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Why such little charity?
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 2016-04-26 4:41 PM |
 319  Sarasota, Florida |  Subject: Why such little charity?One big problem I have racing triathlons is there are dozens of 5-10ks I can run for charity. Unfortunately, triathlons are rarely for charity. So trying to justify my hobby, I came up with the idea to do a raffle put 50% of the money to charity and use my finishing position to select various winners and allow people to trade tickets since betting is illegal. I was not planning on keeping any of the money. Well, after talking with a lawyer this is illegal too! I can take donations for charity but what's the incentive? Why do I need to race to convince people to donate? It seems I could fundraise more using a raffle or betting system. Does anybody use triathlon for charity? How? It's hard for me to register for triathlon knowing I could be putting money towards charity elsewhere. |
| 2016-04-26 5:01 PM in reply to: runtim23 |
Veteran 1900  Southampton, Ontario | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? Why must it be one or the other? Do triathlons and do some charity events |
| 2016-04-26 5:08 PM in reply to: runtim23 |
Master 6595  Rio Rancho, NM | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? Many of our local tri's also contribute to charity, but not all. As Dave said, you could do some of each. A couple years ago I did Oceanside 70.3. At the time my niece was fighting cancer so I let her pick a cancer related charity for which I was able to raise funds by utilizing the Ironman Foundation. |
| 2016-04-26 6:28 PM in reply to: #5179048 |
| 263 | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? Why donate to charity when it come out, every year, about top charity officials making MILLIONS of dollars off of your money... I recently read where a husband, wife and son had three charities. They brought in a total of 260 millions dollars between the three charities. If I remember right, one was a general cancer, one was breast cancer and the other was children cancer. They admitted that 2% of the lonely they brought in actually went to the cause. The other 98% paid for 1st class vacations, clubs, alcohol and drugs. I'm done donating to any charity because of all the scams out there. |
| 2016-04-26 6:43 PM in reply to: AndyEWU07 |
Pro 6011 Camp Hill, Pennsylvania | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? Originally posted by AndyEWU07Why donate to charity when it come out, every year, about top charity officials making MILLIONS of dollars off of your money... I recently read where a husband, wife and son had three charities. They brought in a total of 260 millions dollars between the three charities. If I remember right, one was a general cancer, one was breast cancer and the other was children cancer. They admitted that 2% of the lonely they brought in actually went to the cause. The other 98% paid for 1st class vacations, clubs, alcohol and drugs. I'm done donating to any charity because of all the scams out there. That's very fascinating. I'd love to read the article. Please share the link. |
| 2016-04-26 6:52 PM in reply to: #5179056 |
| 263 | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? James T. Reynolds Sr. From Knoxville. I would post a link but don't know how from my phone. They bilked donators out of multi millions from cancer donations. |
| 2016-04-26 7:36 PM in reply to: #5179060 |
Member 220 Wakefield, Massachusetts | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? I race because it's a hobby, and donate to charity because I believe in a cause. There are a few local triathlons that loosely partner with a charity, but I imagine any race that has fundraising as an explicit goal is going to have steeper entry fees. That means either I do fewer races, or don't donate to as many charities that are personally meaningful. So for me, I prefer keeping them separate. As for the big events (e.g. a charity slot at a marathon), their fundraising requirements are usually out of reach for an individual, and I don't believe in asking friends & family to subsidize what would for me be primarily an athletic event. |
| 2016-04-26 8:44 PM in reply to: runtim23 |
Veteran 2297 Great White North | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? I would rather donate directly to our charity of choice. Our daughter has Cerebral Palsy and we support the local CP association. |
| 2016-04-26 8:44 PM in reply to: #5179064 |
| 263 | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? You believe in donating for a cause? Do a google search for charity scams and you'll see how much money is stolen and not used for the cause you believe in. |
| 2016-04-26 8:44 PM in reply to: 0 |
| 319 Sarasota, Florida | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? I only do 1-3 races a year including charity events. I try to do charity once a year and usually donate services instead of money but it just makes sense to want to combine them. I have found some charitable tris but they're usually a drive. I imagine it might do with fees and challenges of coordinating 3 events into 1. I look up charities before donating, but I prefer to donate time and services instead of money unless it's combined with one of my hobbies. You can check with http://www.charitynavigator.orgto get ratings on organizations. I might eventually look into starting 501c3 someday to help with the legal aspect. Edited by runtim23 2016-04-26 8:45 PM |
| 2016-04-26 8:47 PM in reply to: #5179074 |
| 263 | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? That's awesome that you donate to your local CP association but you shouldn't feel like you have to. I'm sure your family is inundated with expenses because of your daughter's condition. I would donate to your family, your local association (because the director is not making millions) but never to a larger organization like Suzan G. Komen. |
| 2016-04-26 9:19 PM in reply to: 0 |
