As I was racing downtown to try to drop off a stack of petition signatures at Senator Feinstein's office on the way to BART, I got a phone call. While on the phone, I passed a couple of youngish people waving clipboards with pictures of children on them and trying to get my attention. "Sorry, I'm on the phone," I mouthed. They kept trying to talk to me. I shook my head.
"But it's really important," a young man insisted, stepping out in front of me.
I neatly skirted him and kept going. In my irritation — I thought it was pretty obvious I didn't want to stop and talk, but they kept pushing me — I also said, "That's really rude!"
"No, THAT'S really rude!" he called out as I raced away.
Although the encounter lasted all of five seconds, it made me think about fundraising. I have to admit that I'm not a fan of direct solicitations, either by phone or on the street. Although talking directly to possible donors can be powerful and effective, the person you're talking to has to be somewhat receptive — not in the middle of something else and cranky. Unfortunately, all too often, that's the case when you're intruding on somebody else's time.
My personal preference is to give online on my own schedule. That way, I can do my research, read more about the organization at my own pace, figure out myself how much I'm comfortable giving, and do it all without feeling I'm being guilt-tripped into doing something I don't want to do.
Sometimes I'll see nonprofit solicitors on the street and think, "Hmmm, I don't want to deal with this right now, but maybe I'll look their organization up later and see if this is a group I want to support." The young man I encountered yesterday could have gotten me to check out his group's website later.
However, by being pushy and insisting on arguing with me — and getting the bitchy last word in — he made sure his group will go to the bottom of my list. He was an exceedingly poor representative of the organization he works for, and I have to assume he is representative of their approach. (Lest you think I'm being too harsh, please keep in mind my whole career has been spent at nonprofits... and, knowing my limits, I've wisely stayed away from the public fundraising side of things.)
Sure, I care about children, but there are other groups that help them — groups that don't waste money paying people to stand on street corners in San Francisco harassing people.
By the way, I finished my phone call a few minutes later and made it to Senator Feinstein's office building just in the nick of time, although I dropped the stack of signatures at one point and had to gather up nearly 100 sheets of paper from the sidewalk (bad karma payback! you happy, pushy street solicitors?).
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