I accept that fundraising is a necessary evil. Charities need a way of reaching potential donors is needed, and I want to learn about ways to help. But it infuriates me when I think fundraisers are playing tricks in an effort to increase donations.

One example, the one that inspired this blog post, is an organization I shall not name which insists I have an opportunity to “double your lifesaving impact” by giving before such-and-such a deadline. But when I read more closely, I find out that my gift will go into a pot officially designated to match the contributions of other, future, donors. Yes, I will have already given the money, and they will tell potential donors that by donating right now, their gift will be matched by a group of other donors. Even though those donors have already given and will not change their donation in response to the future donors’ gifts.*

I don’t see that as having my gift doubled. If my gift were doubled, and the future donor’s gift was doubled, then shouldn’t the organization be receiving four times what it might have? Put a different way, if I give $100 expecting it to effectively contribute $200, and someone down the line responds by contributing $100, expecting it to effectively contribute $200, and the organization gets a total of $200, how is that different from each of us just contributing $100 in the first place, no match expected?

No doubt the response will be that the second person might not have contributed as much–or at all–without the enticement of having it doubled. I don’t buy it. It might equally well be true that they donated half as much as they would have otherwise, expecting the final value to be the same. And even if my contribution does bring in their contribution, I don’t see that as also doubling their contribution. I see this as trickery with words.

However, I don’t see any way to register my displeasure with fundraising organizations without harming the charities and the recipients of those charities, which of course I don’t want to do. I do, however, want to rant about this, and thus you have this post.

Till next post.

*I think I have understood this correctly. See this article on fundraising.