you sponsor someone - so wouldn't ask for the money back, but then a) I wouldn't be affording £50 to sponsor someone anyway (don't forget I'm married to a scientist :rolleyes: ) and b) I wouldn't give the money until the event were done anyway.

ryandj

MpT wrote: »

Scientists are amongs the most poorly paid professionals. My hubby, after good A-levels, a four year degree, which had to be a first classs one to apply for a PhD, then 3 years studying for PhD, then writing up over a 4th year while gaining further experience. Now 9 years of Post-Doc work, is on considerably less than £25 000, and short term, temporary contracts at that! (You'd have no chance of getting a mortgage if you were on your own, or both of you were paid like that :mad: . If Gibby can be so inaccurate with that throwaway statement, then I guess you can judge how accurate (s)he is with all the other rubbish (s)he is talking.

Well said! I am qualified with an MSc, with distinction, and have now been working for about 5 years since university. I recently got made redundant from my last job, which was paying reasonably well, a bit above the £25K mark you mentioned above, but less than £30K. Labs seem to be closing down in the UK with greater frequency, mainly due to research being done cheaper overseas!

Anyway, I had a job offer of £23K which I could not accept as it was just so poor! Scientists on the whole are paid pretty badly, it does depend which companies you work at - big pharma companies pay more generally I think!