I Totally Forgot … wait what was I doing here?

Charity?

So I know I said I'd elaborate on the techniques used by panhandlers to relieve you of your money, and I am sure that the 2.7 people that actually read this are patiently waiting for said post, but I am sorry; you will have to wait.

First off I'm going to say that, in general, any money being donated to charity is a good thing. As long as the money wasn't, for instance, stolen from another charity, and the donatee is reputable. But I am fairly certain that we can all agree with the statement "donating money to charity is a good thing", so keep that in mind.

That being said, there is one thing that quite pains me to see: corporations using charity as an easy way to gain some good PR. It truly is very very easy to do. Simply advertise that on a certain day, you'll donate 1$ for each a 4$ product that is sold. Your profit is probably more than 1$ per product, so you won't be losing money regardless, plus the "limited time" of the offer will give you a boost in business that day. I have even seen some companies set an arbitrary cap on the size of the donation they will make, and call it a "goal".

Like I said before, I don't have any problem with money going to a reputable charity. But to many companies it's just a form of advertising, and they are entirely disingenuous about it.

Be aware of tactics like these used by companies (most often in fast food). Does it really make sense to spend five dollars so that someone else will donate one? Go donate the whole five dollars yourself.