At least once a week, a young man or woman shows up at my door soliciting funds for one good cause or another. Around this time of year, the frequency of the appeals increases. I contribute through deductions from my pay to a central fund-raising agency called the United Way which, in turn, distributes money to all sorts of smaller charities.
So I do - occasionally and truthfully - tell the people who show up at my door that I 'gave at the office'.
But every year, the appeals become more inventive and, well, more appealing. In our lunchroom at work, there are often cartons of chocolate bars on display. For C$2 ($14) a bar, you get to satisfy your sweet tooth and help out with the equipment needs of a child's ice hockey team. Last week, it was flower bulbs for muscular dystrophy.
My all-time favourite is pails of frozen lobsters that a guy in accounting peddles every spring for C$150. I haven't asked what cause my money will be supporting because, basically, my mouth waters at the very thought of lobster in butter. He could be using the proceeds to pay for the upkeep of his mistress, for all I care. I just want those crustaceans on my plate.
I've also been on the begging end of these exchanges. Every activity my children were ever involved in included fund-raising duties for the parents. For years, I was on Sunday afternoon bingo duty. Bingos in Canada are owned and managed by private companies. In Ontario, those companies are obliged to staff the events with volunteers from charitable organisations that, in return, receive a portion of the revenue from each game.
For the most part, the proliferation of fund-raising activities has seemed to me a relatively benign phenomenon. Now, though, two teachers' unions and a think-tank have released a study of fund-raising activities in schools. It shows that 15 per cent of elementary schools and 21 per cent of secondary schools use financial appeals to drum up money for school outings, athletics trips, computers and library books. One-third of schools also raise funds by allowing advertising in hallways, and another 27 per cent have signed marketing deals with Coke or Pepsi.