Ho, ho, ho, Christmas is almost upon us and so are unnumerable charity collectors with their jingling boxes. No shop entrance is safe anymore, a busy street on a typical day sprouts at least ten of those dearest creatures and I even found a nativity scene in my local Tesco with a poorbox smartly tucked away in the corner. I do get irritated by those charity enforcers. I usually ignore them, but this year I wanted to actually say something about it, hence my lens Charity - to give or not to give?.
I started work on this article only mildly pissed off by the jingling boxes, but I did some research on the subject and what I found out turned me purple with rage. I found a website, 'charity navigator', which evaluates American charities, shows basics of each organisation's accounts and... salary of a top person. I nearly fainted when I saw those figures. $250,000 seems to be a standard pay, but more talented individuals cash in more than half a million bucks. Your bucks, dear reader, the very same money that you gave to this nice looking guy who told you some touching stories about poor kiddies and hungry souls, and how your donation will help save lives.
Yes, well, I agree that saving the children starts with your own home, but I don't think a shark pool is a necessary accessory for healthy growing up. I mean - what do they spend this kind of money on? A diamond studded toilet bowl? A ferrari for each family member?
You know what's the very ugliest thing in the whole business? People who GIVE to charity usually are not very well off themselves. They tend to understand suffering and poverty better, because it's not too far from their own doors. Many, many of them could probably use help of some charity themselves. And it's off their money that CEO's check is being paid.
I don't expect some big fish in a charity organisation to read this post and experience a change of heart - if you do something as disgusting, you probably carry a lump of stone in your chest and appealing to your conscience is no use. Instead, I hope some of you, dear donors, will read this carefully, draw your conclusions and perhaps hesitate before giving. Maybe ask some questions. Find out more about the organisation you want to support.
I tend to follow a simple rule when giving money to charity - if the collector looks better fed than me, I keep my wallet closed.
Oh, I almost forgot. This post is rather stingy on names, figures and other details, but the lens that was born out of all this research is just the opposite. I actually trawled through the list of charities that Squidoo donates to and listed salaries of presidents/CEOs/chairmen of all I could find. Do have a look, it's an eye-opener.
