Boss Radio

Hard to believe I know, but in the wake of the Japanese tsunami/nuclear disaster some charities are being criticised for being too fast off the mark at collecting funds for it and other disasters around the globe.

This came about because the Japanese government have asked for physical assistance, but not financial assistance, so some people are complaining that they shouldn't be asked to give cash, apparently as they are unable to make the link between sending physical assistance and paying for that physical assistance to go and do whatever it's there to do.

One exceedingly vociferous complainer, luxuriating under the (Real) name of Saundra Schimmelpfennig, said that certain non-profit organisations (That would probably be 'charities' to the rest of us) "will jump into the fundraising fray before there is any clear idea of what's happening on the ground. They'll start raising funds the same day that the disaster happened, before the government has even had a chance to get to most of the areas that have been hit, before you know what the government's capability is, before you know who else is going to be responding."

The logic of this defies me. Firstly, if you're going to collect money you have to do it while the image is still fresh in people's minds. They're just plain more willing to give that way, and secondly, if you're going to wait until you know who needs how much money and where, you're not actually going to have any money to give them yet. Can you imagine the headlines then? "Why did charities wait so long to collect money? 'I was only too ready give, but I couldn't' claims trembling onlooker".

Sometimes you just can't win.