A premium is defined as a reward or recognition for a particular act. Several non-profit groups hype on TV that you will receive a t-shirt or a blanket if you send a donation. Seeing the plight of the children they are helping is enough incentive for me.
If your heart goes out to animals who need saving, the organizations supporting them advertise that you will receive a small, stuffed imitation for your donation.
We have received stacks of notepads and return address labels sent with requests for funds to support charities. I only write lists for the grocery store three or four times per week and send less than half-a-dozen letters each month. There ought to be a way to notify the charities I support that I don’t want their offerings but I haven’t found it.
Among the unsolicited gifts we’ve received are insulated bags, gloves and socks. The products aren’t something I use and usually end up in the trash. These things have to be purchased. I would prefer the organizations used their funds for the purpose donated.
Maybe I’m the only one who feels this way. I have noticed many who write letters to the editor in the newspaper include the words, “I know I speak for a lot of people.” I can’t say that. I have found that I’ve become the independent person that my mother raised me to be. While I was growing up, every time I used the excuse, “But everyone else can,” she countered with, “You’re not everybody else.” I don’t need an incentive to donate to a worthy cause but maybe those gifts spur gifts from some people. Perhaps, if I wore the t-shirt I received, it would convince someone else to give.
Would you continue to donate if you didn’t receive a gift for doing so?