Bizarre begging letter

[jay hay-char]

Just received a begging letter from The Children's Society, which is a perfectly reputable and well respected charity, asking me for a donation. So far, so normal: Like most of us, no doubt, I get lots of these from various charities, asking for me to make a donation, sell some raffle tickets or whatever. I'm afraid most of them go straight to the recycling bin, as we don't have much spare money and any donations that we do make go to a couple of pet charities.

The bizarre thing about this letter is that it asks me, apparently straight-faced, to make a donation (or rather an "investment" as they put it) of £100,000.00. Yes, that's One Hundred Grand . The whole tone of the letter implies that I wouldn't think twice about doing this and also suggests easy payment terms, over three years, of £2,777.77 per month, as an alternative . I can't decide if it's a joke, an error, or maybe they have mistaken me for a corporate donor (I'm self employed and belong to the local Chamber of Commerce and they appear to sell lists on to various sources).

Or maybe they get advance notification of major Premium Bond winners? I live in hope

 

[Lamont D]

That's the height of cheek.

Dogs and cats yeah, no probs!

Kids, no way!!!!!!

 

[Heathenlass]

Yeah. Right .

If it's not corporate, I'm wondering who these people are who can contemplate donating this amount !

Signy

 

[jay hay-char]

Yeah. Right .

If it's not corporate, I'm wondering who these people are who can contemplate donating this amount !

Signy

There are some high net worth individuals who make big donations to charity although it's more an American than a British thing. Bill and Melinda Gates have put billions into their foundation, which targets things like disease in the Third World. In the UK, big donations from wealthy people seem to go mostly to the Tory Party.....

I reckon they've mistaken me for a global Business Compliance consultancy

 

[Lamont D]

There are some high net worth individuals who make big donations to charity although it's more an American than a British thing. Bill and Melinda Gates have put billions into their foundation, which targets things like disease in the Third World. In the UK, big donations from wealthy people seem to go mostly to the Tory Party.....

I reckon they've mistaken me for a global Business Compliance consultancy

Well, the Tories are an animal charity, aren't they?

 

[chris lowe]

There are some high net worth individuals who make big donations to charity although it's more an American than a British thing. Bill and Melinda Gates have put billions into their foundation, which targets things like disease in the Third World. In the UK, big donations from wealthy people seem to go mostly to the Tory Party.....

I reckon they've mistaken me for a global Business Compliance consultancy

Either that or they've mistaken you for an MP and you will obviously claim it back on expenses

 

[Heathenlass]

Either that or they've mistaken you for an MP and you will obviously claim it back on expenses

Like x ten ! LOL LOL !

Signy

 

[JTL]

Just received a begging letter from The Children's Society, which is a perfectly reputable and well respected charity, asking me for a donation. So far, so normal: Like most of us, no doubt, I get lots of these from various charities, asking for me to make a donation, sell some raffle tickets or whatever. I'm afraid most of them go straight to the recycling bin, as we don't have much spare money and any donations that we do make go to a couple of pet charities.

The bizarre thing about this letter is that it asks me, apparently straight-faced, to make a donation (or rather an "investment" as they put it) of £100,000.00. Yes, that's One Hundred Grand . The whole tone of the letter implies that I wouldn't think twice about doing this and also suggests easy payment terms, over three years, of £2,777.77 per month, as an alternative . I can't decide if it's a joke, an error, or maybe they have mistaken me for a corporate donor (I'm self employed and belong to the local Chamber of Commerce and they appear to sell lists on to various sources).

Or maybe they get advance notification of major Premium Bond winners? I live in hope

jay hay char Rothschild?

 

[Lamont D]

Richie (jay char) Rich?

 

[jay hay-char]

I wish!

 

[Lenny3]

That's the height of cheek.

Dogs and cats yeah, no probs!

Kids, no way!!!!!!

I had a children charity person on my doorstep one evening. They opened with "everyone loves kids don't they? "To which I replied I can't stand them! They still carried on though.........

 

[JTL]

I had a children charity person on my doorstep one evening. They opened with "everyone loves kids don't they? "To which I replied I can't stand them! They still carried on though.........

I've had that one and my reply was .... only my own goodbye and closed the door with a wee smile.

 

[WeeWillie]

jay hay-char, hi,

Reply to them and request a full financial breakdown including, managerial and staff salaries,
the cleaning ladies salary, office sundries, advertising costs,and importantly of course, those
who are fortunate enough to benefit from all the financial donations received by them.

You will not receive a full 100% open and honest detailed account as per your request.

In fact every person should do the same for any plea requesting financial donations.

Interesting post.btw.




willie.

 

[WeeWillie]

I meant to add in the above post...."if", anyone does/did actually receive a reply at all,
from anyone requesting information from mail-shots appealing for financial donations.




willie.

 

[WeeWillie]

Just received a begging letter from The Children's Society, which is a perfectly reputable and well respected charity, asking me for a donation. So far, so normal: Like most of us, no doubt, I get lots of these from various charities, asking for me to make a donation, sell some raffle tickets or whatever. I'm afraid most of them go straight to the recycling bin, as we don't have much spare money and any donations that we do make go to a couple of pet charities.

The bizarre thing about this letter is that it asks me, apparently straight-faced, to make a donation (or rather an "investment" as they put it) of £100,000.00. Yes, that's One Hundred Grand . The whole tone of the letter implies that I wouldn't think twice about doing this and also suggests easy payment terms, over three years, of £2,777.77 per month, as an alternative . I can't decide if it's a joke, an error, or maybe they have mistaken me for a corporate donor (I'm self employed and belong to the local Chamber of Commerce and they appear to sell lists on to various sources).

