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Business model behind "Unicef" donations to support children in Ukraine?

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  1. #31

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    I recently donated to UNICEF for the ukranian cause. David Beckham was the ambassador and I'm sure they are paying him decent money to do so.

    It sometimes does get annoying being approached on the street by these marketers, but at the end of the day some of the money goes to the charitable cause. Also, you can't expect people to work for free. Even in a charity. People have to make a living somehow too.


  2. #32

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    Feb 2021
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    Quote Originally Posted by Barbaravonbreit:
    These people are professional beggars who are trained to make people feel guilty in order to get their money.
    Have you seen these people? As OP and I said, they are active in front of Don Don Donki at Queens Road Central. Actually they are also active on the footbridge connecting Han Seng bank and IFC. I pass by them almost everyday walking from Mid Levels to IFC. The police is quite present in Central, they have passed these so called 'professional beggars' many times, I'm sure they have checked their 'licence'.

    Back in College some students did charity for WWF and Greenpeace. They always went to the busiest shopping areas and business districts... They were good in approaching strangers, I couldn't have done it, way too shy 15 years ago. Had a major crush on one of them, hmmm now I have guilty I didn't give her money
    Baklava likes this.

  3. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by NTCP88:
    Have you seen these people? As OP and I said, they are active in front of Don Don Donki at Queens Road Central. Actually they are also active on the footbridge connecting Han Seng bank and IFC. I pass by them almost everyday walking from Mid Levels to IFC. The police is quite present in Central, they have passed these so called 'professional beggars' many times, I'm sure they have checked their 'licence'.

    Back in College some students did charity for WWF and Greenpeace. They always went to the busiest shopping areas and business districts... They were good in approaching strangers, I couldn't have done it, way too shy 15 years ago. Had a major crush on one of them, hmmm now I have guilty I didn't give her money
    yes I have, here in hk, but also in many places all over the world. Always the same modus operandi. They ask for money for some charity (greenpeace, unicef, amnesty...), but when you do the maths, only a tiny portion of the money raised will be used on site, where it is actually needed. Over here in HK, they are quite polite (at least with me), but I have had some nasty experiences in Europe, where they try to make you feel guilty, a bit like in that video OP has linked (“so you don·t care if children are starving”). The worst thing is, some of those kids might actually believe they are doing something useful. That·s why I think OP was right to tell them what he,told them.

  4. #34
    Quote Originally Posted by Giggsy:
    I recently donated to UNICEF for the ukranian cause. David Beckham was the ambassador and I'm sure they are paying him decent money to do so.

    It sometimes does get annoying being approached on the street by these marketers, but at the end of the day some of the money goes to the charitable cause. Also, you can't expect people to work for free. Even in a charity. People have to make a living somehow too.
    there are so many decent ways to make a living....pressurizing people into donating money and keeping most of it for yourself isn't one of them

  5. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by Barbaravonbreit:
    there are so many decent ways to make a living....pressurizing people into donating money and keeping most of it for yourself isn't one of them
    I don't think they keep most of it for themselves, 30% was quoted. Yes these big charities have big costs in fundraising and logistics. Do you think their warehouse staff work for free? The truck drivers?

    Now if you want to donate where you know every penny goes to the needy then I know someone on here who fundraises every year.

  6. #36

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flapster:
    I'm sure it does for any official charity, similar to the UK.

    The argument being that if they convince people to give who wouldn't otherwise, then the charity still benefits (as any money is greater than zero), and these people shouldn't be expected to work for free.

    I feel like the OP's reaction is completely crazy - if you don't like the business model, don't give. I certainly wouldn't give to chuggers, but prefer to donate directly, as a smaller cut is taken.

    It's not a 'scam' though - the reputable charities all have a breakdown of how much you donate actually goes to benefiting the cause - the rest goes to admin, wages etc.
    I agree. Most of these people may be truly annoying but are not scammers. They are as legit as the charity they work for. Most of them are paid on commission, and only on that. The big charities websites are transparent about it and you can read the details of how your donation is used and how these workers are compensated.

