Who hasn’t seen them or talked to them before, the fundraisers on the street or coming door to door? Weren’t you feeling sorry for them in the rain? Maybe you even donated money because of them. But should you?

We all have seen them, the fundraisers on the streets, or have had the door to door fundraisers knocking us out at home. But which charity were they asking money for? Or should I rather ask, which charity were they asking for today?

Fundraising has become a major business. The persons you meet on the street aren’t volunteers anymore; they are paid for employees like anybody else. They get paid by the hour at about £9 and work according to rules and regulations during fixed hours. No cause to feel sorry for them, at least not any more than for the bin men or any other employee who works out in the cold and rain.

Mostly, these persons are not employed by the charity, but by a company collecting donations for the charity. This is just business as usual, and it is big business. These companies get paid by charities to do the work for them. They pay their employees and still make profit. That should make you think.

Were you considering donating £5 per month to a charity for which you had been chatted up on the street? That would be nice; it would pay half an hour’s time of the person who convinced you of donating. Not much of charity in that thought, is there?

When you add the cost of the fundraising company you might be donating for months until a measly pound might reach the charity. And then it only reached charity headquarters. They employ not only secretaries and small staff, but also managers. Managers at managers’ wages, all being paid by your donations.

And what about all those nice celebrities, making speeches for charities or being published in adverts for them? you will ask. The case there is not much better. Excluding the real Royal family, celebrities mostly get paid for advertising a charity that is not their own, maybe even by their own. It’s a business like any other, no doubt. They even get paid to appear at a fundraising function.

Prince Michael of Kent is receiving £25,000 to appear at fundraising functions in Latvia or Russia, for example. Bill Clinton and Tony Blair cash in even more for an evening. The list is never ending.

Are you still considering giving to charity? Then do it, but with a charity you have a connection with. Or talk to the local vicar, there are enough needy people in the neighbourhood who would thank god for £5. Not like the big charities that are just doing business like anybody else. Advertising bad feelings and selling relief from these same feelings in return for charity.

I don’t want to do a list of charities that employ professional fundraisers. Green Peace is one of them, so is Friends of the Earth. You can look them up in the net, if you want to check on them.

If it makes you feel better, I’ll tell you that you are already donating every day. Whenever there is a charity spot on TV, this is paid for by the viewers. Whenever you see an advert in a paper, you paid for it with the price you paid for the paper. So why give more? Paper and TV cost you more than £5 anyway, so let’s call it quits.