海角大神

About once a month, either one of our own children or one of the children that live near us pops up with a fundraising form.

They鈥檙e trying to raise money for their school band or their soccer club or for extra classroom supplies 鈥� all of which are noble goals.

Usually, this comes hand in hand with a form with which to buy something. They might have an offer for magazine subscriptions, for example, but it usually seems like they have a catalog that contains food products of some kind.

The problem is that I genuinely don鈥檛 want any of this stuff.

I don鈥檛 want another magazine. I don鈥檛 want a grossly overpriced box of chocolates or cheese or cookie dough. I don鈥檛 even want Girl Scout cookies (though it pains me to turn away from a Thin Mint鈥�).

Still, that doesn鈥檛 change the issue of having a neighbor鈥檚 child on the doorstep wondering if I鈥檒l help them with their cause. That has three consequences.

One, I know they鈥檙e out there trying to support something they鈥檙e involved with, something that doesn鈥檛 receive great funding (because, frankly, what youth program does receive great funding?).

Two, if I do say 鈥渘o,鈥� they鈥檒l probably talk to their parents about it 鈥� parents that I usually try to have a good relationship with.

Three, if I do say 鈥渘o,鈥� they also may feel rejected themselves. A self-confident child wouldn鈥檛, but I know that at their age, I felt awful when a neighbor would tell me 鈥渘o鈥� when I had worked up the courage to ask.

In the past, those two positive features have left me ordering something from their catalog. I would justify it as $10 or so spent to help out the kid and the organization.

What I鈥檇 rather do, though, is just give $5 to their organization directly. I end up helping out the child in all of the ways described above without spending as much money and without receiving some item that I don鈥檛 really want.

By offering to donate directly, the goal is to bypass the fundraising group and give money directly to the child and the project, meaning that even with a smaller donation, the child and the project likely wind up with more because of the donation than they would after the product manufacturer and the fundraising company take their large cuts.

So, I鈥檝e instituted a new policy. Whenever a child approaches me with a fundraiser, I simply tell them that I鈥檓 not interested in the stuff but that I would love to give $5 (or so) to their club. If they say that鈥檚 not possible, then I reconsider it, but I鈥檝e actually had only positive responses thus far. In both cases, they filled out a form for me with no items ordered but a cost of $5 and I gave them $5.

What鈥檚 the lesson here? When you鈥檙e buying something, know the real reason you鈥檙e buying it and look for a way to obtain the results you want for a lower price. Ask yourself why that money is leaving your pocket. What is it that you鈥檙e actually wanting to obtain? When you figure that out, look for the lowest cost path to obtaining the actual result you desire. It might not be the first thing you thought of, but chances are it will turn out to be the best plan of all.