Comments on: No, sorry, that’s not enough money, we don’t want it.

By: David

David — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:57:01 +0000

Looks like the excellent Donor Power Blog picked up the Firstgiving blog post on this http://www.donorpowerblog.com/donor_power_blog/2008/06/tiny-gifts-good.html

By: Susannah

Susannah — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:21:09 +0000

OK, I’m the cheap bastard that tried to donate just $10 to my friend’s Kintera fundraising page. In all honestly, I like to support everyone in their fundraising efforts, and the only sustainable way to do that without putting myself in the poor house (or having to move in with, eek, my parents!) is by donating small amounts to everyone. I wrote my friend and asked her if she knew anything about the $25 minimum being enforced on her page. She got in touch with the nonprofit, who told her it was a policy of Kintera’s, not theirs, and not hers, to have such a minimum.

Is it unfair of me to relate this business decision to the fact that Kintera just got bought out after receiving a warning that they were to be kicked off NASDAQ becuase their stock price was too low??

By: David

David — Sun, 25 May 2008 14:40:27 +0000

Good points, Kai. I should also mention that I don’t know which of the players is enforcing the $25 minimum - it could be the charity, national or local, or the event organizer, or the ecommerce provider or even the individual fundraiser setting up the page. In the interest of additional disclosure, the company Kai and I work for enforces a minimum donation of $1 on the US site and 2 pounds on the UK site.

By: Kai Chan Vong

Kai Chan Vong — Sun, 25 May 2008 13:50:32 +0000

Interesting you bring this up because I’ve heard people not wanting money because they can’t keep track of it for their finance records (perfectly up to date). Part of me says this is stupid and the money should be getting where it can help out etc. Then another thinks that’s madness because all charities are just like businesses and covering their overheads etc to keep people in a living… and so they should be keeping their $$$ in check.

When you mention the min. of $25 - that too is a shambles. People really do need to take a look around them and see the kind of world we’re living it where singers and bands are selling their albums for ‘whatever you deem it worth’. On the flip side to that I’m sure some people haven’t paid a dime for it all.

I too am in a similar situation to you and… at the end of the day like with all things, who are we to judge someone else’s opinion and judgement. How they set up their service is surely their business and no one elses’?

Well yes and no to both my last points. Until the end person can cut out this middle person - the ‘charity’ - then the end person will always be grateful for whatever offering they get. Hopefully in the future, like with the music industry things will change and there will be a revolution. Because for the time being the middle person is doing what they believe right, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all… for the time being ;)