Companies should avoid working with charities, because donation from Essay

Companies should avoid working with charities, because donation from products are forcing people do donate - Essay Example â€Å"Some charities do better than others. Some receive 70% or 80% of each dollar raised. But many fall into the dismal category, receiving as little as 33% of each dollar raised† (Fritz, para.4). Companies should not work with charities, as donation through product selling is actually forcing people to donate when they have better ideas where to donate their money. Pink Ribbon Inc. is an internationally operating charity organization, registered in New York. The aim of this organization is to create a global community that supports breast cancer patients. To introduce it from its own website: The Pink Ribbon Foundation Charity Number 1080839 is a grant making trust with a mission to fund projects and provide financial support to UK charities which relieve the needs of people who are suffering from, or who have been affected by breast cancer or who work to advance the understanding of breast cancer, its early detection and treatment (Pink Ribbon Foundation). There are many wa ys to donate in this charity supported by Pink Ribbon. You can email or call, participate in person at their workplace, or purchase Pink products to participate in the donation. However, the point that is to be discussed here is whether or not it is worth going to Pink Ribbon to buy its products for donation. We already know that consumers are very easily convinced, as they are very sentimental, especially about sensitive issues like breast cancer. Eberlein (para.1) writes in her article that if price and quality of two products are equal, then it is very likely that consumers go for that product which is supported by a sensitive cause. The for-profit organizations selling these products send a portion of the purchase price to the non-profit charity organizations, which use this money for research purposes and other health related causes. Same is the case with Pink Ribbon. Companies share the profit with the non-profit organization supporting the cause of breast cancer elimination. However, the consumers never know what portion of their spent money is going to the cause for research purposes, and how much the company is keeping to itself. It is very important for the consumers to know whether the charity raising campaigns are making the donations useful enough or, being specific, significant enough in amount to support the research purposes. First of all, a product with a pink ribbon on it never guarantees that it is the same company that is supporting the charity. Just viewing a pink ribbon and buying the product will not serve the purpose. It is important to see the name of the company and the charity tie-in in the packaging of the pink product. Even if it is there, the consumer is unaware of the process that follows after he has paid. We may also assume that the consumer is being forced to pay for donations through being manipulated to pay for sensitive causes. That is, companies lure consumers to pay because they are soft-hearted. The consumer must be awar e of the portion that is going to the charity. If the company is sending just a few bucks to the charity, it is not necessary to experience that added feel-good bonus when you can buy the same product somewhere else with the same price. Pinkwashing is also very crucial. This is the term used for the ability of assessing whether the pink ribbon labeled on a product that one is buying is linked to something that is dangerous for health. Kentucky Fried Chicken used pink buckets to support the breast cancer programs, but proved to be a bad choice because