Cheapskate

Even though we differ on our political economic views I like the point Capo's getting at. It's a shame that such leading and high profile causes rely solely on donation income to either fund research or help for those in need.

The most frustrating thing I find about charities is the guilt others can put on you if you choose not to donate. I'm not a bad person and in the scheme of things I'm quite charitiable compared to many but I shouldn't have to raise this or some of the beliefs I have (particularly on concentrating on the charities which are important to me) in defense of myself.

Furthermore this gets complicated when you want to debate with the people that get paid for standing on the street collecting donations - like Turnbull mentioned you want to know how your money is actually being used to help the cause. I'd be a little miffed to learn my money has paid to pay a someone who believes they've got a personality and stops me in the street (you know the types!). I know charities have certain amount of marketing and collection work to do but the paid workers frustrate me. I'll stop here before this ramble turns into a rant.