# I'm doing it for charity. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 24, 2011, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-doing-it-for-charity/590162 "2011-07-24T09:07:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-doing-it-for-charity/590162/61 "2011-07-28T17:42:53Z")
> [@SerenaPerido](#): > > I was kind of shocked to hear an interview a few years back with a couple who were rowing up a river, I think (can’t remember details), for “charity”. They were asking for sponsors so they could buy food and equipment etc for the next leg of their journey. > > Huh, so they wanted someone to pay for their holiday? I wondered if anyone gave anything to them, and if so, how much went to the charity. > > Little ventures like this are a bit sus sometimes I think, but a well organized 'thon or similar event with a tight control on the money end of things can only be a good thing for charities. In a local paper recently, a man is doing a sponsored sky dive for charity in memory of his sister. He hopes to make £2,400 pounds. Oh, plus he wants a further £125 pounds on top of that to pay for the jump. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-doing-it-for-charity/590162/62 "2011-07-28T20:13:47Z")
Another thing you are all missing is the 'thon’s done by kids. You see, at some point in your life as a parent, you will be asked to shill something on behalf of your children. Chocolate for the swim team. Sponsorships for Jump Rope. You know that you will need your fellow coworkers to chip in at your hour of need. So, while I do not give to any 'thon’s participated in by my adult friends, when there is a sheet going around the office for someone’s kid, they get a few bucks. That’s a few bucks that the charity would not have otherwise had. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-doing-it-for-charity/590162/63 "2011-07-28T20:16:17Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > In a local paper recently, a man is doing a sponsored sky dive for charity in memory of his sister. > > He hopes to make £2,400 pounds. > > Oh, plus he wants a further £125 pounds on top of that to pay for the jump. Sounds like the charity is 2,275 ahead to me. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-doing-it-for-charity/590162/64 "2011-07-28T21:04:32Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > So you’ve got nuthin’ eh ? > > Pretty pointless entering a debate for adults if thats the best you can do. > > Better luck next time, if there ever is a next time, where you can actually participate without embarassing yourself any more then you have already done so. Uh, OK. I don’t care about this “debate” and have posted nothing at all related to it. Your posting style is just _weird_. Were you taught to do it that way? ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-doing-it-for-charity/590162/65 "2011-07-29T01:23:43Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > In a local paper recently, a man is doing a sponsored sky dive for charity in memory of his sister. > > He hopes to make £2,400 pounds. > > Oh, plus he wants a further £125 pounds on top of that to pay for the jump. You don’t need to use the £ sign AND the word “pounds”. You’re saying “125 pounds pounds”. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-doing-it-for-charity/590162/66 "2011-07-31T16:58:29Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > Sounds like the charity is 2,275 ahead to me. Ah well no it isn’t. The first £125 go to pay for his jump, and then he’s HOPING to get a further £2,275 sponsorship, or one hundred thousand, or a million or any figure that comes into your head really. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-doing-it-for-charity/590162/67 "2011-07-31T17:00:07Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > You don’t need to use the £ sign AND the word “pounds”. You’re saying “125 pounds pounds”. You’re totally correct, I really shouldn’t get distracted by others when posting. I’ve got a confession, nearly did it again just now on my previous post. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-doing-it-for-charity/590162/68 "2011-07-31T17:01:27Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Uh, OK. I don’t care about this “debate” and have posted nothing at all related to it. Your posting style is just _weird_. Were you taught to do it that way? STILL got nuthin’ eh ? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-doing-it-for-charity/590162/69 "2011-07-31T19:25:26Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > STILL got nuthin’ eh ? [Moderator Note]The both of you-take it elsewhere, _now_.[/Moderator Note] ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-doing-it-for-charity/590162/70 "2011-07-31T19:50:11Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > Another thing you are all missing is the 'thon’s done by kids. You see, at some point in your life as a parent, you will be asked to shill something on behalf of your children. Chocolate for the swim team. Sponsorships for Jump Rope. You know that you will need your fellow coworkers to chip in at your hour of need. > > So, while I do not give to any 'thon’s participated in by my adult friends, when there is a sheet going around the office for someone’s kid, they get a few bucks. That’s a few bucks that the charity would not have otherwise had. Sorry about yet another post, cos I’m obviously doing it to increase the post count, but I digress… On that I’m totally with you, yes in that case it is a good thing to do. It gets young minds, firstly interested in charity “stuff”, makes them more aware of the world outside of their own experience, and gives themn a "feel good " mind set , hopefully, for the future. But when adults do ridiculous thing s for charity, or things that are so obviously for the most part, their benefit, then there is a recognised condition caused in the average person in the street called “Donor Fatigue”. Don’t get me wrong its not just self serving self publicists who bring about this condition, but thats for another day, A group of people working for Bill Bloggs incorporated are pestered to sponsor John Smith several times a year to do highly publicised "media "runs a year. They know that he enjoys running (The endorphins you know, I run myself ), plus he dresses up as Superman, or Ronald Mc Donald , whatever, because hopefully the t.v. cameras might zoom on him, or even better might get interviewed, either by local t.v. or even national t.v. A little aside here, the average person in the street DOES’NT say , "Oh Children in Need/ Help the Aged/Oxfam , take your choice …I only heard about them because John Smith did a fun run that after covering his entry fee and expenses raised almost thirty bucks ! He’s not publicising the charity, the charity is publicising him. So at first they grudgingly give so much money . But after a while they think “The hell with it, I’m not giving money that I worked for just to make him feel good”. Which isn’t a bad thing, but once D.F. has set in they tend to stop giving… Altogether. Not just giving to the self servers, and the self publicists but to ALL charities. If you give money to Cancer Research it will make a real difference and it will all go to its destination… No I’m sorry, but thats it, NO more NO how. I’ve sponsored J.S. year after bloody year so that he can Bigtime it in the canteen every bloody day ! I’ve sponsored underwater golf, men dressed in TuTus doing jelly relay races. Helped to get fat people to diet, smokers to give up, and invetinerant swearers to stop cussing (After their wives threatened to leave them for doing so ) . All in the name of charity. Not now not EVER ! And thats how they hurt charitable causes. And thats why those who are worse off then us don’t receive help. Because of the self servers and the self publicists. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-doing-it-for-charity/590162/71 "2011-08-01T01:27:23Z")
Well aren’t you the superior one? ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-doing-it-for-charity/590162/72 "2011-08-01T11:08:36Z")
Your point about people who abuse the charity sponsorship process being ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-doing-it-for-charity/590162.md?page=3)