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[Bionic]

 
I am curious as to how the children portrayed as being in such dire need are all clean skinned, appear to be well fed and well clothed too in new clothes on the adverts we are bombarded with? I mean, who drinks the 'filthy water' dressed in new clothes?
If the charities want me to give then I expect to be given a truer picture of the needs and not what otherwise seems to be a another ad merely to boost their coffers.....possibly for a new office building or set of company cars and let's not forget the salaries of the top board members that do not work for 'charity' needing a bit more to play with.
Cynical I may be called, but I am nobodys fool..........There again in my earlier years I did actually work among them for charity for a year but then became hardened by the amounts collected not all being used for the purpose intended. Only a small proportion ever got to where it was meant to go and I strongly suspect that it is the same today.
I also wonder if the heads of the charities give anything themselves???

[Rog]

I'm afraid that like so many others, I am now highly cynical about charity appeals, no matter how heart wrenching, deserving, sad, worthy etc etc.

It's no longer enough to pop a couple of quid into a collection box, or even make a premium phone call, they want "only" £2 a month or whatever by direct debit or somehow tagged onto your phone bill.

My questions are the same as many others ask. How much did this TV advert cost ? How much does your chief executive get paid ? How much do your fund raisers get paid ? etc etc.

Hmmmmmm

[the alarming man]

the thing is with all these appels that are on tv who pays for the air time as it is not given as free?

[albitz]

Im afraid Im also completely cynical about the whole charity industry these days too. They have brought it on themselves imo,but its a shame.
The latest example is the RSPCA.They have just spent approx. £350,000 on lawyers to prosecute a hunt for alleged illegal hunting of a fox.The hunt pleaded guilty rather then try to match the RSPCA spending power,despite the fact that the evidence against them was reportedly film footage of an already dead fox.
The fact that the hunt concerned was David Camerons local hunt may or may not have had something to do with their zeal in this matter.
Ironically the founder of the RSPCA was a keen huntsman.

[TheBoy]

I think my views on many (not all) charities are well known.

RSPCA has jumped into the "get stuffed" category now, after that stunt.

I'm embarrassed that MacMillon are also in the same one now, after refusing a £20 donation, but insisting I set up a direct debit for £10 a month. Then banging on my door every couple of days for a month.

[dbug]

Remember - charity begins at home 

[Taxi_Driver]

I used to donate £6/month to the RSPCA, had done for years, well since i got HollyDog.

A couple of years back i got a phone call from them asking me to up the direct debit.....

I wont say what i thought at the time.......but i cancelled the DD .....their loss.

[YZ250]

I think my views on many (not all) charities are well known.

RSPCA has jumped into the "get stuffed" category now, after that stunt.

I'm embarrassed that MacMillon are also in the same one now, after refusing a £20 donation, but insisting I set up a direct debit for £10 a month. Then banging on my door every couple of days for a month.

My wife and daughter did the Race For Life a couple of times and then got hounded to set up a Direct Debit via phone calls for months after. Shame really, as they did it with a good heart but found the calls annoying in the end.

I used to donate £6/month to the RSPCA, had done for years, well since i got HollyDog.

A couple of years back i got a phone call from them asking me to up the direct debit.....

I wont say what i thought at the time.......but i cancelled the DD .....their loss.

My B-I-L used to donate £8 a month to RSPCA and after many annoying calls he cancelled the same as you.

[Bionic]

 
Rog....someone in the ad game years ago once told me that the general tv ad per minute costs was 10k a minute and that was many years ago. I should imagine that it has gone way up after the years that have gone by since. Add to that the cost of the actors and scenario backdrops and locations and it must be an astronomical sum that has to be regained before the charities claw their share before any gets to the causes our contributions was meant to reach.
Like you, I am now so cynical I simply do not give at all and also let the tin rattlers have a piece of the truth too whenever they 'attack' me.
My will includes a total bequeathment to a dogs charity that is not the RSPCA or PDSA, neither of which I have any respect for after many run in's with them when they refused to help yet almost demanded a contribution after their refusals to act!
Charity they say does begin at home!

[STMO123]

I told NSPCC if they didn't stop ringing, I'd cancel the DD. They stopped.

[Chris_H]

I was tempted to make a donation due to an "Emergency" letter just today.  I even went to the website, but when I trawled my emails to see if I had a login/password, I found a "Sent" message complaining to them about a rude telephone cold-call from them a year or two back.

I just switched to another website and gave to them instead.

On the subject of starving kids in smart clothes, I produced a video some years back when I did a visit to Africa.  it was winter there at the time (14 degrees, would you believe ) and all the kids were wearing everything they owned and it all had holes, was inappropriate (a teenage boy wearing a sheep-covered pullover, girls in bridesmaids dresses that dragged on the ground etc.), and shoes were often unrecogniseable as such, let alone the right size.  On showing the video, one person remarked that the kids were smartly dressed and I had to re-play it to point out the reality.

It is a difficult message to get across and millions are deserving of support IMHO.  I can't disagree with the points expressed though.

[Kevin Wood]

If charities can finance this level of concentrated TV advertising they either don't need my money or won't spend it wisely anyway.

Likewise with direct debits, which I refuse to get into. If they won't accept my donation gratefully, in whatever form I choose to make it, they can go forth and multiply.

[cleggy]

I only give to charities that use the money in the UK.

[Rog]

If charities can finance this level of concentrated TV advertising they either don't need my money or won't spend it wisely anyway.

Likewise with direct debits, which I refuse to get into. If they won't accept my donation gratefully, in whatever form I choose to make it, they can go forth and multiply.

Yep, same here. But recently the "Chuggers" have got a bit of a bad name due to press exposes of the organisation behind them.

I love it when the Chuggers ask me "Don't you care about  - (Children/babies/puppies/old people/out of work bankers/cancer or whatever), and I simply say no !

[Lizzie_Zoom]

For me it will always be The Salvation Army I give to

They are the ones that you will find giving comfort to the homeless, to those who have suffered a disaster of some type, and who also go to the trouble of entertaining the general public with their great bands.  The Sally is always there and can be relied to bring relief to those who need it.

They get my vote and money