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I have this same feeling with donating blood (in most EU countries you don't get paid for this so it is completely charitable). If you have donated blood, ever
by jorvi 7mo ago
I have this same feeling with donating blood (in most EU countries you don't get paid for this so it is completely charitable).
If you have donated blood, every 2-3 months they will send you an e-mail for a new donation cycle. That's fine. But if you don't respond, they will send another reminder. Then a text. Then they will call you.
Yes, you can just click the "Not this time" button, and click the reason for denying in their web portal, but sometimes you're busy.
I understand that this procedure probably nets them more donations, but the feeling of being lightly hounded never escapes me, and it makes me slightly less agreeable about donating, even if it would never be a reason for me to not donate.
- mrweasel 7mo agoOne of my favourite criticisms, yes their procedure works, but it probably doesn't measure rejection rates. "We hounded these 1000 people for a donation, 60% responded favourably". Okay, but out of the 40% that didn't respond how many are you never going to see again? Who were those 40%? My wife works in a line of business where up-selling is a debated issue. Most of the industry thinks it's good, because they see more sales on the products that are being pushed, but they never measure how many people are actively turned off by the aggressive sales tactics and won't return in the future and now buys absolutely nothing. It's baffling to me that organisations never measure negative impact from campaigns, because maybe you're pushing away the wrong people. E.g. maybe your most reliable patrons are the most adverse to your campaign and now you have to work even hard to reach your goals next time, as these people are not coming back?
- mlyle 7mo agoI still remember giving the SF Symphony money and being aggressively hounded for two years and them repeatedly failing to remove me from their lists. I love the Symphony and support their mission but it is hard for me to imagine ever giving them a donation again. It seems like it's inviting ruin.
- bombcar 7mo agoI always donate anonymously when I can because the deluge of “old people spam” is never worth it.
- LaundroMat 7mo agoI like to call that dark number the "conversion aversion".
- UomoNeroNero 7mo agoI donated blood for 25 years in Italy (I can’t anymore due to health reasons). Here we have a semi-public organization (AVIS - Italian Blood Volunteers Association) that handles donation and distribution. Zero stress, no “pushy” reminders, everything is completely voluntary. The trick is that by donating blood you receive your blood test results (a very comprehensive panel). It’s a mutually beneficial “do ut des” arrangement that is highly appreciated (and it helped me detect a serious issue at an early stage). In addition, AVIS is a very community-oriented volunteer association that builds a sense of belonging and awareness. Organized this way, the system works.
- jorvi 7mo agoWe had the same system (Sanquin), they even have donation trucks that make the rounds through areas that don't have a donation clinic nearby. And they do give you a minor blood screening, and you get some good snacks after donating. But alas, they are also quite pushy with reminders :+)
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- peacebeard 7mo agoNobody likes the feeling of being hunted.
- jraph 7mo agoYou can disable probably that nagging. I did. (in France)
- Ferret7446 7mo agoIf that gets them more donations overall, don't they have a moral imperative to do it? Are people's lives worth less than some people getting annoyed by email nags?