My brother and his wife are Catholic and are sending their kids to Catholic school.
The last time I saw my brother, he offered me a Kroger (supermarket chain) gift card worth $5. He said that if I put money on that card and then used it, over and over, their school would get 5% of the money.
Now, I don’t particularly object to religious schools, but I don’t feel any need to support them either. What he’s asking me to do isn’t hard, but it’s an extra step for a cause I don’t support.
(I need to search to see if there is a cause I do support.)
That’s just the background for my particular situation. But the question is more general. Would you do or have you done something like this for someone else’s cause? If so, how much would you have to disagree with their cause before you’d say no?
I wouldn’t donate to a Catholic school. Here in NJ they already get my money when my taxes contribute to their textbook, transportation and special education needs. Nor would I donate to a cause I absolutely opposed.
As to how tactfully I’d refuse, it would depend on a couple of factors. My first response is always “No, thanks.” If pressed for a reason I’d go to “…not interested.” Most people don’t insist on a reason beyond that, but if they did, it would depend a lot on who it was, how much they were asking for, and why I wouldn’t donate.
If it’s a telemarketer, of course, my response is always the same: “We do not accept telephone solicitations. Please put this number on your Do Not Call List. Goodbye.”
Other possible responses:
Sorry, that’s not within my charitable giving budget right now.
I’d rather not; I don’t support that cause.
I am very opposed to the activities of PETA.
No, that charity is a fraud, you know.
What are you, a frickin’ lunatic? The Judean People’s Front?! I’m with the People’s Front of Judea!
Just a comment–my mother has one of those Kroger gift cards that she uses all the time. Partly that’s because the money for charity from it benefits a group she’s involved with, but partly it’s because while yes, you do have to put money on the gift card from time to time, using the gift card to buy groceries is even easier than using a normal debit or credit card.
More generally, I just don’t know. I guess it depends on the cause, and the specific effort I’m being asked to put forth.
Do they press you often on religious issues? It sounds a bit familiar from past threads.
The religious aspect wouldn’t bother me so much as being asked to change my habits for their benefit. If I shopped at Kroger’s anyway, I’d take it and try it once or twice. If I shopped at another store, that would be reason enough for me to decline.
I’ve always hated school fundraisers like this, and didn’t participate when my kids went to schools that had such schemes, though I did write small checks directly to the school.
It would depend on the cause. In that particular case I wouldn’t do it because it would be upporting an institution that went against my beliefs (or lack of beliefs, however you choose to view athiesm).
I don’t go out of my way to support causes that don’t really interest me, but I would make a token effort, like the kroger card thing, if it was a cause I didn’t object to. For example, I don’t donate at work to United Way because I have issues with several of the groups they support. But if someone was doing an event for breast cancer research, I would donate to that. Same level of effort, but one I’m opposed to while the other I think is a good cause but don’t go out of my way to support. My SO and I do go out of our way to support HRC because that is a cause that has a direct impact on our lives so we believe strongly in it.
Nah, not really. My whole family is very insular though, so that they often seem surprised when people disagree with them. “What do you mean, you’re an atheist? But that isn’t possible.”
Nice people. Good people. But extremely hide-bound and myopic. Very much inclined to Marie Antoinette-isms like “There aren’t any poor people any more” when told that a charity didn’t want to take a broken refrigerator.
Sometimes, there aren’t enough rolleye smileys in the world.
Fair. Of course you don’t have to put a ton of cash on it . . . (though if you don’t put a moderate amount on it then you have to fill it up so often that it doesn’t gain you much).
It seems like I’m constently being bombarded with requests to fund other peoples’ kids’ activities.
Boy scouts, girl scouts, private schools, basketball teams, marching bands.
I happily pay my taxes to support public education. Heck, I vote for most of the school tax referendums that come up. I WANT to pay more to the schools. I am currently paying to put an orphan through school in Africa. I donate to the food shelves.
If you chose a private school for your kid, it’s your responsibility to pay for it.
If my nephews want to go to boy scout camp, why are his parents asking me to buy popcorn? I don’t want popcorn. You make a comfortable living, YOU pay for it.
Why does every parent in the office bring in the forms selling girl scout cookies or wrapping paper?
If your schools don’t have enough money to pay for activities, maybe you all should be working to get a taxing referendum passed for you school, rather then coming door to door selling coupon books?
So the short answer is, if the fund raiser is a way for parents or kids who can afford it, to avoid paying for something? Then I won’t go very far. If it truly is a charitable cause, come on over and we can talk.
And actually, Catholic schools-at least grade schools attached to parishes-are notoriously short of money, despite the expense of tuition. Trust me, I went to one for nine years.
On the other hand, as stated before, the education IS of a very high quality. Catholics aren’t anti-science, or philosophy, or what not.
(I have very fond memories of my days in Catholic school. Plus, we got to go to Mass every Tuesday, which got us out of class. We also used to cause soooo much trouble. Damn, I miss those days.)
The only thing like this that I’ve ever done was sign up for Target’s Take Charge of Education program, where they donate 1% of your purchases to the school of your choice. I shop a lot at Target anyway, so it was not a big deal for me to enroll with my nephew’s Catholic school (though the program isn’t restricted in any way to parochial schools, btw).
To be honest, though, I hate gift cards. I got one instead of a rebate check from Cingular, and I had to check the available balance before I wanted to use it, because my grocery stores weren’t able to tell how much money was left. I’d not be inclined to use it very much, even if it was for the benefit of my nephew’s school.
The closest situation I can think of was when a friend at church was asking people to sign a petition because of something she didn’t want built next to their neighborhood. I said I wouldn’t sign because I didn’t know enough about it to be sure I agreed. It wasn’t like they would be building a slaughterhouse or a nuclear plant, more like higher-density housing, which in many cases I actually favor. Some people thought I was a meanie.
Ouch, yeah, that would be really annoying. The Kroger cards print the amount left on the card at the bottom of the receipt, so I can’t complain about that.
It depends. If I’m neutral on the cause, I’ll donate. I wouldn’t support a cause that was dangerous or unethical (in my eyes) no matter who was pushing it.
I dunno…why not support your neices and nephews in a manner that suits your sensibilities? Purchase a savings bond. Start some sort of college fund. Take 'em to the zoo. If you really don’t want to give to that particular cause, it’s not a reflection on your love for them. Surely their parents know that their choice to send their kids to private school is not your problem. You’re already contributing tax dollars to perfectly good public schools. You don’t owe them a subsidy on this choice.