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United States22883 Posts
So I was walking through my school's student center today and there was a booth set up selling t-shirts for "breast cancer awareness." I was immediately annoyed, because as far as I'm concerned, breast cancer awareness is no longer an issue in the US. We are all aware of the dangers of breast cancer, and at this point awareness is a much less important cause than say RESEARCH.
Anyways, the guy manning the booth asked me if I wanted to buy one and I replied, "no, I don't want the t-shirt." Naturally, he says it's for a good cause and I reply, "no, it's for a t-shirt."
I asked him how the money was distributed and he said $5 went to making the t-shirt and $5 went to fighting breast cancer (which I assume means most of the money goes to an organization, and a fraction goes into research.) So I told him if it wasn't about buying a t-shirt and it was truly for fighting breast cancer, then I'd just donate the money on my own and end up giving at least double the amount to fight breast cancer than the stingy bastards who bought the t-shirts. That's what I call a logic choke slam.
The point to all this is that your heart should motivate you to act charitably, but your brain should do the acting. Don't waste your money buying crap with pink ribbons rationalizing that it's for a good cause, when 95% won't reach it. Don't bother donating food to homeless shelters when you could give the money to a grocery store, who has much greater purchasing power, for the same cause. Make smart investments with your time and money when giving charity, just as you would for your own personal investments. And finally, remember that the main goal is to make others feel better, not yourself.
Just to show I put some money (I am a college student, after all) where my mouth is. GFCR claims 99 cents per dollar goes directly to research, and doesn't bother with stuff like outreach and education.
 
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Physician
United States4146 Posts
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some of the charity dont donate all the money to research, and even if they just donate 1% of the fund it is still considered charity, basically they r running it as a business
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United States24772 Posts
I haxed your transaction ID. Btw I agree with you completely.. and I get pissed off when people try to guilt you for not giving money at every opportunity.
Just to show I put some money where my mouth is: today I donated 20 dollars to a 12th grade government class project to adopt local families in need (sorry no paypal receipt).
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Osaka27173 Posts
You can always donate to the TL Liquibition fund, where 100% of your donation is forwarded to a reputable charity.
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While it makes more sense to donate than to buy a T-shirt, that's not actually how it works. The fact is that you make more money by selling stuff than you do by directly asking for donations. Maybe it's because of people who don't use their brains, whatever. The point is the charity does what makes money. What you say makes some sense, it just doesn't make very much sense to lecture the guy in the booth.
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United States22883 Posts
No, they DON'T make much money. Cancer walks, pink ribbon fundraisers, etc. They typically raise very little money for research. The bulk of the money earned goes straight towards recovering the cost of running the event and the rest gets divided up towards other expenditures. They're misguided attempts to help, and generally clever business moves as well. When you give money to those things, you're usually helping a corporation more than you are cancer victims.
And this kind of thing is typical on college campuses. People march like sheep to a drum that actually gets nothing done, but they feel good about themselves afterward so it doesn't matter. It's idiocy.
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I was going to do a breast cancer or leukemia walk...maybe not anymore?
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United States22883 Posts
Just find out how their money is spent.
There's certainly some benefits to giving public support and having a fun time, but I'm not sure you have to give money to take part in those aspects. You could walk and just send money through some organization you're comfortable with, like what I or Physician linked, etc.
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EPT
