XX just received the following email from a "friend" she hasn't talked with for many years. Names have obviously been redacted - he'll be referred to as Solicitor and college has also been redacted to College.
Hi XX,
I hope you’re doing well. I haven’t seen you in awhile, but last I heard you’re kicking butt at *Law School*. Have you and *Solicitor's girlfriend* hung out yet in *City Name*? She is finishing up her last year in Med School, so time is running out!
I think you maybe heard, but *Solicitor's girlfriend* and I are getting married! Chicago in early May of 2011. I'm hoping we get OK weather... This Christmas, I brought my never-traveled-internationally family out to China to see *Solicitor's girlfriend*'s extended family in Beijing for a large wedding banquet. It was one of those awesome cultural experiences, and my dad didn't even throw up at the sight of broiled sea cucumber (XY Note: broiled sea cucumber is actually quite good - squeamish Americans...)
Here’s the ulterior (XY Note: at least he acknowledged it) motive part -- I'm writing to see if you wanted to donate to the 5th Reunion *College* Class Gift. After getting thoroughly jaded by being one of *College* Senior Gift leaders (THANK YOU again for donating to Senior Gift and then again in 2007 and 2010!), I didn't think I'd ever again end up helping *College* solicit donations. (XY note: yet here you are...)
What really has resonated with me over the last few years (and made me want to solicit donations again) is how *College* has DRAMATICALLY enhanced financial aid for families of all levels of means. I.E., families with under $60k in income don't pay a cent. And families with incomes up to $180k get some level of financial aid. That's way better than any other school. It allows parents of all means to put their smart kids into *College* and on track to change completely the opportunities that they can access. I'm pledging $5000, myself, to support this continued sweetening of the pot that's going on only at *College*.
Three housekeeping things -- First, obviously your donation i tax deductible. So if you donate this year you can get the deduction for 2011. Second, for the 5th Reunion Gift you can pledge an amount and pay it off over 3 years. For example, if you pledge $1000 (or whatever), you would get that $1000 counted towards the 5th Reunion Gift but you could pay it off in 2012 or 2013. Third, if you have a company or organization that will match donations, the entire amount (including match) gets counted towards your donation.
Any questions, let me know! There are lots of ways that you can direct your donation only to areas you care about most. The website where you can donate is: *website link redacted*. If you want to do the pledge and then pay off over a few years, let me know and I will get you into touch with *Another Solicitor* from the Reunion Committee who can help you..
Finally, if you have some extra time and the inclination, the 5th Reunion Gift Committee is looking for new volunteers. They just recruited me a few months ago...
-*Solicitor*
On a level of 1-10 how inappropriate is this email? I'll put it at a 7. I guess if you have no shame then just spamming people emails like this (faux catch-up with a huge solicitation attached at the end) isn't a big deal - but I don't think I could bring myself to send this kind of email. Anyways a top 10 list of reasons not to give:
1) tax deductions are meaningless to someone with no income.
2) his preference for giving does not impact your preference for giving.
3) you prefer more global giving (i.e. you donate to global charities) that help the poor in other countries - who almost certainly have a greater marginal benefit from that $$.
4) money is fungible - i.e., your donation is not actually being funneled to the people receiving the student aid. In other words, your donation has absolutely zero impact on *College*'s student aid policies.
5) you don't think that parents with 180k in annual income (which puts them in the 94th percentile of income distribution) deserve financial relief.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States
6) *College* has a very large endowment and other universities almost certainly need that $$ more than *College* - it actually might help higher education to give to other schools.
7) *College* has had this policy for a few years now (I think since 2008? And I'm sure it was retroactive so existing students received benefits) - so I'm not sure what he means by dramatically increasing student aid - I guess relative to 3 or 4 years ago?
8) don't trust *College*'s investment managers - they got hammered during the financial crisis.
9) don't believe any non profit institutions should have a (*large number*) billion endowment that they are just sitting on.
Last but not least...
10) personal solicitations couched in "catch-up" emails to be very distasteful.
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