I donate to a number of charities each month via auto-deductions from accounts. I’ve never had a problem with any of the non-profits I’ve donated to until Save the Children Federation did something that I found so unacceptable that I totally canceled my donations to them. This post is about what they did and how they failed to grasp the utter wrongness of what they did.
As background: my monthly donations to SCF were quite small compared to other organizations I give to. But last month, when checking my accounts, I noticed that they had deducted $2.00 more than what I had authorized. Concerned that something might be amiss, I contacted them to ask why or how that happened. Their answer, in relevant part, was:
We initially planned on implementing these changes in March for those supporters who did not opt out from the letter mailed in February describing the change in donation. However, we have had to divert staff resources due to recent domestic and international emergencies we are responding to. That is why the changes are taking effect in July instead of March.
What letter in February? What the heck were they talking about? And if someone didn’t opt out of a letter they never got or never read, SCF just increased the donation amount? Were they serious? Their letter continued:
We are so sorry the donation upgrade offended you and we can assure you that was not our intent.
“Donation upgrade?” You mean the unauthorized theft of funds from my account? “Offended” doesn’t begin to describe my reaction to having an organization just help themselves to money out of my account without my knowledge or consent. The amount was a pittance, but this truly was the principle of the thing.
I am not the only one who finds their opt-out approach totally unacceptable. Out of 114 respondents to a quick poll I ran on infosec.exchange, only 1% said they’d understand and be OK with what SCF did, while 96% said it was unethical, and 3% picked “other” so they could rant or comment further on the situation.
So I gave myself some time/days to perhaps calm down, but no, there was no getting around how unacceptable this all was.
I canceled my donations to SCF and sent emails to the NYS Charities Bureau. Unsure which division would be appropriate, I sent it to two of the three email units. The first responded that after reading my email, they thought I should send it to their Complaints unit. The second responded that after reading my email, they forwarded it themselves to their Complaints unit. The Complaints unit then responded that they couldn’t investigate every complaint due to resources limitation, but they would review my correspondence to evaluate whether sufficient basis exists for action by the Attorney General. They added, “In addition, we will contact Save The Children Federation Inc. to request they remedy their delinquency status by filing annual reports with the Charities Bureau.”
I do not know whether Save the Children Foundation violated any law or regulation by their opt-out approach. The state will know. But what I do know is that what they did was something I consider totally unethical, and when it was pointed out to them, they still didn’t seem to grasp that their conduct had been unethical. Had they recognized that and immediately apologized and committed to opt-in in the future, this story might have had a different ending. But they didn’t.
Maybe this post or something the state does will be a wake-up call for them. I hope so. In the meantime, here’s a positive example for them of how to ask for increased donations. This came in the mail this week from Doctors Without Borders, an organization where I am a “Field Partner” in terms of donations. Their “ask” has the “yes” box auto-checked, but allows for an alternative — or no response at all.
And that’s how you do it, Save the Children Federation. You send a letter that asks and doesn’t assume consent if there’s no response.
To those who may think I’m petty or a “meanie” for writing this post or canceling my donations to SCF, well, feel free to send them your donations. For myself, I will continue to donate to organizations that help children, but just not SCF.