Charity Muggers

[miss_yt]

Yesterday, on my way to the Metro from work, I came upon a street corner where two people (presumably college students) in Greenpeace shirts were making their pitch and asking for donations and such. When one of them addressed me, I said that I had donated to Greenpeace online and signed some of their petitions, both of which are true.

He asked me if I was a monthly donor, and I said no, I wasn't. He then basically said that supporting the organization online was not enough. "You know grassroots activism is important, right? You can't do real grassroots online." I'm paraphrasing a bit here, but that is basically what he said.

I got rather peeved at this, and told him "I don't like being charity mugged." While he was being incredulous and obviously not getting the hint that he'd totally lost me, I crossed the street.

Maybe I was rude and maybe that guy now thinks I skin panda bears in my spare time or something. But when I say that I have already given some support to the organization you're pitching for, the appropriate thing to do is to say "thank you," and politely ask me if I would consider becoming a regular donor. Maybe tell me about some initiatives you're raising funds for, and see if I'm interested in them. Scolding me for not demonstrating an appropriate level of commitment to your organization is a real turn-off.

My mother says that in these situations she uses the line, "I have a list of charities I donate money to, and you aren't on it. Sorry." My grandpa says - or claims he says - the following. "Look, my parents are very sick and have high medical costs. My brother just lost his job and has four kids to support, and my neighbors across the street had a fire in their house and are broke after fixing it up. I don't help any of them, why should I help you?"

While we're on the subject, what is your preferred method for dealing with charity muggers?

Comments

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

These people are ALL OVER downtown Chicago during the non-wintery months. Geenpeace & Children International are the most common. Like, if I walk four blocks to go get some lunch, I am guaranteed to pass 2 or 3 clusters of them.

My general tactic for dealing with them is to flat-out ignore them just like I do panhandlers. Yeah, it is rude, but when there's somebody asking you for money every block, one runs out of patience real fast.

On the rare occasion that one of them manages to corner me, I usually just tell them that I don't give money or personal information to random people on the street.

[nightengalesknd.livejournal.com]

Usually it's on the phone and I tell them I don't give money to people who call me up randomly on the phone. I will figure out who I want to give money to on my own and find them.

[batshua]

You know, I'm very tempted to go with "I'm sorry, mommy always told me never to talk to strangers" in any tone of voice you like, from childish to cynical.