Begging or Selling?

[MTR]

I have a pet peeve dealing with the manner in which some youth sports organizations and other charitable causes choose to raise funds.

I am not a fan of begging. I do not think it is the right message to give to anyone, let alone an young child.

I have no problem making a donation, but I believe there should be some value attached. I don't care if you are selling me a ten cent cookie for a dollar, at least make an effort to demonstrate there is a value to your cause.

Even worse is when the parents/coaches become confrontational and hurl verbal shots in your direction or to the children. "Don't worry about that idiot, he probably hates kids", "That guy is a jerk", and my all time favorite, "Hey, a**h***, you have a problem around kids". I have witnessed comments made to people just trying to enter a convenience store and it should not happen.

Any thoughts?

[mozzy]

This is one of those 'you can't please everybody' situations. As a mom of 3 kids involved in various extracurricular activities, fundraisers come fast and furious (right now, we're dealing with the sale of 3 different lottery-type ticket sales (people against gambling don't buy these). Then you have pizzas, hoagies, $14 candy apples ,soup mixes, magazines, coffee/hot cocoa packets, home interiors, plants, candles, the list goes on. The 'tag day' or what you have called 'begging, is one of the few fundraisers whose responsibility relies solely on the kid. When done with good manners, I don't see a problem with it (though I do balk at the idea of sending kids into street intersections to solicit ). Another factor that comes into play is program budget cuts. People don't want a school tax increase, so in the effort to hold the $line, school programs are given less money to have a marching band, a football team, a softball team. Tag days and similar types of collections are pure profit (no upfront cost).I know that there are more things for kids to get involved in besides school activities (volunteering and church activities, for example), yet I see hundreds of kids opting for another choice--non-involvement.As kids become adults, they are faced with the 'begging' method of fundraising throughout their lives in the form of church donations, charity donations, volunteer organization fundraising--such as fire departments---you get the idea. Maybe when all of these things are taken into consideration, a polite, appreciative plea for a donation becomes a little more tolerable.

[Tucson]

Please do not sell me anymore t-shirts, popcorn, chocolate bars, cookies, phone cards, restaurant coupons, etc. I would much rather hand you $5.00. I don't need or want the cr@p. My kids are grown. And I hate smilies - so, there.

[mozzy]

Hmmm...

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[MTR]

Please do not sell me anymore t-shirts, popcorn, chocolate bars, cookies, phone cards, restaurant coupons, etc. I would much rather hand you $5.00. I don't need or want the cr@p. My kids are grown. And I hate smilies - so, there.

No one said you have to accept or keep the item. For that matter, you can give it to someone who may need it and satisfy two needs with one donation.

[coolstuff]

I have witnessed comments made to people just trying to enter a convenience store and it should not happen.

Any thoughts?

If I walked into the WalMart and a fund-raising group made comments to me like you describe, I would go straight to the store manager and let him/her know about it. That group would be gone in an instant.