WWF Earth Hour....who organises this stuff?

[laser_jock99]

http://earthhour.wwf.org.uk/?pc=APP004001&ds_medium=cpc&gclid=CKHE7r_mossCFYLTcgodLmwKfQ&gclsrc=ds

What's the point switching all the lights off a couple of days before full moon!

 

[brantuk]

Most people turn their lights off at night. It's not them who need to do this - it's all the councils and companies who leave street lights, adverts, and commercial buildings lit up all night, night after night, who need to take some action. And not just for a candle lit dinner either. Bit of a futile exercise if you ask me.

[Putaendo Patrick]

Frankly it does seem like a gimmick designed by well-paid media executives to make money. While the WWF does undeniably do some great work, they also look after themselves at the top. The CEO a year or so ago was making over $500,000 a year: maybe he's worth it, maybe he could make much more elsewhere etc., but sadly I've come to distrust these large charities. Brantuk is absolutely right, much more significant and lasting change could be achieved at other levels.

[Physopto]

They are asking you to text in and make a one off donation.  It is just a ploy as they then bombard you with requests more often than not for years afterwards asking for more! 

I had that a while ago with one charity ( cancer). So I dumped my SIM card and got a new one as they ignored my requests to leave me alone. I now just give money to one charity The Lifeboat and I do that on a yearly basis. 

Derek

[Stub Mandrel]

I used to run a regional charity. We went to considerable lengths to look after our members and although we did use door to door and at-venue recruiters we had avery close control over how it was operated and only had a couple of complaints in sixteen years. We never used cold calling or mailing. We were one of about fifty charities all part of an umbrella movement with a single national identity but the national charity only ever fundraised directly with a tiny (literally) number of agreed individuals and organisations so fundraising was always directly with peop-el local to where each charity delivered its work, so supporters could visit, participate or volunteer and very tangibly see how their money was spent.

I think it's really sad how a relatively small number of national charities (possibly as few as twenty or thirty) have effectively ruined the reputation of smaller organisations by seeking to maximise overall income from donors. They should aim instead to maximise their number of supporters and actively engaging them in more positive ways - the worth of each supporter should not be measured in pounds; there are some national charities who do work in this way.

It is surprisingly expensive to run a charity - especially with a regulatory and reporting framework that makes the rules for companies and councils look trivial - so they do need supporters.

My advice is to research the work of any charity you want to support, looking at their reports on eth Charity Commission website is agood place to start, but if they are local to you and you can SEE what they do that always helps.