Back in April, I donated a significant sum of money to a local charity as part of an assignment I had in one of my classes. It probably wasn't significant to them, but it was to my bank account. My original intent was to give less than half of what I landed up giving . . . and then I saw their donation packages. For different amounts given, the charity offered gift packages in return-- the greater the donation, the heftier the return gift would be. For example, if I donated $10, I might receive a bumper sticker and a pencil, but if I gave $50, I might receive a CD, tote bag, and all the lesser gift items. I had my eye on the tote bag, so I donated the appropriate amount, felt good for doing so, and felt even better knowing I'd have one of those snazzy bags in my possession soon enough.
It wasn't until the middle of June that I realized I had yet to receive my gifts from this charity. My first thought was that I had maybe skipped a step or missed something. I went back to the website and it appeared that I might have forgotten to click the button that said yes, send me my gift! I swear that option hadn't been there in April, but I clicked it and waited, sure the bag would be in my clutches in no time.
It's now August and I have not received my gifts, and when I went back to the website, the gift packages are gone. It's as if they'd never existed! One can now purchase those items in their store, but there are no donation incentive packages like I swear there were in April. What does a girl like me do, then? Write an email! Four days ago, I went to the charity's "Contact Us" page and contacted them. It was, I believe, a polite missive. I don't usually donate to charities in hopes of getting a prize or gift. For this same assignment, I also donated to another local charity that offered nothing but a thank you email in return. I was happy with it because it's all that I expected. This charity has yet to respond to my email, and to be honest, I don't think I'll ever get one.
Let's be clear about this, though. I'm upset because they said they'd give me something in return for my donation. I held up my end of the bargain-- I donated. They processed my payment and took my money. They, however, did not send me the items they said they would. I feel lied to. Misled. Then the charity did not respond to my email, and so now I feel ignored AND misled. And that makes me feel bad, too. I feel guilty because they put me in the position of holding my hand out when they should have just honored our deal in the first place. I should not feel bad about giving to charity!
Maybe if I were a better person, I'd be able to let it go. The less they have to give away, the more they have to promote healthy, sustainable living, right? But now I can't feel good about them because they lied to me. I now see them at work in the community and I think they got the funds to do that through manipulation and shady deals. I question their integrity. I feel so let down. It's like finding out your heroes are only human, victims of the same frailties as everyone else.
The charity may yet contact me. Who knows? They may offer an apology, maybe even offer the gifts they offered in the first place. Will I accept them? Yes! Will I feel bad about it? Nope. Am I wrong? But what if they ignore me completely? What do you think?
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