Or maybe they get advance notification of major Premium Bond winners? I live in hope

Re-my initial reply to jay hay-char's post. (apologies for hijacking your post, jay hay-char)

The following paraphrased article from Daily Mail journalist Graham Grant, offers a perfect example of why
I feel, we all should request a financial breakdown concerning the distribution of our donations to charitable organisations.
I'm not implying we should discontinue donating to our favourite charitable causes after reading this article,
no, that would only cause suffering for those in desperate need however, it may possibly, just possibly, in
time, shame some other charitable organisations into following "Mary's Meals" (see end of article) who
have taken a completely different path by "insisting on low running costs" .

Consider........

Stuart Earley (SPCA) formerly in charge of Whipsnade Animal Park Bedforshire. His pay recently increased
from £160.000 to £185.000, nearly a third more than the Prime Minister David Cameron and dwarfs
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's annual pay of £135.000.

SPCA Scotland, receive nearly £14million annually which, research has discovered, is donated by poorer
people who are proportionately the most generous when giving to charity...ie. those earning less than £9.000
a year on average, nearly 20 times less than Mr Earley.

Disabled (charity) Capability Scotland, which has an annual income of around £26million, pays chief
executive Dana O'Dwyer between £100.000 and £110.000 yearly.

Head of Scottish Autism, Alan Somerville, earns up to £100.000 yearly.

The number of staff at Scotland's biggest voluntary organisations earn a basic salary of more than £60.000
and has risen by 26% in only three years.

Mary's Meals. Scotland. have taken a completely different path by insisting on low running costs.
Mary's Meals, an anti-hunger charity says it has a conviction that those who are paid to work for
Mary's Meals should never be paid higher salaries.


Incidentally, SPCA do not receive government aid or lottery funding, they rely solely on public donations.


As a footnote to this revealing article.
1.
Unless I've missed it, charities who provide large pay-packets to their executive's do not openly promote
these very high salaries to the ordinary public.

2.
It's worth baring in mind these figures refer to Scotland, there is England, Wales and Ireland to take
into consideration also.


Have a pleasant weekend.

willie.

 

[jay hay-char]

Big charities are big business, and they would argue that, to get the money in and meet their charitable objectives, they need high performers who require appropriate levels of reward. I don't entirely buy this - there are lots of people out there for whom the job that they do is more important than a massive salary - but, substantial though they are, the salaries that you quote above would be modest for the CEO of a commercial company with an equivalent turnover.

For some years, I was a Trustee and Non-Executive Director (unpaid ) of a small charity that provided training and education for the Publishing Industry. The salaries paid to the two senior members of staff were extremely modest and it always amazed me that, when we were trying to recruit replacements into these roles, we were always able to find high-calibre candidates in spite of the money on offer. However, I'm under no illusions about the extent to which some charities spend money on fancy salaries and other fripperies; for example, the RNLI came under a lot of flak some years back, for building a lavish new Headquarters in Poole. As a keen sailor, I am always glad that if I get into trouble at sea there will be a dedicated and unpaid volunteer lifeboat crew who are prepared to put to sea whatever the weather, to save my sorry ass: I'm not so enthusiastic about the fact that their (paid) bosses are ensconced in luxury back on dry land.

But what if the RNLI didn't exist, or collapsed in chaos because of a lack of leadership and fundraising? People who work for charities still need to pay a mortgage, feed their kids and have an occasional holiday. It's all quite difficult.

 

[Fallgal]

Just received a begging letter from The Children's Society, which is a perfectly reputable and well respected charity, asking me for a donation. So far, so normal: Like most of us, no doubt, I get lots of these from various charities, asking for me to make a donation, sell some raffle tickets or whatever. I'm afraid most of them go straight to the recycling bin, as we don't have much spare money and any donations that we do make go to a couple of pet charities.

The bizarre thing about this letter is that it asks me, apparently straight-faced, to make a donation (or rather an "investment" as they put it) of £100,000.00. Yes, that's One Hundred Grand . The whole tone of the letter implies that I wouldn't think twice about doing this and also suggests easy payment terms, over three years, of £2,777.77 per month, as an alternative . I can't decide if it's a joke, an error, or maybe they have mistaken me for a corporate donor (I'm self employed and belong to the local Chamber of Commerce and they appear to sell lists on to various sources).

Or maybe they get advance notification of major Premium Bond winners? I live in hope

It's probably as you said; they've mistaken you for a corporate donor. However, have you checked to make sure that the letter is from the actual charity you think it is from (proper letterhead/address/logo, etc.)? There are a lot of questionable 'charities' in the USA that use nearly-identical names/stylizing as the reputable one in hopes of tricking the reader. Of course, they are usually not so bold as to ask for £100K, either.

 

[Fallgal]

There are some high net worth individuals who make big donations to charity although it's more an American than a British thing. Bill and Melinda Gates have put billions into their foundation, which targets things like disease in the Third World. In the UK, big donations from wealthy people seem to go mostly to the Tory Party.....

I reckon they've mistaken me for a global Business Compliance consultancy

As many times as we've all had to purchase Microsoft Office in the past 20+ years, I suspect they can afford it.

 

[KateA]

I believe a 1% take up on a mail drop is considered to be a success in marketing terms. Who knows, you may win the lottery tonight or as you said, your premium bonds may be picked out. The seed had been sown. Not only that, the charity name has been mentioned in a forum, more seeds sown and helps search engine analytics.

 

[jay hay-char]

I believe a 1% take up on a mail drop is considered to be a success in marketing terms. Who knows, you may win the lottery tonight or as you said, your premium bonds may be picked out. The seed had been sown. Not only that, the charity name has been mentioned in a forum, more seeds sown and helps search engine analytics.

I think I'd have heard by now