frites & fries

No, The Baby Seals Can Die

Ok sorry, that title was misleading and that’s not true at all. Saying that makes me feel heartless but I’m sure that’s how some people feel when they turn street “charity workers down” — its even worse when they ask you to donate money to help the starving children in South America or save the baby whales. Slate Magazine has a great article on it:

Most street solicitors aren’t volunteers. In fact, most aren’t even employed by the charity directly but by an agency contracted to fundraise for them […] . According to Charity Navigator, for-profit fundraisers actually keep 25 to 95 cents of every $1 they collect. APortland Tribune article says that Dialogue Direct is paid $180 per new donor enrolled. And this (painfully slow) YouTube video shows a “dialoguer” explaining how she is paid an hourly rate plus bonuses per person she gets to donate. On her third day of work, she made $700 by signing up nine new donors. Past canvassers for the Fund for the Public Interest say that their work with Save the Children was commission-based, and employees received 15 percent of the donation for “one-off” supporters and 20 percent for “Lifeline Sponsors.”

Yikes.