Have you been in a store lately? A Restaurant? Have they asked you if you want to make a donation to their Katrina fund?
I don't think I've been in a retail shop this week that didn't have a sign or an employee offering to take my money to Katrina victims. I wonder how legitimate all of these places are.
But what really gets my goat, I guess primarily because I don't understand the motivations there, is how Albertson's (owner of Acme) and other companies will match your contributions up to some preset amount. In the case of Acme, it's $1million.
Well, if you're going to contribute to the fund-raising, and you're committing to $1million, why not just give the $1million? I guess it's to get other people to donate, too. I would really hope that it's not just so they can say, "People donated $1million through us to the Katrina relief effort so we're great!" Yeah, add that to your PR machine.
Maybe I'm not the kind of person that donates to charity just because someone else does. If I'm going to donate money, I'll do it of my free will, to a cause that I feel deserves it, whether some other people donate money or not.
Acme should just hand over the $1million and feel good about helping.
