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Sub-Prime Philanthropy
Dec. 20th, 2007 07:21 pmI got the most hilarious request for donations today from the Rude Mechanicals, a local theatre group.
The front is a full-color page titled "Sub-Prime Philanthropy." It compares this concept to sub-prime lending in three ways.
1. "In sub-prime lending, a lender offers an enormous amount of money for an initially low monthly payment." [Picture of smiling young guy in a suit with a big wad of cash, a cigar, and one raised eyebrow.] "In sub-prime philanthropy, a charity offers a vision of enormous impact for an initially modest donation." [Graph of vision (in tera-wows) compared to units of generosity.]
2. "In sub-prime lending, the borrower's initially low monthly payments quickly balloon, due to any number of factors: changes in the APR, hidden penalties, or automatic refinancing. In sub-prime philanthropy, the patron's initially modest gift is met with ever-increasing demands due to cost overruns, the failure of the U.S. government to support the arts, legacy fixation, or megalomania."
That is so true! So many charities say you can make a really big difference for only, say $25, but once you donate they keep asking for more and more, and they beg you more and more often. It's to the point where I mostly only donate anonymously through JustGive just so those guys won't get my contact information.
I'm afraid I'm not going to donate anything to the Rude Mechanicals as a result of this mail. But I may start throwing around the term "sub-prime philanthropy."
(Note: the next piece of mail I opened was an offer for a credit card which is fee-free for the first year, "a savings of $95," and which offers 5 points for every dollar you spend at various places until 5/31/08. It's a sub-prime credit card!)
I'm not happy with the term sub-prime for these types of things though. It's more like what drug dealers do (first try is free!). Is there a name for that sort of marketing? If so, I'd rather use that term.
The front is a full-color page titled "Sub-Prime Philanthropy." It compares this concept to sub-prime lending in three ways.
1. "In sub-prime lending, a lender offers an enormous amount of money for an initially low monthly payment." [Picture of smiling young guy in a suit with a big wad of cash, a cigar, and one raised eyebrow.] "In sub-prime philanthropy, a charity offers a vision of enormous impact for an initially modest donation." [Graph of vision (in tera-wows) compared to units of generosity.]
2. "In sub-prime lending, the borrower's initially low monthly payments quickly balloon, due to any number of factors: changes in the APR, hidden penalties, or automatic refinancing. In sub-prime philanthropy, the patron's initially modest gift is met with ever-increasing demands due to cost overruns, the failure of the U.S. government to support the arts, legacy fixation, or megalomania."
That is so true! So many charities say you can make a really big difference for only, say $25, but once you donate they keep asking for more and more, and they beg you more and more often. It's to the point where I mostly only donate anonymously through JustGive just so those guys won't get my contact information.
I'm afraid I'm not going to donate anything to the Rude Mechanicals as a result of this mail. But I may start throwing around the term "sub-prime philanthropy."
(Note: the next piece of mail I opened was an offer for a credit card which is fee-free for the first year, "a savings of $95," and which offers 5 points for every dollar you spend at various places until 5/31/08. It's a sub-prime credit card!)
I'm not happy with the term sub-prime for these types of things though. It's more like what drug dealers do (first try is free!). Is there a name for that sort of marketing? If so, I'd rather use that term.