I’m still entry-level in the field, but it’s basically this plus some variations of this. Most monthly giving programs don’t have a set end date - you have to call them to stop it. As such, it allows slightly better insight into what your funding situation is going to look like six months, a year, two years down the road. It’s a lot more cost-effective on the organization’s side - it’s a pretty automated process, unlike one-off donations. Plus, psychologically, once someone has accepted giving x amount per year, so long as their financial situation stays the same they’re likely to just keep doing it, as opposed the next-best situation, which is they see an ad or get a letter/email and remember to donate again.
Yeah, but the Girl Scouts aren’t quite as bigoted, so there’s that advantage.
My city does this and I’m glad they do. Every winter and summer I hear about homeless and elderly poor people dying of extreme cold or heat.
I personally had a very rough winter once when I had broken up with a boyfriend and moved back in with my disabled mom and my little sisters. It was a cold winter, I couldn’t find a job right away(I had moved from out of state) , and the furnace wasn’t working properly. Even with the blankets I had, I shivered so hard that it hurt and I couldn’t sleep. I was very grateful to get a donated blanket.
How about donating money to any of the colleges with a multibillion-dollar endowment? Harvard already has $31 billion, Yale has about $19 billion, Princeton $17 billion, etc. If you gave any one of them $10 million, I doubt they’d even bother to put out a press release. On the other hand, $10 million could do wonders at your local community college, partly because the tuition rates are lower and the professors are being paid so much less.
But the money that goes to the Council allows the Troop to operate. You have to have that Insurance, those administrators, etc otherwise the whole thing collapses.
Right now, I’m involved in a clothing collection program through my church, specifically underwear and socks. We’ve done two distributions, and I’m in the process of purchasing a couple thousand dollars’ worth more, for which I will be reimbursed in full. We are currently distributing them to various social service agencies, and will keep some on hand in case someone comes to the church in need.
While we’re on the subject, why do charity sales always seem to involve frivolous goods like popcorn and cookies? One year my Boy Scout troop sold Glad products: sandwich bags, freezer bags, garbage bags, and so on. OMG, everyone uses that stuff, so we sold a ton. Then next year (and for several years after) we were selling Pearson’s Nut Rolls. Nobody likes that shit; we could barely give them away.
I have similar feelings. Our household puts our generosity/donation money into either direct checks to non-profit orgs, or to political action groups that are working to legislate social programs. Simple charity is often just a short-term crutch that does nothing to help the root-cause of the problem.
I thought it was the same as when something like cable/satellite TV/Netflix,etc prefers you to pay by direct debit, because there are such good odds that you’ll forget you were paying it. If you sign a direct debit guarantee, which is what most charities, plus museums and other third sector organisations ask for, the money will keep going out. If you have an overdraft limit, it will go into that limit.
(This is in the UK, for reference).
I guess charities either don’t actually care about the poor people with overdraft fees because they failed to cancel in a timely fashion, or they figure that most people who pay longer than intended can afford to. (Charity heads and patrons tend not not be poor and don’t really get what it’s like to be “rich world poor”). Hopefully it’s the latter.
This is probably due to what people on this thread have been calling the personal touch, which I am not immune from either. Just selling on sandwich bags, etc, smacks of making money without putting much effort in, and people want to see effort. They want to be able to say “these are girl scout cookies.”
The solution is to buy a printer and stick something allowed by the Scouts on whatever you can see is useful. Early December you could sell a ton of merchandise with the Scout logo on plain brown wrapping paper. Add an elf hat and you’d raise more but the Scouts as an organisation might not like that without a lot of prior approval, so maybe get in now.
As a BSA Scoutmaster, I resent that remark. Our troop is not bigoted. In fact, I lost a young boy who used to be in our troop because his bigoted mother abruptly pulled him out of Boy Scouts after the ban on gay Scouts was lifted last year.
And while the ban on gay adult Scout leaders officially remains, it’s only a matter of time until this changes as well. At the local level, we don’t enforce this ban, or even acknowledge it. Indeed, we actually do have an adult leader (and former Scout) who is rumored to have come out as gay. He is still a leader in our troop. When I was questioned by another leader about this, I told the second leader that a person’s sexual orientation was none of my business, and that I had no direct knowledge of his orientation anyway, and so had no obligation to do do anything about it. The second leader ended up quitting. :rolleyes: BSA is truly in a no-win situation; they are going to piss off one group of people or another no matter what they do.
Back to the topic at hand: our Boy Scouts do sell popcorn. About 1/3 of the gross income goes into the Scout’s individual account to pay for campouts, summer camp, etc. Our troop takes/gets nothing. The other 2/3 goes to the popcorn supplier and BSA council.
I’ve seen this too. When I was a kid, gift wrap was a big one. Everyone was selling gift wrap for some organization. I wonder why I don’t see Girl Scout Gasoline, Parkview Elementary School Diapers, Red Cross Unlimited Internet, or Save the Children Snowplow Service. Seems you could drum up endless money selling things that people actually, y’know, really want.
If they rolled out Girl Scout Unlimited Broadband Internet, they could even have the girls go around and install and service it. Customers feel good about supporting a cause and the girls get valuable IT work experience. Win-Win!
Whoever thinks that all the homeless are becoated and beblanketed is talking out their San Diego-parked rear end. Do you honestly think that these people can afford cleaning? At best, there might be commercial washers at a shelter. The oilier/dirtier their outerwear gets, the less insulative the coats are. Other homeless steal jackets and coats from the more helpless; things just wear out.
And there can never be enough blankets, as padding and as warmth.
I’m not one to hand over cash to someone on the street. But food coupons, a blanket, or socks are vital.
And the ban on gays serving in the U.S. military was lifted just two years prior to that (in 2011). Your point is?
Boy Scouts is a great organization that does a lot of good. In recent years, it has unfortunately been caught in the crossfire between religious conservatives and social liberals. The funny thing is that sexual orientation is not something that ever comes up on the local level or at Scout activities, and I don’t think that BSA deserves the opprobrium that is so frequently directed its way, particularly not at the local level.
Does the Red Cross sell blood?
No. There is never a fee for the blood itself. The Red Cross charges for expenses incurred in recruiting and educating donors, keeping accurate donor records, collecting blood by trained staff, processing and testing blood in a state of the art laboratory, and storing and distributing blood.
