The number one reason why
people donate money to
charities is because of a large tax
break by the federal
government. As the
CEO of my own
corporation, I can assure you that the
government encourages large
corporate giving in the form of
tax relief and other
incentives. Many, many
companies engage in such
activities, and many other
groups and
wealthy individuals also take advantage of such laws. In fact, Microsoft has paid no federal tax in a while, as they are smart about their
donations and
stock option plans.
These laws are in place to give an
incentive to help fund some really
great work performed by the many
charities across this
country.
Businesses accountants carve their
living out of
managing giving to these
charities along with other annuities to wield the tax laws in the favor of the
payee. These people are in
business, and better for
worse, that's what they do. People buy and sell, drive the
economy, and put
dinner on the table for
themselves, their
suppliers, and everyone up the chain to the
materials manufacturers.
Many
companies choose to take the
endorsements that come with sponsoring certain
charities. Those ads on TV don't say "we're playing with children's lives", they say "we are good for more than just selling cars." These charities are happy to give a few people a
plug if they
financially donate to them. Hey that's cool by me,
no harm no foul. If what you care about is your
public image (
politicians,
public officials,
figureheads of anything), then a charity saying that you are a "
good guy" isn’t a bad thing. Again, they are in
business, and
businesses crave that good image. Look at
Wal-Mart for just a
moment. They are
notorious for
child-labor violations,
censorship, and running out local business. However, the
Wal-Mart marketing machine stamps out all of that, and they are seen as the store where you can get everything
cheaper with a
smile to greet you at the
door. Not to get on a
tangent, but business
success is largely is about image.
Whether or not a
company is going to make a game out of their donation, that's
fine. It gives
exposure to the
charity, and it gives the group a good name. Besides, it’s fun in an honest way. Does it look better
whether you gave 500,000 dollars to a
charity, or you do it through a
softball game, or a
home-run derby? Companies and
charities know about how much they are going to give, and if they can
advertise a big game, get a
turnout for it, rally some
spirit, help a
charity and look like the good guy, fine. We all had fun, and
everyone got what they wanted.
No one loses here. The local car
dealership is getting
alright PR with a low-budget local commercial. The people in the
community see them supporting both a local
spirit (the local sports games), and a
charity at the same time. It's all a rallying town spirit
thing.
If you think your
gripe is with people who play these
games, your gripe is really with
corporate giving itself, and not with the
game. There is a good chance that at least some
minimum is going to be set. If a person give $100 each time one of three
sports team wins a game, figure at least 40
games per season times three teams, that's 120 * $100 or $12,000. That's not too shabby for a local car
dealership chain, but it's really nothing big. It's like forgoing the
profits on three cars. They could bleed a little more to
charity, but I guarantee you, that they are in it for the
tax break, and their accountant has arranged exactly how much to give.
There is no difference between giving it out for
baseball wins and a
celebrity golf tournament,
Celebrity Jeopardy!, or the
Major League Baseball Home Run derby. It is seen as a way for people to "
win" money for charities. So what if the local
baseball team
tanks their season? The car
dealership still wants to get their tax break, so they donate the same amount of money anyways. Ya know, it's all the same
difference to me. There are no
losers here and no child dies. That is an extreme view clouded by an ignorance of how things work. They aren't giving "as little as they have to in order to get the exposure." There needs to be an understanding of the way American business and the marketing thereof operates. When it all comes down to the end, it is the bottom line that matters to the company. This isn't really money isn't lost at all.
Don't be blinded by the
PR of it all. This isn't
wagering, this is merely
business as usual.