Charity vs Spending

For those of you not in the know, I work for a small print shop and in the new ten years I've worked here I've seen a lot of stuff flow through my desk, but more recently (mainly because of the mid-term elections) I've noticed a huge mistake during such a bad economic time: over spending.

Like I said, I noticed it mostly because of the over abundance every particular candidate had when it came to promoting themselves. They wasted money for no reason other than use the money their "Friends of . . ." campaign group raised.  Instead of investing the money back into the communities by turning over the money back to those who supplied them.  I refused to vote for half the people I did work for, on biased personal feelings toward them and their 'stand' but I had a hard time hearing one say they spent an extra $700 to do it online only to have it messed up, meaning they had to spend another $700 to get it redone.  $1400 spent just because they thought they could get it done better, elsewhere.

I'm not sure, personally, what year these people live in, but here I stand, writing on a blog, myself, and use this thing called Twitter and Facebook.  One out of a dozen local politicians used both of these things and two even told me that they don't use either.

I won't get into the ignorance of politicians ignoring technology.  The last thing I want to do is turn this into a political soapbox post.

What I'm trying to get at is wasteful spending and masking your wasteful spending as charity.

There is a local "charity" who will go nameless for this post but they're spending more than $200 on 50 program.  50.  That's $4 per program.  $4.  For a charity dinner program.  $4.  That doesn't include anything other than the program.  The invitations where only $20.  I should know: I designed and printed the things.

I was talking with a co-worker about it and she said that when someone donates $1,000 they want to see their name on something.

This is where I am going.

If you pay $1,000 and expect to see your name on something, you are no longer giving money to charity.  You are now paying to have your name on something.

Being charitable means giving without expecting to receive.

If you are a christian business owner, or christian person in general, and you give to a charity or anyone and then get bent out of shape because your name isn't in lights, then you have missed the point of charity and should be ashamed.

Now, if you buy a brick for a charitable cause then you're buying a brick for yourself, not for the charity.  If you buy a brick and put a bible verse on it then you've now stepped into the whole "Lord's name in vain" category and you know where that leads, right, so I won't go there.

Read that last part in sarcasm, if you haven't already.  I can't judge you as much as you can judge yourself but really think about how your charitable causes are charity and how many of them are self promotion.  I agree, that every once in a while a "Thank You" is appreciated but don't get bent out of shape if you don't get a shiny plaque or your name omitted in a program.