May 16, 2008
It's interesting how things like charity walks and service projects often involve quite a bit of shwag (t-shirts, consumer products, bags, toys, etc.) freely given out by corporate sponsors. I'm all about free stuff, but it seems to me that charities could generate more money by encouraging their corporate sponsors to donate money to the cause instead of providing semi-worthless products to the participants. I guess it might have something to do with the idea of making people feel like they made a difference by providing them with some sort of material reward, but I personally could do without that kind of stuff. Instead of giving $10 t-shirts to 40,000 people, give that $400,000 to the charity. #business
Actually, I wasn't even thinking about it from a Christian perspective. I just know a few people who recently participated in a cancer walk, and the amount of gear they brought away from it was a little unsettling.