Charity chuggers or emotional muggers?
Kev Kennedy on how to avoid the guilt complex when giving to charity
Have you ever walked down a busy street and been approached by a friendly looking person with a clipboard and a big smile, asking you if you could spare two minutes to end world poverty/ cure cancer/ feed the homeless/ stop child abuse/ rescue donkeys?
Of course you have. It’s hard to avoid being accosted by ‘charity muggers’ or ‘chuggers’ as they’re become known. And if you do stop, maybe because of the winsome smile, you can end up agreeing to give “just” £2 a month to make the world a better place. Before you know it you’ve given your bank details to a complete stranger. Congratulations you’ve just been chugged.
Guilt trips
It’s hard to say no when someone stops you in the street and asks you if you’d like to help the homeless. ‘Would you like to help cure cancer?’ Who, really, is going to say ‘no’ to that?
The same is true of some charity TV adverts. It feels like the ad-makers want you to feel guilty and horrible about yourself and your safe, almost luxurious, lifestyle because then you will feel you have to give them money. It’s emotional manipulation.
But, unless you’ve won the lottery recently, you’re probably on a limited income. Unexpected expenditure of any kind can cause you cashflow problems come the end of the month. So, what can you do to prevent yourself being guilted into giving money?
Giving with intent
One solution is to make sure you are ‘intentional’ in your giving. It’s easy to get ambushed and made to feel guilty if you don’t feel you actually give very much to worthy causes. That’s when you can get sucked into giving too much without realising – a few quid here, a few quid there and suddenly you’re running out of money. And it may assuage your guilt for a time, but not for long.
A better way is to work out your expenditure budget for the month and see how much you can afford to give as a regular donation to a charity you believe in. That’s better for the charity – they get a secure regular income – and you can say no to the chuggers with a clean conscience if they ask you for money by saying ‘I already support a charity, thank you.’ Plus, you can review it at any time, and change the amount you give and who you give it to.
Another reason to give intentionally is to develop a relationship with the charity. If they know you and they know you support them, they will want to tell you about their work. Many charities produce newsletters or send out emails. You can see what your money is being spent on and feel confident that your generosity is helping people.
And that last point is important. It’s easy to get cynical about giving money to charity. Giving just to avoid guilt can feed that cynicism. When you believe that what you give makes a difference, it’s more enjoyable to give. It becomes a pleasure, not a chore, and makes you feel better about life. The charity benefits – and you do too!
If you would like to support Care for the Family (the charity behind Looking at Life) in your planned giving, please click here.
Written by Kev Kennedy.
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