BY NICHOLAS BRANDT
Fundraisers are effective ways for the clubs and organizations around campus to earn money to help towards the equipment and events that they need. With some companies creating online methods of creating fundraisers, earning money for your cause is more efficient than ever. However, does all of the money actually count?
Picture this for a second. You decide to donate $10 to a friend who’s raising funds for a trip with his or her club. The system they use seems efficient and useful, but where is that company profiting? In reality, a fraction of the money raised is taken by that company. For example, Snap-Raise takes about 25 percent of the total amount of money gained. In this example, only $7.50 would go towards helping your friend go on that trip while the fundraising company rakes in the dough by doing nothing but letting someone borrow some lines of code.
Personally, I find this completely unfair. If we truly do care for the organization, why would we line the pockets of the company while the people we are really trying to support don’t get all of the money they raise? Though it is more efficient, there is a better way: a direct donation. By giving cash directly to the organization, you wouldn’t run any risk of having the money go to third parties.
On the other hand, this may not be an option to some. Certain organizations on campus require participation in the system in terms of fundraising despite a direct donation being more successful in terms of amount raised. The companies like Snap-Raise do offer discounts for a lot of people donating, but by then, the money they make is already skyrocketing to unimaginable amounts, which negates the point. Why would you want to pay some people who literally only lent some method to the organization?
Donating money without the use of these companies is better for not only the club, but yourself. You can rest easy knowing that the club has your full support rather than about 75 percent of it. ASB can also gladly help you to donate the funds to the club directly if you are unable to hand them in yourself. The only downside is that they usually do not take PayPal or any other electronic payment methods. However, it is still better than wasting your money on a company that didn’t work at all to achieve the funds.
Also, these fundraisers don’t have the option to give out anything in return. Some clubs sell snacks to raise funds, but with companies like SnapRaise, you get nothing in return for the donation. Even the selling of snacks is better than the third party fundraising program considering you can also get something back for your donation.
Everything considered, the online fundraisers were a bad idea from the start. The clubs using them are most likely stuck into them for the rest of the semester, if not the rest of the year. I personally advise most clubs to stop using this system as they would be gaining less money in exchange for saving a few minutes.