Commercial Fundraising Companies and Their Charity Agendas - Essay Example

?[Your full April 26, Commercial Fundraising Companies and their Charity Agendas Nowadays, professional fundraising is in trend. Charities use companies to raise funds, which forces people to donate money. One does not even know about the donations one gives while dealing with charities that use companies for commercial fundraising. Big charities are more into this trend, where they use commercial fundraising companies to have access to people through call center or mail box. “Some charities do better than others. Some receive 70% or 80% of each dollar raised. But many fall into the dismal category, receiving as little as 33% of each dollar raised” (Fritz, para.4). Companies should not work with charities, as donation through product selling is actually forcing people to donate when they have better ideas where to donate their money. Pink Ribbon Inc. is an internationally operating charity organization, registered in New York. The aim of this organization is to create a global community that supports breast cancer patients. To introduce it from its own website: The Pink Ribbon Foundation Charity Number 1080839 is a grant making trust with a mission to fund projects and provide financial support to UK charities which relieve the needs of people who are suffering from, or who have been affected by breast cancer or who work to advance the understanding of breast cancer, its early detection and treatment (Pink Ribbon Foundation). There are many ways to donate in this charity supported by Pink Ribbon. You can email or call, participate in person at their workplace, or purchase Pink products to participate in the donation. However, the point that is to be discussed here is whether or not it is worth going to Pink Ribbon to buy its products for donation. We already know that consumers are very easily convinced, as they are very sentimental, especially about sensitive issues like breast cancer. Eberlein (para.1) writes in her article that if price and quality of two products are equal, then it is very likely that consumers go for that product which is supported by a sensitive cause. The for-profit organizations selling these products send a portion of the purchase price to the non-profit charity organizations, which use this money for research purposes and other health related causes. Same is the case with Pink Ribbon. Companies share the profit with the non-profit organization supporting the cause of breast cancer elimination. However, the consumers never know what portion of their spent money is going to the cause for research purposes, and how much the company is keeping to itself. It is very important for the consumers to know whether the charity raising campaigns are making the donations useful enough or, being specific, significant enough in amount to support the research purposes. First of all, a product with a pink ribbon on it never guarantees that it is the same company that is supporting the charity. Just viewing a pink ribbon and buying the product will not serve the purpose. It is important to see the name of the company and the charity tie-in in the packaging of the pink product. Even if it is there, the consumer is unaware of the process that follows after he has paid. We may also assume that the consumer is being forced to pay for donations through being manipulated to pay for sensitive causes. That is, companies lure consumers to pay because they are soft-hearted. The consumer must be aware of the portion that is going to the charity. If the company is sending just a few bucks to the charity, it is not necessary to experience that added feel-good bonus when you can buy the same product somewhere else with the same price. Pinkwashing is also very crucial. This is the term used for the ability of assessing whether the pink ribbon labeled on a product that one is buying is linked to something that is dangerous for health. Kentucky Fried Chicken used pink buckets to support the breast cancer programs, but proved to be a bad choice because of the adverse effects of fried and junk food on health. Hence, pinkwashing makes us aware not to be lured into buying products that are otherwise not healthy for us. “Many companies have sold pink ribbon products that are linked to increased risk of breast cancer” (“Before You Buy Pink”, para.7). For example, many cosmetic companies have made use of the pink label to lure consumers into buying beauty products and cosmetics that were directly related to breast cancer or other negative health effects. An example is a perfume named Promise Me, which contains toxic chemicals that have proven to be hazardous for health (“Before You Buy Pink”, para.8). It is also not necessary that companies that sell products with a pink ribbon on them are actually taking part in the charity. Companies may only use the pink ribbon to spread the message that their products are safe for health, thus, luring the customers to buy. This is a misuse of the pink ribbon, forcing people to buy products that they do not require, or make them prefer one brand over another just because they are naive enough to spend bucks for charity purposes. To conclude, it is important for people to understand that if they want to help somebody in real, they should come out and donate to real charities through meeting them in person. It is not a good idea to donate some pennies through a fundraising company, and be satisfied that we actually helped somebody. We never know where our hard earned money is going. Charities that use fundraising companies get only a portion of our donations, and a good portion of it is used up in the company’s marketing agendas and other objectives. So, it is better to go to the needy people and give them money with our own hands, so that we may know where the money is going and who we helped in real. This feeling can never be beaten by the one that we experience when we donate through a commercial fundraising company. Works Cited “Before You Buy Pink.” Think Before You Pink. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr 2013. . Eberlein, Tamara. “Is Buying Products with Pink Ribbons for Charity, Etc., Really Worth It?” Bottom Line Publications. BoardRoom Inc., 2013. Web. 26 Apr 2013. . Fritz, Joanne. “Should I Give to Charities that Use Professional Fundraising Companies?” About.com: Nonprofit Charitable Orgs. About.com, 2013. Web. 26 Apr 2013. . Pink Ribbon Foundation. Who We Are? PRF, 2013. Web. 26 Apr 2013. . Read More