I felt compelled to write this post after reading what The Kraken had to say about sticking a pink fluffy rabbit down your cleavage in the name of charity. It made me remember the rage I felt the other day as I opened a letter from a cancer charity stuffed with a pen, address labels and a car sticker. My mum used to get bucket loads of this stuff, she was forever offering me another free umbrella that some charity had sent her, or a headscarf to accompany the gazillions of brooches, bracelets, keyrings etc that had been posted to her as a ‘gift’. OK, so we all know why they do it, to emotionally blackmail us into giving them a donation but is this really what charity is supposed to be? I am not going to go into the economics of how much it costs to produce this tat and then send it all out. And where do they get it from? Is it ethically sourced or are we being forced to support one charity and in doing so supporting the bleak working conditions of the kids that were forced to construct all these umbrellas in some godforsaken factory somewhere?
No, I do not want a pen, address labels, car sticker or christmas cards.
Clearly it is a ploy that works because it has been going on for years. I remember my grandmother being very pleased with her ‘free’ packs of Christmas cards she got each year, painted with feet or mouth. But what is charity all about? For a good rant on buying commercialised stuff to show how supportive you are, go read the Kraken’s post and the comments. I don’t want to pee on her bonfire and could never say it like she does, but I do feel that she makes some great points. And I certainly don’t want to criticise anyone who gives to charity – all giving is good and I am in no position to judge anyone else. However, it makes me livid when, in the privacy of my own house, I am made to feel guilty, nay emotionally blackmailed into feeling I MUST give some money to cover the costs of all the stuff they have sent me. I will give to charity as I see fit, either by running a race for sponsorship or simply by sticking a fiver in a box. I will NOT be made to feel I am a bad person by keeping all this gubbings and not signing up for a £2 a month donation. In Clinton Cards the other day I was asked if I wanted to buy a pen to support breast cancer? In front of a queue of people I was made to seem either an unfeeling bitch or made to buy a pen I didn’t want. That is NOT FAIR. I see the pens, thanks. I don’t want one and if I want to make a donation to cancer awareness I will do so but because I WANT to and not because you make me and not because it makes me look good in front of others. That, for me, is not what charity is about.
By the way, my answer as to what to do with all the stuff they send is save it up and stuff it in the shoebox appeal. Not the address labels, obviously. I am not sure whether the poor families in Romania want a pen that will fit in your wallet, but hopefully they will be more grateful to receive it than I was and at least somewhere in the dubious chain of events there is a use for it all.
You are spot on that it hits the guilt button but I guess that’s what charities want to do. They need the money and I don’t suppose they mind what the motivations are behind each direct debit, whether it is altruism or guilt or anything else, as long as they get the cash.
Yet I’ve gotten to the point of actually feeling harassed by charities. In Cardiff there are now so many chuggers lined up along the main thoroughfare that just nipping to the bank becomes an exercise in trying to shoo people away. And it doesn’t matter which charities you already support you’re still being accosted by yet another one that’s lurking 50 yards away. While I’ll happily donate to those charities I believe in I despise being brow-beaten into giving money to anyone.
Great piece Sarah, and thanks for following this particular point up after my rant on Kraken. I reserve special loathing for chuggers as they seem to think it is their mission in life to block my path when I’m scurrying through the city centre in a hurry and trying to get my errands done. But I also hate all the tat that comes through the letterbox – you just opened my eyes as I never actually wondered before now if those tawdry biros had been made in a sweatshop in a developing country.
These days I live behind an entryphone system, which protects from the doorsteppers who think it is ethical to intrude on you when you’ve got home from work and try to blackmail you into signing up for a monthly £10 direct debit for animal welfare or whatever. Even when you tell them very politely that you already support your chosen causes they persist, as though it is their civic duty to persuade you that you are batting for the wrong team. It infuriates me and I’m no longer polite to anyone who accosts me for money whether it’s at my home or on the street. They can all fuck off, frankly, and I blacklist the charities that do this – they won’t get a bean out of me.
Giving can be done in so many ways. The charity shop round the corner from me is where I drop off my unwanted books, DVDs and clothes, and I often buy cards there, or second-hand books. Very small change in local shops I usually drop into the collecting tin on the counter. And I give my time, money and my professional skills to one particular charity that campaigns around my own disability. I do all these from choice, because I care, and not because someone’s worked to guilt-trip me to either fill in a bank form or buy some pink tat.
Interesting.. I just say no thanks at the counter at clintons..and feel absolutely no guilt at all.. Not sure what that says about me though! Lol
Point very well made! I don’t like having charity shoved in my face in shops – and like you I will donate if I feel it is the right thing to do and when i am ready.
I completely agree. Well said.