2008 Woodie Awards
Fundraising not clear enough
Alli Downs
Issue date: 11/9/06 Section: opinion
- Page 1 of 1
On Saturday, I experienced my first Huskies football game this season. Besides the parking situation everything went as well as expected. When we pulled in, there was a long line of cars waiting to park. We assumed that the reason cars were being parked in the Blue Lot was because of how crowded the game was.
When a college student approached our car, we were shocked to see that they were charging people to pay to park. The girl (who I recognized as a softball player) said to us, "Two dollars, please." My friend handed her two dollars and parked in the Blue Lot. We were mad about it the whole day and thought it was ridiculous that the school would charge us to park in the Blue Lot, especially when my friend already pays 75 dollars a semester to park there. But as I was writing this article, I wanted to ask why the softball players were running the parking. I called my friend, who I thought would know, and asked. According to her the softball team was running a fundraiser, profits from which would be shared with the school. There were supposedly signs that said fundraiser, but no one in my party had seen them.
Even though there were supposedly signs that showed it was a fundraiser, my friends and I still feel as though we have been taken advantage of. When someone approaches your car at an event and asks you for two dollars, are you supposed to automatically assume it is not mandatory and question them? I certainly don't think so. We all just assumed that it was a mandatory charge for parking.
The way the student approached us was also wrong. Her wording makes it seem as though it was mandatory. When you are running a fundraiser, you are expected to tell people what they are giving money for. She could have said, "Would you like to donate two dollars to the softball team?" or just "Would you like to donate two dollars?" But the wording she chose made it seem as though we did not have any other choice.
I'm not saying that parking is a bad fundraiser for clubs and teams, but they should definitely be more clear about what they are doing. If all of the players working the fundraiser presented themselves to fans of the Huskies this way, they were very unprofessional and showed their lack of respect for the citizens and students of Bloomsburg.
When a college student approached our car, we were shocked to see that they were charging people to pay to park. The girl (who I recognized as a softball player) said to us, "Two dollars, please." My friend handed her two dollars and parked in the Blue Lot. We were mad about it the whole day and thought it was ridiculous that the school would charge us to park in the Blue Lot, especially when my friend already pays 75 dollars a semester to park there. But as I was writing this article, I wanted to ask why the softball players were running the parking. I called my friend, who I thought would know, and asked. According to her the softball team was running a fundraiser, profits from which would be shared with the school. There were supposedly signs that said fundraiser, but no one in my party had seen them.
Even though there were supposedly signs that showed it was a fundraiser, my friends and I still feel as though we have been taken advantage of. When someone approaches your car at an event and asks you for two dollars, are you supposed to automatically assume it is not mandatory and question them? I certainly don't think so. We all just assumed that it was a mandatory charge for parking.
The way the student approached us was also wrong. Her wording makes it seem as though it was mandatory. When you are running a fundraiser, you are expected to tell people what they are giving money for. She could have said, "Would you like to donate two dollars to the softball team?" or just "Would you like to donate two dollars?" But the wording she chose made it seem as though we did not have any other choice.
I'm not saying that parking is a bad fundraiser for clubs and teams, but they should definitely be more clear about what they are doing. If all of the players working the fundraiser presented themselves to fans of the Huskies this way, they were very unprofessional and showed their lack of respect for the citizens and students of Bloomsburg.