| 319 Sarasota, Florida | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? Originally posted by simpsonbo I would rather donate directly to our charity of choice. Our daughter has Cerebral Palsy and we support the local CP association. That's a good point. Seems there is a niche for a system to allow this and there are some I prefer as well. I'm not sure why I have such guilt with racing cause I don't with other hobbies. Might be comparing events or just trying to justify my insanity.  As a friend asked me one day... so let me get this straight, you're going to pay money to stress your body out? Why? I think I read about the Ironman Foundation as well, but usually skip over Ironman text because I know those are way out of my league but should probably dive into more news and info. Edited by runtim23 2016-04-26 9:27 PM |
| 2016-04-26 10:02 PM in reply to: AndyEWU07 |
| 1055 | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? Originally posted by AndyEWU07 Why donate to charity when it come out, every year, about top charity officials making MILLIONS of dollars off of your money... I recently read where a husband, wife and son had three charities. They brought in a total of 260 millions dollars between the three charities. If I remember right, one was a general cancer, one was breast cancer and the other was children cancer. They admitted that 2% of the lonely they brought in actually went to the cause. The other 98% paid for 1st class vacations, clubs, alcohol and drugs. I'm done donating to any charity because of all the scams out there. Yeah. . umm. . . ok. There are plenty of great charities working in local communities making a difference every day. If you want to keep all your money and not donate, find a better way to rationalize it. To the OP, I don't see why the two must be connected. Race because you want to race. Donate to charities because you want to donate. |
| 2016-04-26 11:05 PM in reply to: ziggie204 |
| 319 Sarasota, Florida | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? Originally posted by ziggie204 Originally posted by AndyEWU07 Why donate to charity when it come out, every year, about top charity officials making MILLIONS of dollars off of your money... I recently read where a husband, wife and son had three charities. They brought in a total of 260 millions dollars between the three charities. If I remember right, one was a general cancer, one was breast cancer and the other was children cancer. They admitted that 2% of the lonely they brought in actually went to the cause. The other 98% paid for 1st class vacations, clubs, alcohol and drugs. I'm done donating to any charity because of all the scams out there. Yeah. . umm. . . ok. There are plenty of great charities working in local communities making a difference every day. If you want to keep all your money and not donate, find a better way to rationalize it. To the OP, I don't see why the two must be connected. Race because you want to race. Donate to charities because you want to donate. Well to be fair he said he would donate on a more personal level than to a larger organization. Probably with good reason, because many organizations use charity more as a marketing scheme where they only donate 2% of revenue towards the cause and the rest goes to shares and profits. But there are plenty of good ones. |
| 2016-04-26 11:24 PM in reply to: AndyEWU07 |
| 160 | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? Originally posted by AndyEWU07 You believe in donating for a cause? Do a google search for charity scams and you'll see how much money is stolen and not used for the cause you believe in. Just like you I feel frustrated when I figure out a charity is in fact a disguised non taxable retirement plan for an individual or free publicity for another. it is not what I give money for. However, you can also search for the financial reports of a charity before donating. I personally ignore the smaller organisation because their operations end up being a larger proportion of my contributions then larger ones. I also ignore the larger and the smaller ones for which I cannot find financial reports. My money is hard earned, when I spend it I chose how, where and how it is used. I don't see why it should not be taken seriously. I do believe however that some organisation actually do a good job of giving the maximum to their cause. Mostly because I took time to do my researches before donating. |
| 2016-04-27 5:43 AM in reply to: runtim23 |
Master 2406 Bellevue, WA | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? Time and again, I've read news stories about races done for a charity end up donating barely anything to the charity. The Seattle Marathon, for example, had a scandal several years back when it turned out that less than 1% of the entry fees collected were going to the headline charity\ You have to be very, very careful when donating money to charities or doing an event because you think it will benefit some charity. Scams abound. WIth all due respect, I would never participate in any scheme such as the OP suggests. Sounds like a scam in the making. |
| 2016-04-27 7:18 AM in reply to: Fourteenkittens |
| 754 | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? Originally posted by Fourteenkittens I race because it's a hobby, and donate to charity because I believe in a cause. There are a few local triathlons that loosely partner with a charity, but I imagine any race that has fundraising as an explicit goal is going to have steeper entry fees. That means either I do fewer races, or don't donate to as many charities that are personally meaningful. So for me, I prefer keeping them separate. As for the big events (e.g. a charity slot at a marathon), their fundraising requirements are usually out of reach for an individual, and I don't believe in asking friends & family to subsidize what would for me be primarily an athletic event. I agree completely. There is nothing wrong with a race making money, so I don't mind paying entry fees for my hobby. At the same time, I have my favorite charities, and when I support them, I want the money to go directly to them. Occasionally the two overlap, such as a trail race here that raises money for the local animal shelter or another one that funds trail maintenance and such, and those are nice because I strongly agree with the cause. Most of the time, though, a race is a race, and a charity donation is a charity donation. |
| 2016-04-27 7:28 AM in reply to: 0 |
| 1300 | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? On the charity front I am guarded who I donate to. I e also read the stories about a lot of wasted funds going to entertainment, management and such. In certain regards charities are businesses also but I try to see how much of every dollar goes to what is billed as the cause. But I also donate through work due to matching gift program. I didn't want to get into the debate on this but thought it was worth mentioning if you work for a bigger company it's worth asking if they have a matching gift program. It's surprising how many people I work with that don't know about it. Edited by Goggles Pizzano 2016-04-27 7:33 AM |
