A good day

[pch1.livejournal.com]

So I knew yesterday was going to be a good day when I was able to walk by both Starbucks and Diesel Cafe without being approached by any of the kids repping Save The GreenPeace Children from Masspirg.  Then I started to wonder, why is it that these guys can so relentlessly solicit donations everyday, yet if they were to put down their clipboards and strap on a guitar and play for donations they could be ticketed or asked to stop for performing without a permit.

What's up with the priorities around here.  I'd much rather be passing by a street performer than a political missionary.

Comments

[lonelyholiday.livejournal.com]

Ha, this kind of goes along with my over-long comment above. I really wonder how this works out for them because I see three or four of the SAME PEOPLE from the SAME ORGANIZATIONS over and over... I would assume in places like Davis and Porter, you have mostly the same people walking by all the time, not a high turnover of new faces/new potential customers (customers? donators?) like you would in a touristy area or something.

So what kind of return are they getting? Do they snag a new person or two every day who hasn't seen them before? Do they just finally wear people down, and when they see MASSPIRG for the billion-and-first time, they suddenly say "Hey, I should donate"? Hasn't happened to me yet, and I've been walking by those dudes for probably 6 years now.

It just seems like they should be changing it up more often. But clearly I'm no expert.

[toilandtrouble.livejournal.com]

The catch is that they cannot accept a one-time donation. If you're going to give via the clipboard carrier on the street, you have to commit to an automatic monthly donation of some sort via credit card or your bank account.

I got suckered in by Greenpeace a few months ago on Elm Street in Davis and resent that I'm now giving them $15/month. Yes, I could call and cancel, but I don't want to hear their spiel again. I'll get up the gumption to do it at some point. At least I have an excuse not to talk to the clipboard carriers anymore!

[nonnihil.livejournal.com]

Usually you can just cancel it with your credit card company and you'll never have to talk to them again.

I've also heard good things about the newish single-use credit card numbers for dealing with scams of this sort.