    Source: I was one of them, a long time ago, in a different country, for a well known pro-environment charity.
    In my case, if I remember correctly, us street solicitors would take for ourselves the entire first year subscription. That was usually in the range of 500 - 800 HKD.
    We only accepted monthly or annual subscriptions, so even taking most or the entire first year donation as pay, the rest would go to the charity as people usually don’t cancel their subscription easily.

    The efficacy of this business model may be discussed but I can't comprehend the rage against these guys.
    They are motivated by their eventual cut on the donation but if you think they are cynical and indifferent to the cause you are underestimating the difficulty of the job. It's hard work to try and convince random people on the street to give their money away, while they pretend not to see you or verbally assault you, all for several hours a day, come rain or come shine. Nobody would go through the humiliation of being publicly insulted and ostensibly ignored (that hurts even more!) without believing in the cause they're promoting (in my experience, people only looking for easy money usually didn’t last long, because it wasn’t easy at all). And nobody would do that every day, for 5 hours a day, for free. You really need both, the passion and the commission.

    So why shouldn't these guys be compensated for their hard work as every other sales person? They enlarge the subscription base of these charities and that's work.
    True that if you subscribe online the cut would be smaller. But let's not forget that the marketing and IT department that somehow reached you and made it possible for you to subscribe are still paid... by you.
    Natfixit, NTCP88 and AsianXpat0 like this.

  7. #37
    Quote Originally Posted by hullexile:
    I don't think they keep most of it for themselves, 30% was quoted. Yes these big charities have big costs in fundraising and logistics. Do you think their warehouse staff work for free? The truck drivers?

    Now if you want to donate where you know every penny goes to the needy then I know someone on here who fundraises every year.
    30% for the fundraising, so 70% for the charity. Everything you are talking about (wages for warehouse staff and truck drivers) has to be paid out of those 70 %. Do you really think many people know this?

  8. #38
    Quote Originally Posted by Baklava:
    I agree. Most of these people may be truly annoying but are not scammers. They are as legit as the charity they work for. Most of them are paid on commission, and only on that. The big charities websites are transparent about it and you can read the details of how your donation is used and how these workers are compensated.

    Source: I was one of them, a long time ago, in a different country, for a well known pro-environment charity.
    In my case, if I remember correctly, us street solicitors would take for ourselves the entire first year subscription. That was usually in the range of 500 - 800 HKD.
    We only accepted monthly or annual subscriptions, so even taking most or the entire first year donation as pay, the rest would go to the charity as people usually don’t cancel their subscription easily.

    The efficacy of this business model may be discussed but I can't comprehend the rage against these guys.
    They are motivated by their eventual cut on the donation but if you think they are cynical and indifferent to the cause you are underestimating the difficulty of the job. It's hard work to try and convince random people on the street to give their money away, while they pretend not to see you or verbally assault you, all for several hours a day, come rain or come shine. Nobody would go through the humiliation of being publicly insulted and ostensibly ignored (that hurts even more!) without believing in the cause they're promoting (in my experience, people only looking for easy money usually didn’t last long, because it wasn’t easy at all). And nobody would do that every day, for 5 hours a day, for free. You really need both, the passion and the commission.

    So why shouldn't these guys be compensated for their hard work as every other sales person? They enlarge the subscription base of these charities and that's work.
    True that if you subscribe online the cut would be smaller. But let's not forget that the marketing and IT department that somehow reached you and made it possible for you to subscribe are still paid... by you.
    Let me have a guess: and today, umpteen years on, you are working in finance, still scamming money out of people and still.considering that your insane bonuses are justified for your hard work.

  9. #39

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    Aug 2019
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    Quote Originally Posted by Barbaravonbreit:
    Let me have a guess: and today, umpteen years on, you are working in finance, still scamming money out of people and still.considering that your insane bonuses are justified for your hard work.
    Wrong! I am in the creative field. I suck at sales and was only able to do do that, for a few months, because I truly believed in the cause.

    (Why all the poison?)

  10. #40

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    I've seen a few people in chai wan asking for Ukraine donations / WWF donations / MSF donations.
    Most get ignored.

    Flag days, the kid and I usually buy 3 flags, one to take home for the mrs if she isnt walking with us.


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