Every holiday season, there’s a plethora of drives conducted by schools and churches. During these times, I always hear the same thing: If we get enough donations, there will be a pizza party, whoever donates the most will get a prize, if we collect more than the other classes, we’ll have a movie day.
The same donation incentives are used every single year.
Rewards shouldn’t be necessary to compel people to donate. Donation drives help less fortunate people get by for the holidays — whether that's food for holiday dinners or Christmas gifts for kids. This allows families to enjoy the holidays without worrying about financial roadblocks.
Rewards are normally used for young kids in elementary school because most 10-year-olds don't understand why it's important to support charity organizations, but they should be educated instead of incentivized. I can remember the times I’d come home and say to my parents, ‘Can we get peanut butter at the store? I need it for our class to win a movie day.’
For younger ages, family volunteering for a few days during the holiday season is a way to give back without the expectation of getting a reward. This would better help the purpose and understanding behind volunteering and donating. It prevents the implementation that the only reason to donate is to achieve a prize.
Now, as a teenager, it’s easier to understand the purpose, and incentives aren’t justifiable. Incentives aren’t the most moral way to get more donations because they don’t come from a place of generosity — they come from a place of competition.
While I understand how motivational prizes can help organizations attract as many donations as possible, these incentives make donations inauthentic. Besides, who cares about an overdone pizza party anyway? The real reward and purpose for donating is knowing that you gave back to the community.
Volunteering or donating year-round should also be normalized. Some of the most popular drives during the holiday season in Kansas City are the Johnson County Christmas Bureau, Operation Breakthrough and Toys for Tots, according to the Kansas City Star. These are all specifically holiday season donation opportunities, but there are also many options throughout the year, like Harvesters' food banks.
Holidays are a much more popular time to donate because it is the “season of giving,” but donating year-round is vital. After all, once the holidays and an influx of donations are over, some families and individuals are left without resources.
There are numerous ways for organizations to increase traffic for donation drives, such as advertising more on social media. This could look like making promotional videos that showcase how people can donate and the benefits, or putting up posters with the same information. These are much more thoughtful methods that don’t cause people to give simply for the purpose of getting something in return.
Especially at SM East, we hardly get any donations for drives, even with incentives. Living in one of the most wealthy areas in Kansas, according to The Wichita Eagle, it isn’t too much to ask for students to spare an extra 5 dollars for a can.
Usually, can and food drives at churches and schools help some of these organizations, such as Harvesters. Harvesters has used methods such as joining Feeding America, a network of numerous food banks across the country, which increased their donations and visibility. They also upped their distribution of locations across Missouri and Kansas, which again led to more donations.
This is one organization that has proved that more donations and traffic can be made without the use of incentives. This could be applied to any of the canned and food drives at SM East because the competitions between Harbinger vs. Hauberk or Band vs. Orchestra aren’t supporting the real purpose of donating.
Some of my favorite memories from past holiday seasons have been going shopping for and packing holiday and hygiene boxes for kids in the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child program.
I loved looking at the list of things required to put in boxes, like toothbrushes, socks and shampoo, and then making them personalized for a little girl or boy. I would add a brand-new Barbie doll or pick out a cartoon-character toothbrush.
The feeling of someone less fortunate getting a box full of goodies that I packed with so much thought is much more special than a movie day or a pizza party.
Incentives can undermine an organization's fundamental purpose and mission, and they aren’t an effective way to increase donations for any drive at SM East.
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