Pat Whatley
New Member
It's a standing rule here....DO NOT GIVE AWAY YOUR CRAFT. I've always been pretty adamant that giving signs to charity is a complete negative all the way around. I'll donate cash, I'll donate time, but I'm not giving away what I rely on to make a living. I've never seen a dentist cleaning teeth at a golf tournament.....I'm not giving my work away either.
My two biggest customers are major sponsors of a charitable event and the marketing director for one of them called and asked about me helping them out so I made an exception this time and agreed to donate the $600 (retail) worth of sponsor banners they needed.
They sent over all the sponsor logos they needed on the banners, I set it up, added my logo, and sent the proofs in. First email I get back tells me to rearrange a few of them, adjust the size of a couple of them, and remove my logo.
Apparently the companies with their logos on the banners donated $500. When I mentioned I was donating $600 in banners she said, and I quote "That's an in-kind donation. Only the companies who actually made a financial donation are getting logos on the banners." I tried to explain my position, she just kept trying to tell me why I was an in-kind donation. Finally I told her that what we could do is that they could just buy the banners from me and I'd write them a donation check for exactly what they paid for the banners. Her reply? "So you're not donating the signs now?"
She ended up having to talk it over with the other planners, she called me back and said that since I wasn't giving them any option to go ahead and add my logo but to just put it last. It was obvious she wasn't happy about it.
I've been thinking about it the rest of the day. Now, apparently, my goodwill gesture has accomplished nothing other than making me look like an overbearing idiot.
My two biggest customers are major sponsors of a charitable event and the marketing director for one of them called and asked about me helping them out so I made an exception this time and agreed to donate the $600 (retail) worth of sponsor banners they needed.
They sent over all the sponsor logos they needed on the banners, I set it up, added my logo, and sent the proofs in. First email I get back tells me to rearrange a few of them, adjust the size of a couple of them, and remove my logo.
Apparently the companies with their logos on the banners donated $500. When I mentioned I was donating $600 in banners she said, and I quote "That's an in-kind donation. Only the companies who actually made a financial donation are getting logos on the banners." I tried to explain my position, she just kept trying to tell me why I was an in-kind donation. Finally I told her that what we could do is that they could just buy the banners from me and I'd write them a donation check for exactly what they paid for the banners. Her reply? "So you're not donating the signs now?"
She ended up having to talk it over with the other planners, she called me back and said that since I wasn't giving them any option to go ahead and add my logo but to just put it last. It was obvious she wasn't happy about it.
I've been thinking about it the rest of the day. Now, apparently, my goodwill gesture has accomplished nothing other than making me look like an overbearing idiot.
