01.Misguided marketing
In the dark
Consumers who want to
know how much of their
charitable donation
will be consumed by the
charity’s overhead costs don’t have
much to go by.
And they haven’t for a while. A
whopping 81% of the 240 donors
we surveyed in a 2008 investigation
didn’t know exactly where their money
was going, and 94% placed a high
importance on being able to find out.
Not long after that story was published, a
Senate investigation found the mishmash
of regulations in the sector “forms a
significant barrier to transparency”.
Tchotchke overload
We made the point in our 2008 story
that expenses probably aren’t the most
important consideration when deciding
which charity to donate to. But for some
consumers, the appearance of excessive
spending can have a negative effect
on donations. One CHOICE member,
Lance Boucher, recently got in touch after
receiving a request package from a major
charity that included a pen fashioned into
a magic wand. And, to make matters
worse, he’d had no previous connection
to the charity and didn’t know how it
got hold of his details.
“My wife and I receive many such
requests, and these days they’re often
accompanied by labels, notepads, a pen,
even a pocket keylight. Considering
the costs of production, packaging and
distribution, we wonder how much
of one’s donation actually reaches
the specified beneficiaries.”
A number of CHOICE staffers had
similar experiences in the lead-up to the
holiday season last year, receiving items
including personalised pens and address
labels, notepads and charity-themed toys
and trinkets.
Boucher says giving annually to a few
chosen charities has led to an onslaught
of unsolicited requests. “We - and, we
suspect, many others - are increasingly
reluctant to give for fear of being targeted
for further harassment.”
Boucher's view appears to be well-founded. Eighty-three of the 85
respondents to our Facebook
call-out said such freebie gift packages
had a negative impact on their
willingness to give and called into question how the charity was spending its donations. Here’s a
sample of some of the posts:
Kerrie F “If they can afford to send
stuff out to me, they obviously do not
need my money.”
Bruce W “I assume the receipt
of a gift is meant to make me feel
guilty enough to make a donation.
But it doesn’t, because it smacks
of manipulation. The charities,
I think, need to rethink their
approach to fundraising.”
Imants E “Baiting me with free gifts
does not work. I keep their offerings in a box for 12 months in case they
want them back, after which time
I ditch them.”
Decima F “I object to my contribution
being used to solicit further donations.
I want it to be used for the purpose for
which it was intended.”
Rachel W “Receiving something I don’t
want or need makes me angry about
the waste of resources. I deregistered
from one organisation because of the
obviously copious amounts of money
spent on their mail-outs.”
Catherine S “It’s a very
irritating trend. Pens,
address labels,
key rings, gift
tags, greeting cards, cute animal photos and
bottlebrush seeds are among
the things that have arrived with
a request for a donation. Very
guilt-provoking, but
I have got to the
point of not
donating in
the hope it
will reduce
this practice.”