My Pet Peeve #23: Asking Children for Large Donations

Poor thing lah…

Hi guys, Howard here. Let’s be real. there’re definitely some things people do that can cross the boundaries, and I’ll be focusing on one of them.

You know what I dislike? Being asked to donate large amounts of money as a kid. This is definitely not just a me problem; it is in fact a big problem that we shouldn’t be taking lightly of. I mean, asking kids to donate without a minimum is fine, but asking them to donate at least a certain amount of money at minimum is definitely a no-go in my opinion. Come on, most of them are just kids who live by their pocket money given by their parents! Don’t just suck away their money like that…

During my primary school days as a kid, I’ve had a few of such unforgettable encounters where random strangers would pop out of nowhere and ask me to donate money. When it happened, it was mostly at the ground level of the MRT station. At that point of time, I wasn’t really so woke yet, so I didn’t really know that one needs a license to ask for donations. Some of them didn’t ask for a minimum amount of money so I just donated as little as I can after ‘buying’ their pitiful stories of their needy targets. Even though it’s as little as just 10 cents at that point of time, I still felt the pain in my heart. But if I don’t want to donate, then I’ll just avoid them as much as I can.

But of course, there were some nasty ones that asked kids to donate a minimum of at least 2 dollars, 5 dollars or even 10 dollars on a few occasions (which I did encounter)! Most often they’d come up with a convincingly pitiful story to buy people over. Hello! You shouldn’t be restricting them to a minimum which some couldn’t afford, they have the rights to donate any amount if they wanted to. If I don’t have the money to donate to your cause, there’s nothing else you can do about it. That’ll only drive people away from donating money to your cause rather than fulfilling your objectives. Worse still, those kids would have lesser to no pocket money for the rest of the week if they’ve succumbed to that nasty minimum requirement. If you ever encounter people who ask you to donate a minimum amount, just say no to them and leave.

Speaking of saying no, some would even cross the line by blocking your path and force you to donate that minimum amount of money. Furthermore, if we’re talking about kids, they are usually defenseless and more vulnerable so it’s hard for them to find a way to escape from those people who asked for donations aggressively. That’s basically daylight robbery! Well, I guess the most they can get out of this sticky situation is to say that they’ve no money and run away from the opposite direction. They’re not being selfish by not wanting to donate, they need the pocket money more to eat their meals though…

So the point is, why approach kids for donations when people asking for donations can approach older people instead? Come on, adults have more disposable income than kids, so approach them instead! Whether the adult wants to donate or not is another story. I feel that it’s stupid of them to approach kids to ask for donations as they carry lesser disposable income than adults. Furthermore, the money is mostly needed for their basic necessities. They should’ve known better than this, don’t because of the kids’ small size and vulnerability means that they can easily coerce kids to surrender money out from their allowance. Because of that, even kids are apprehensive to donate also.

Having a day of experience to ask people for donations also made me woke about asking for donations. First of all, one must have a legitimate license to ask for donations. If approached and you’re unsure about their genuity, ask for their license. If they fail to produce one, then they’re fake. Secondly, the cause or organisation that you want to donate to must also be legitimate. Who knows where your money will head to next is another story. Thirdly, I’d rather approach adults instead as they have more disposable income. Even if they’ve declined to donate, don’t force them. And finally, no minimum amount of money should be asked for, so that more people will be convinced to donate to your cause out of their goodwill.

So basically, if you’re a kid that encounters such donation request again, just decline firmly if you don’t want to donate. If you’re kind-hearted enough though, check that their license is legit so that you can donate with a peace of mind. Howard out!