IS it time for some charities to review their fundraising approach?
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The list of charitable organisations seems endless.
And for the most part these organisations and volunteers are doing a fabulous job raising money and providing support for valuable community projects and people in need.
Whether the fundraising is for medical research, volunteer organisations that protect the safety and wellbeing of others such as Surf Life Saving or Rural Fire Service, the provision of financial support to people through tough times or for many other worthy causes, the efforts of those involved should be commended.
In turn, the generosity of those who make a contribution to such charitable causes is equally praise worthy.
Fundraising options are varied from people standing on the streets to collect donations, ongoing phone calls from charities, door knocking, bank accounts opened so people can make a contribution and, of course, there are many charitable events and activities carried out each year.
In addition media promotion, social media and letterbox drops provide a great reminder of the wonderful organisations that are out there and that rely on charitable support.
While it is clear that the competition for the charitable dollar is tough and organisations are trying many different ways to attract funding, there is a fine line between rallying support and being invasive.
Sure some people may need prompting, but it should also be noted that most people have a limit to how much they can donate each week, month or year and most have a clear direction on what organisations they want to support.
The phone calls and approaches in the street can tend to cross a line to guilting people into making a contribution when they really can’t afford it.
There is also the situation where a person contributes on one occasion and the benefitting charity continues to approach that person for more contributions.
Clearly anyone who has made the effort to donate once has a charitable conscience and they will continue to support a cause as it is affordable to them.
Most people will buy tickets to a function, stop at a cake stall, slip some money into a donors envelope, drop a donation in a collection box or take part in an event when and if they can afford it and they should feel comfortable about the contribution regardless of how much or little it is.