How come Charity walks or rides give so much freebies away that cost more than the donation fee?

I know this promotes awareness to the cause, but is this the reason for all the freebies? Ex. A 20mile ride for the Ronald McDonald house is $20 for a family upto 4 and is giving a way a free T-shirt est. couple bucks, Lunch after race a McDonalds est $5, and tickets to Space Center Houston est. $19dollar value. More than the entry fee and thats not all. Sports bottle etc from other places. With all these places donating things that cost money, wouldnt it be more money to the charity just to give that amount of money. So is this an awareness thing charities do? Just wondering:)



Hi David,





Not everyone feels about charity the way you do. Some people need to be enticed to donate. These freebies do that enticing. The T-shirts only cost pennies each to produce in bulk, and I'm sure the silk screener is donating them. It's not cash, but it produces cash. Believe me, McDonalds can afford to give away a bunch of meals to get folks to donate to their charity. The tickets to the Space Center don't really cost anything. The Space Center is going to be there anyway, some folks will pay, a few will get in free because the rode in a charity event.





There are two key factors to remember here.





1. You have to spend money to make money. Not just in business, but in charity too.





2. All of these companies donating items get tax deductions and some free publicity. It's worth more to everyone for them to donate things instead of direct funds.





I hope this answers your question some.





Paul




The donated items cost less than the value for which they may be sold, and are cheaper for the business which donates them than giving a dollar amount. The charities solicit (request) donations, for which they give a receipt and their Tax Identification Number ("Tax ID": proof of non-profit status, necessary for the donating party to document).


Thus the business may claim a tax deduction for their donations, gaining a benefit when taxes are computed.





I used to ponder: if Americans gave up game shows alone, wouldn't all those monies and goods create a significant boost to other, suffering economies?




If you feel that way, donate to the charity but let them keep their freebies to entice other donations. Ask friends to do the same.




Those items are usually donated anyway....