Oldie but a goodie...
Oct. 2nd, 2024 08:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickBack in 2010, I got hit up for some child's activity. And it pissed me off.
I hate having to buy something to support Little Johnny's Dumb-Ass Concussive School Activity or Skinny Suzie's Anorexic-Bulimic Gymnastic Squadron or whatever.
Can't I just give the parent a twenty and tell him/her not to hit me up again for the rest of the year? Advantages of this method of fundraising: Simple to administer. Large profit margin. Does not burden me with shit I don't want or need. Environmentally responsible, does not generate waste.
Disadvantage: Little Johnny's Daddy or Skinny Suzie's Mommy could run off with the funds raised -- there is no order form and no intermediary to parcel out the 'funds raised' from the cost of providing the nominally-desirable purchased goods or services.
Workaround: Have a website, secure SSL or whatevs via a storefront. (Could do a school-wide one, so that there only has to be one damn account on the part of the educational organization.) Paypal. Donors log in, donate an amount, record that amount, tag it by "Little Johnny DumbAss -- Concussive School Activity" or "Skinny Suzie WontEat -- Anorexic-Bulimic Gymnastic Squadron" or whatever (so that each kiddo can get "credit" for his or her fundraising efforts) and it's all electronic and nobody's daddy or mommy can make off with the funds raised.
Can we please do it this way? Please?
I don't WANT to have to buy something, frequently a food item that I do not need or want to be eating. I don't want to buy pizzas or subs. I don't fucking EAT pizzas or subs, you idiots. I don't eat exotically-flavored popcorn. I don't eat box cookies. (Okay, I adore Thin Mints. But I shouldn't eat them and mostly I don't.) I don't want a Peanut Butter Meltaway -- the insides are the exact color of dog shit and the texture is quite the same. I also don't want to sign up for magazine subscriptions or coupons for various local business that I do not patronize or pretty much any of that crap. If you are doing an xmas-season citrus sale, I will buy grapefruits from you, one bushel box, which is a hell of a lot of grapefruits for a one-person household, and I will eat them all.
Hey, we could do it both ways! The fundraising kiddo could show up with order form and a stack of small business cards. Hit up for the "sell stuff" and if person says "not interested" then hit up for "How about a donation anyway? As little as five bucks would (blah blah). Here's a business card with the address, just in case you change your mind about donating."
ATTENTION FUNDRAISER ORGANIZERS! JUST LET ME GIVE YOU MONEY FOR THE CHILD I AM OBLIGATED* TO SUPPORT IN HIS OR HER ENDEAVORS. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GIVE ME ANYTHING IN RETURN AND ACTUALLY IT IS BETTER FOR ME IF YOU DON'T.
*Obligated by way of being a family member (not a parent) or a friend or a business associate of the parents or whatever. Socially obligated, here. And no, it is not acceptable for me to decline this damned social obligation. So I have to buy stuff that I don't want and am not going to use. I HATE THIS STUPID FUCKING SYSTEM OF FUNDRAISING. I HATE IT. I'm okay with having social obligations to support assorted and sundry children. I'm just frustrated -- you could make a LOT more money off of me by just hitting me up for money that would go DIRECTLY towards supporting the activity, no waste, no excess goods/services, none of that shit. Can we please have the "I would prefer not to buy shit, here, just have a twenty" fundraising option? PLEASE?
And yet still here we are fourteen years later and I'm still being hit up to buy shit that I don't want to support a child's endeavor that I am sorta obligated to support, from a national child-endeavor organization, no less.
Fuck me, why aren't we LIVING IN THE FUTURE?
Why can I not have this thing?
I am sending a missive to the national child-endeavor with, hopefully, minimal swearing, regarding this issue because I still do not see how "having to buy shit I don't want or need" is better than "here, have a twenty for your endeavor."
I hate having to buy something to support Little Johnny's Dumb-Ass Concussive School Activity or Skinny Suzie's Anorexic-Bulimic Gymnastic Squadron or whatever.
Can't I just give the parent a twenty and tell him/her not to hit me up again for the rest of the year? Advantages of this method of fundraising: Simple to administer. Large profit margin. Does not burden me with shit I don't want or need. Environmentally responsible, does not generate waste.
Disadvantage: Little Johnny's Daddy or Skinny Suzie's Mommy could run off with the funds raised -- there is no order form and no intermediary to parcel out the 'funds raised' from the cost of providing the nominally-desirable purchased goods or services.
Workaround: Have a website, secure SSL or whatevs via a storefront. (Could do a school-wide one, so that there only has to be one damn account on the part of the educational organization.) Paypal. Donors log in, donate an amount, record that amount, tag it by "Little Johnny DumbAss -- Concussive School Activity" or "Skinny Suzie WontEat -- Anorexic-Bulimic Gymnastic Squadron" or whatever (so that each kiddo can get "credit" for his or her fundraising efforts) and it's all electronic and nobody's daddy or mommy can make off with the funds raised.
Can we please do it this way? Please?
I don't WANT to have to buy something, frequently a food item that I do not need or want to be eating. I don't want to buy pizzas or subs. I don't fucking EAT pizzas or subs, you idiots. I don't eat exotically-flavored popcorn. I don't eat box cookies. (Okay, I adore Thin Mints. But I shouldn't eat them and mostly I don't.) I don't want a Peanut Butter Meltaway -- the insides are the exact color of dog shit and the texture is quite the same. I also don't want to sign up for magazine subscriptions or coupons for various local business that I do not patronize or pretty much any of that crap. If you are doing an xmas-season citrus sale, I will buy grapefruits from you, one bushel box, which is a hell of a lot of grapefruits for a one-person household, and I will eat them all.
Hey, we could do it both ways! The fundraising kiddo could show up with order form and a stack of small business cards. Hit up for the "sell stuff" and if person says "not interested" then hit up for "How about a donation anyway? As little as five bucks would (blah blah). Here's a business card with the address, just in case you change your mind about donating."
ATTENTION FUNDRAISER ORGANIZERS! JUST LET ME GIVE YOU MONEY FOR THE CHILD I AM OBLIGATED* TO SUPPORT IN HIS OR HER ENDEAVORS. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GIVE ME ANYTHING IN RETURN AND ACTUALLY IT IS BETTER FOR ME IF YOU DON'T.
*Obligated by way of being a family member (not a parent) or a friend or a business associate of the parents or whatever. Socially obligated, here. And no, it is not acceptable for me to decline this damned social obligation. So I have to buy stuff that I don't want and am not going to use. I HATE THIS STUPID FUCKING SYSTEM OF FUNDRAISING. I HATE IT. I'm okay with having social obligations to support assorted and sundry children. I'm just frustrated -- you could make a LOT more money off of me by just hitting me up for money that would go DIRECTLY towards supporting the activity, no waste, no excess goods/services, none of that shit. Can we please have the "I would prefer not to buy shit, here, just have a twenty" fundraising option? PLEASE?
And yet still here we are fourteen years later and I'm still being hit up to buy shit that I don't want to support a child's endeavor that I am sorta obligated to support, from a national child-endeavor organization, no less.
Fuck me, why aren't we LIVING IN THE FUTURE?
Why can I not have this thing?
I am sending a missive to the national child-endeavor with, hopefully, minimal swearing, regarding this issue because I still do not see how "having to buy shit I don't want or need" is better than "here, have a twenty for your endeavor."
no subject
Date: 2025-01-29 04:56 pm (UTC)