| 2016-04-27 7:30 AM in reply to: runtim23 |
| 137 Birmingham, Alabama | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? Originally posted by runtim23 One big problem I have racing triathlons is there are dozens of 5-10ks I can run for charity. Unfortunately, triathlons are rarely for charity. I'm guessing this is because it's so much more costly to host a triathlon than a 5k. Not to mention, it's easier to get people to participate in a run only event. There may be so much expense that the percentage that actually made it to the benefiting charity would only anger participants. Fortunately, most charities will accept gifts directly, with or without a race. |
| 2016-04-27 8:41 AM in reply to: Fourteenkittens |
Alpharetta, Georgia Bronze member | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? Originally posted by Fourteenkittens I race because it's a hobby, and donate to charity because I believe in a cause. My feelings as well. And when it just so happens that the two collide, I really enjoy participating in that type of event (Tour de Cure, for example - the ADA is my charity of choice and they put on great rides in conjunction with raising funds for diabetes research). |
| 2016-04-27 8:55 AM in reply to: lisac957 |
Champion 10018 , Minnesota Bronze member | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? I prefer to separate my charitable donations from racing, but I wanted to add that a lot of smaller events do donate to local organizations but don't say a lot about it. Often there will be a recipient for proceeds that you may not hear about unless you read the pamphlet in your race bag. Smaller local race organizations aren't as sophisticated in their marketing |
| 2016-04-27 9:01 AM in reply to: lisac957 |
| 928 | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? People don't realize that charities attach theirselves to races as much for awareness as for donations-- and unless you make a specific donation to that charity, very little if any of the race fees get directed towards it. 5K and 10K events and are perfect community events and can include people at many levels-- while some people will enter to race, test their fitness, or as the goal in training program, many others enter to jog or walk and just participate in the event. It's hard to get large number of triathlon participants in the same way-- and triathlons are much more expensive to put on. Triathlon just doesn't lead itself to the same type of large charity events, but there are some who do it on a smaller scale. |
| 2016-04-27 9:05 AM in reply to: AndyEWU07 |
New user 246 madison, Wisconsin | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? Originally posted by AndyEWU07 Why donate to charity when it come out, every year, about top charity officials making MILLIONS of dollars off of your money... I recently read where a husband, wife and son had three charities. They brought in a total of 260 millions dollars between the three charities. If I remember right, one was a general cancer, one was breast cancer and the other was children cancer. They admitted that 2% of the lonely they brought in actually went to the cause. The other 98% paid for 1st class vacations, clubs, alcohol and drugs. I'm done donating to any charity because of all the scams out there. Careful. Not all charities are bad. Sure, the ones that make the headlines are deplorable. But there are many, many that do a lot of good. You just have to do your research. Painting them all with such a broad brush simply proves that you are unwilling to do the research required to find them. If they are a legitimate charity, they are required to release their annual report so you can use that to determine if you feel they are "good" or not. I do agree with you that there is no need for a CEO of a charity to be making millions of dollars in salary. And there are certainly charities that use the umbrella simply to avoid taxation. But there are also many that do a lot of good in the world. |
| 2016-04-27 6:13 PM in reply to: pwoolson |
Member 1083 | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? Originally posted by pwoolson Originally posted by AndyEWU07 Why donate to charity when it come out, every year, about top charity officials making MILLIONS of dollars off of your money... I recently read where a husband, wife and son had three charities. They brought in a total of 260 millions dollars between the three charities. If I remember right, one was a general cancer, one was breast cancer and the other was children cancer. They admitted that 2% of the lonely they brought in actually went to the cause. The other 98% paid for 1st class vacations, clubs, alcohol and drugs. I'm done donating to any charity because of all the scams out there. Careful. Not all charities are bad. Sure, the ones that make the headlines are deplorable. But there are many, many that do a lot of good. You just have to do your research. Painting them all with such a broad brush simply proves that you are unwilling to do the research required to find them. If they are a legitimate charity, they are required to release their annual report so you can use that to determine if you feel they are "good" or not. I do agree with you that there is no need for a CEO of a charity to be making millions of dollars in salary. And there are certainly charities that use the umbrella simply to avoid taxation. But there are also many that do a lot of good in the world. Well said. |
| 2016-04-27 9:44 PM in reply to: 0 |
Master 2855 Kailua, Hawaii | Subject: RE: Why such little charity? I think it's a great idea, one that I've particiated in, but now, I agree it's better to separate my triathlon interest from charitable causes. I did the Livestrong fund raising for Hawaii 70.3 in 2012 (the Lance debacle), it was sort of embarrassing, as I did raise quite a bit of money. Livestrong itself is a good organization, just got a black eye from that mess. Sites like this can help you decide better https://www.charitywatch.org/home Edited by metafizx 2016-04-27 9:44 PM |
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