Some Poor Kid Is Going to Die Because I Didn't Renew MONEY Magazine

I have a plea.  If you're going to tie your event or product to a charity, do it in a positive way.  And use a live operator.

Just don't do it like this.

I had a free subscription to MONEY magazine that was about to expire.  I received a postcard in the mail from a company call Synapse telling me to call a number before a certain date if I wanted to cancel, otherwise I'd be automatically billed $39 for renewal.

So I call. And I get an automated operator.  The voice asks me if I want to cancel my subscription. I say yes.  It then asks what subscription I'm cancelling.  I say "Money".  It then tells me:

"Did you know that if you renew your subscription for MONEY, we will donate (some amount per issue) to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation."

The automated recording then goes into a heart-wrenching monologue on how the Foundation is the only hope for many children who are going to die.

"Would you like to renew your subscription to MONEY and help these children?"

"I have a better idea.  Why doesn't MONEY just give them a big check and leave me out of it."

"I'm sorry.  We did not understand your response.  Would you like to renew your subscription to MONEY and help these children?"

I will never subscribe to MONEY again. 

Supporting charities through your events is a good thing.  Industry foundations and scholarships are worthwhile programs to support.  But let your customers decide to support them without trying to make them feel like dirt.

Charities are personal.  Marketers need to understand that.  I have a couple of friends who are dealing with lymphoma.  One is recovered, the other is still in chemo.  So when one of my clients got involved with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society this year, I wrote a big check.  Happy to do it.  I always give something to the IAEM Foundation and also do a bunch of charity golf tourneys.  Plus I'm sponsoring kids in Haiti, have a wife on the local board for United Cerebral Palsy which is well funded from our home and also give to a number of local charities and community organizations.

I don't need - and I really resent - some automated operator for MONEY magazine's agency inferring that I'm heartless.  All for what basically amounts to a contribution that's pocket change, but requires that I re-up for a subscription.

You know, if they'd told me what the annual contribution was that they'd be giving to CFF and asked if would consider giving that amount directly to CFF without renewing, I might have done it.  But I wouldn't give that money to MONEY.  Their approach was  tactless and tasteless.

So please, don't lower yourself to this type of "marketing" to support charities.  If it's important to you that some portion of sales goes to a cause, just write the check and tell us about it later.