tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post7349361022413328222..comments2023-11-17T01:32:25.790+00:00Comments on Aleksandr Voinov - Letters from the Front: My run-in with the boiler-room charity, or: Why I no longer support Battersea Cats & Dogs Home and never will againAleksandr Voinovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06583805228909693924noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-70086977637716803122013-11-16T23:30:52.904+00:002013-11-16T23:30:52.904+00:00P.S. a bit of tape around the bottom of the pin on...P.S. a bit of tape around the bottom of the pin on a poppy will keep it from falling off your shirt/jacket/etc. Alyssa Linn Palmerhttp://www.alyssalinnpalmer.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-9779581181125151022013-11-15T03:26:14.725+00:002013-11-15T03:26:14.725+00:00Oh I'm so tired of Pink October for breast can...Oh I'm so tired of Pink October for breast cancer awareness. I have had many family members die of cancer and NONE of them were breast cancer. It sort of just pisses me off that one type hollers for attention above the rest. Then there's the entire Komen Foundation vs family planning fiasco from last year. It's become a charity that is just interested in supporting itself. I want to see a statement on how much of that money actually goes to research.<br /><br />Even on the plan to GRL one of the flight attendants was wearing a pink suit and collected money for breast cancer.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11727060933062642642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-61405117325866966162013-11-13T08:40:26.950+00:002013-11-13T08:40:26.950+00:00Horrible tactics! I added my number to TPS (teleph...Horrible tactics! I added my number to TPS (telephone preference service I think) years ago and that seems to stop the majority of calls - and answering the rest with a polite 'hello', followed by a (very) rapid reduction in politeness for cold callers has pretty much stopped the rest.<br />What confuses me is my parents also added their number to TPS but still get all the calls. And dad is starting to sound a lot like Victor Meldrew when dealing with them (odd given he never watched the series!). The Cat Protection people hit my blacklist after listening to a particularly bad call a while back - it didn't seem to matter what dad said - including that they are pensioners and cannot afford to pay more - they kept on pushing. Dad was fuming by the end and I think stopped giving them any money as a result.pointycathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12314434465759885505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-6718941974292168582013-11-13T04:04:37.962+00:002013-11-13T04:04:37.962+00:00Any charity that calls me with that kind of pressu...Any charity that calls me with that kind of pressure gets taken off my list of charities I donate to. And I tell them. It took a few pressured donations (Foster Children's Fund, or something, those clipboard people on street corners) for me to start getting really annoyed. Also, political parties. Now I only donate to a few select charities, including my favourite no-kill cat shelter (who do the donation thing the right way - newsletter, and occasional shout out).<br /><br />Unfortunately my work does a huge thing with the United Way, and there is a lot of pressure to do a direct donation off of every paycheque during their campaign time (which seems to be Oct-Nov). It makes me absolutely furious, as the emails just keep coming because they're all 'work-related'.Alyssa Linn Palmerhttp://www.alyssalinnpalmer.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-36420164609029808702013-11-12T21:51:45.580+00:002013-11-12T21:51:45.580+00:00I hate those tactics so much. The school where I g...I hate those tactics so much. The school where I got my graduate degree is terrible about it; last winter when I was unemployed I had a call from someone who was trying so hard to convince me to give them $150, and when I kept saying I couldn't she kept pleading and saying she understood it was just they needed the money so much, they're a public university working with a lot of inner-city kids and everything's expensive. And I said no, I *really can't*, I don't have a job, I can barely pay my bills, and she said she understood and in that case maybe I could just do $75 instead (by comparison: that would keep my apartment heated for a month or buy me food for a few weeks)... I think I said no two or three more times and then hung up when there was apparently no "take no for an answer" option in the script. Their number is in my phone now as "[schoolname] wants money" so if they try again (which they do, every few months) I won't waste any precious minutes of my life talking to them. :/Laylahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09139438708495730874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-52378464066765861982013-11-12T19:56:45.211+00:002013-11-12T19:56:45.211+00:00The nice thing about having worked in sales and ge...The nice thing about having worked in sales and getting trainings is learning how these calls work and how they are scripted. Thanks to that I've become very disrespectful on the phone, interrupt their script and just blow them off. Works. I even had some guys hang up on me without even saying good-bye.<br /><br />I donate, mostly in cash (I don't support the church but I do donate into the collections for the renovation and preservation of local churches). I also just did some financial stuff and for one of those just put in a German charity (The German Cancer Society) as beneficiary. They don't know about it and they won't know about it until I'm dead. I don't need recognition for that.<br /><br />I prefer small local charities (like the local women's shelter) where I think more of the money does something and is not spend on a marketing team and some huge marketing action or on some phone company harassing people.Alix Nowarrahttp://alixnowarra.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-29368638795547505822013-11-12T19:17:25.672+00:002013-11-12T19:17:25.672+00:00Interesting thought - and yes, makes sense from a ...Interesting thought - and yes, makes sense from a purely corporate standpoint. Increase "yield per sucker" as it were. I bet it's an internal measure. I think I'm firmly in the "local charity" camp now as well. I also sometimes make one-off online donations to things like the ICRC - they are way too big to hassle me directly and they do a great job. Aleksandr Voinovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06583805228909693924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-29853829353369098302013-11-12T19:15:35.607+00:002013-11-12T19:15:35.607+00:00I think if we cancel and tell them why, it might g...I think if we cancel and tell them why, it might get through. Aleksandr Voinovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06583805228909693924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-20317798715372344512013-11-12T19:12:35.196+00:002013-11-12T19:12:35.196+00:00This isn't an uncommon occurrence. What used t...This isn't an uncommon occurrence. What used to be 'relationship management' - the quarterly newsletter, the occasional phone call, the thank you for your donations - have, for the larger 10% of charities, turned into a fund-raising escalator. This is where they have ambitions of moving all donors onto the next step of giving i.e. giving more. <br />If, for example, 10% give more and 5% drop out entirely then the overall income still goes up. Unscrupulous folk in fundraising and marketing can write off those who drop out as 'uncommitted' to the cause. Which in my view is totally insulting. <br />Where possible I try to give to small, local, charities where my donations are likely to have a greater impact and not used for overly excessive corporate functions. Allan Jaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29109752791794032.post-19745624758186162862013-11-12T18:01:06.069+00:002013-11-12T18:01:06.069+00:00Well said. I have the exact same problem with the ...Well said. I have the exact same problem with the Ottawa Humane Society, and I'm one phone call away from that same reaction. They don't get it, do they?G.B.Gordonhttp://gordon.kontext.canoreply@blogger.com