My View on Different Types of Fundraising

Last Sunday I was coming home from the Dun Laoghaire Market when I noticed two people collecting money with buckets. When I asked what they were fundraising for they replied that the money was going toward the LauraLynn hospice for children. I was happy to put the coins I had with me into the buckets. I prefer putting money this way rather than giving my bank details to people I do not know. I know this is controversial within the disability movement in Ireland, but I believe collecting with buckets can save a lot of financial hardship. I know people who have given their bank details and then found themselves short of money at the end of the 6 months because they didn’t realise how much the cumulative amount would be. At least if you put money into buckets, you can decide how much you are giving then and there. The people I spoke to on Sunday were very nice and one of them knew a child who had used the services of the foundation. I have noticed that the people taking bank details are young or from other countries. Sometimes, it is young people from outside the EU as well as Irish people, who seem under pressure to sign donor people up through their bank details. I do not know if they get a commission for the number of people they sign up, but I certainly still feel better giving money to people collecting in the old-fashioned way of using buckets. Another kind of fundraising involves bag packing in which people pack bags of shopping for people at the checkout register, in return for money. This form of fundraising also requires people to be stationed at the doors with buckets, usually in Shopping Centres where the bag packing is taking place, so the customers could put in whatever amounts they wish. I have also been involved with sponsored walks in which you get people to sign a sponsorship card, where they put the amount of money beside their name, and it is collected before the event. This sponsorship card model was also used for the woman’s Mini Marathon two years running where everyone that took part and raised a substantial amount of money for the cause. In my opinion people shouldn’t be against collecting money in buckets and using sponsorship cards, because having choice about how to donate to charitable causes is a good thing.