I support Amnesty International. I’ve been a member since about 1987. I organized my college’s first AI chapter and ran it for three years. I worked hard and made some (I hope) good things happen.
Two months ago I stepped up my membership from ‘generic letter writer’ to ‘donation giver’ if you get me. I zinged $100 off and got my little card and everything.
I have receiving a letter-writing campaign since then.
But let me tell you about what I have received…
(Cue Motley Crue music…)
Sitting in my office thinking works a drag
Listening to the gov-ment rap just ain’t my bag
Mailman rings…I know it’s my cue
I’m gonna get request for donation number two!
Giving to Amnesty!
Giving to Amnesty!
Now AI don’t you hit me
Up for some more
Cause everyone knows that
Patience can be ex-hausted!
Looking round the corner sure the coast is clear
Checking out the mail no there ain’t nothing there
Sit down to dinner with Kate and them all
Phone starts a-ringing it’s a donation call!
Giving to Amnesty!
Giving to Amnesty!
Now AI don’t you hit me
Up for some more
Cause everyone knows that
Patience can be ex-hausted!
Oh, I got to work at the media shop
Direct mailing and man I’m bored
Log on to email just to see what’s yes or no
In my inbox it sits there another hit up for some dough
Seriously, in the two months since I gave I’ve been hit up more than 20 times for another donation and haven’t received on action letter.
Yes, I know it was originally by Brownsville Station. I’m a child of the 80s and like the version by the Crue. And how do I do umlauts, anyway?
In the message window, hold down ALT and hit the following numbers on the keypad.[ul][]alt-0196 Ä[]alt-0203 Ë[]alt-0207 Ï[]alt-0214 Ö[]alt-0220 Ü[]alt-0228 ä[]alt-0235 ë[]alt-0239 ï[]alt-0246 ö[]alt-0252 üalt-0255 ÿ[/ul]
The charities I donate to every month via direct debit:
Amnesty International
Oxfam
Plan
NSPCC
Help The Aged
ActionAid
There’s not a one of that lot that don’t write to me at least every other month asking for more money. It’s always along the lines of:
Dear Mr. KABBES
We appreciate very much your monthly support. However, there’s this badass thing happening RIGHT NOW! We need MORE MONEY to help cure this VERY BAD THING!
Please complete below:
I would like to donate:
£20 * £50 * £1000 * £9 gazillion * Nothing, I am a cheapskate and I don’t care about the VERY BAD THING.
And yes, it ticks me off. I already know that very bad things are happening… THAT’S WHY I GIVE YOU FUCKING MONEY EVERY MONTH! I appreciate that the badass thing is a special badass thing but THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER BADASS THING HAPPENING! I can understand trying to hit up those that don’t contribute regularly as there are plenty of people that only do so when nudged. But when you already HAVE a regular supporter, don’t you think that they are already giving the amount that they think they can afford? Hmmmn?
We give to the RSPCA (Protection of Animals) and the Cats Protection League every month. RSPCA aren’t great at updates but at least we don’t feel so guilty when we see the ads on TV. The CPL send us a little newsletter every month with warm and fuzzy stories about poor little moggies that are getting another chance at life.
Neither press us for more money. Which is nice.
J
(very hot, in Bath - the city not the watery place, unfortunately)
This is why I give by just sending a cheque with no covering letter, no return address. To date, no-one has found any problem depositing the cheque and getting the money.
Sure, you don’t get the official pat-on-the-back-thank-you certificate in return. But that’s not why you’re doing it. Is it?
Sounds like a dig to me. If so, it’s ridiculous. I give by direct debit because:
a) They get the money every month whether I forget or not. That helps their budgeting for the year.
b) I can allocate a sum of money every month for charity and know that exactly that much is leaving the account. When I get a pay rise, I just choose another charity.
c) It makes the whole thing neat and tidy when they apply for tax relief and I fill out my tax return
I can assure you that I don’t get any pat-on-the-back-thank-you certificate, whatever the hell that might be. And if I did, it would just go straight in the recycling bin. No – I merely get the aforementioned pleas for yet more money that piss me off. But I’m not changing my budgeting just because of an overenthusiastic fund-raising department.
In the words of our American friends, I think you’re projecting.
Whaddya wanna bet some bean counter exec at Amnesty International hasn’t said, “Statistics show that if we hit up everyone who contributes X times per day/week/month/year, we’ll lose Y contributors due to the annoyance, but gain Z in funds from the extra contributions, more than making up for the losses from Y contributors. And of course, it’s vital that we have those funds because very badass things happen all the time.”
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if AI’s bureaucracy doesn’t grok the connection between Jonathan Chance, Ace Letter Writer and Jonathan Chance, Guy Who Mailed Us A Benjamin.
But hell, I guess it works. For the most part, people who have given once are more likely to give again.
I also hate the extra begging letters. It’s bad enough that I got hit up by chuggers for some of my donations, but the multiple mails of “GIVE MORE! GIVE MORE! GIVE MORE!” is mildly annoying.
Not to mention that here in the states, accumulated donations serve as a tax write off. I donated the Anti-Cruelty Society and the Alzheimers Association and the Sexy Firemen Fund (I think it was called something else) last year and those reciepts were necessary to get my tax refund.
Happened to us; like Kabbes, we give to three or four chosen causes by direct debit. Recently, Mrs X was hit on rather heavily in front of her mother/family to give to Scope. Fine, she says, I can give you £5. But no, they don’t want her money there and then. They browbeat you (and I’ve heard this from people who were there) into signing a direct debit. I can understand all the reasons why they do this, but they came on way too strong.
Three weeks later they then had the gall to ring her up and get her to increase; you could tell they were playing from a very well written script. I was in the room, and was pleading with her to put me on the phone… to cut a long story short, she caved.
I wrote a scathing letter next day informing them that because of their tactics their latest victory, albeit small, was definitely pyrrhic, and to cancel the DD. I admit that I caved and didn’t send it, but it was cathartic to write.
Where we work (and I recall mentioning this in another thread, so clearly it’s not out of my system yet) there’s a rota of good causes doing this up by the banks on a very busy thoroughfare; I’d guess 3/4 days out of 5. I’m just fucking sick of having to justify myself to every Tom Dick and Harry who probably think I’m some cheapskate trying to weasel out of giving anything by trying to insist that we’ve already signed up for the charities which we support, that we’ve already budgetted what we could and by the way you could probably touch me for another £5 here and now, brainiacs, if you ‘policy’ allowed it. It gets very tiresome, very quickly.
(and the stupid thing is, I realise that these charities need money, arguably more since the lottery; I’m in favour of the vast majority of them, but there’s only so much we can do).
It gets worse. If you sign up for DD with the people on the streets, apparently they receive commission on all future contributions that you make via that DD! I signed up with a few via this method before I realised this little fact. Now I know that I should break the DD and remake it or something but I just can’t quite be bothered yet. Anyway – that’s why they tend to be so aggressive about it: they’re not volunteers, it’s their job.
kabbes, could you tell me where you found this out (sorry, that came over a bit like ‘cite??’ - it definitely wasn’t meant as such - I’m just very interested). Thanks…
(very hot, in Bath - the city not the watery place, unfortunately)