Is Christian Children's Fund Refusing Donations from Gamers?

[mylilchunkymonkey]

Hey everyone,

Something happened recently that really disturbed me and I wanted to share it with you. I attended a gamer's convention in Indianapolis called GenCon. It is for people who like to play Dungeon's and Dragon's and other types of games. Each year we hold an auction and donate the proceeds to a charity. This year, in honor of Gary Gygax, a founder of Dungeon's and Dragon's, it was decided to donate the auction proceeds to one of his favorite charities, Christian Children's Fund. The donation, over $17,000, WAS REFUSED, because apparently, we are godless heathens and our money is tainted.

Now, is it or is it not the purpose of the Christian Children's Fund to provide food, healthcare and clean drinking water to children in 3rd world nations? I really don't think that the mother whose child died of starvation today would have cared where the money came from that would have purchased the food to save her child's life.

I'm sorry to sound so bitter, but how many children would that donation have helped if Christian Children's Fund, in their arrogance, not turned it down?

BTW, the money was donated here: Fisher House -- Helping Military Families instead.

 

[pamperedpals]

Wow! That is unreal.

 

[thecougchef]

im sure fisher house more than welcomed your donation.
cff's loss was their gain.

 

[PChefPEI]

That is totally unbelievable!! And, by refusing your donation, how many OTHER donations have they kept from their foundation??? I'm pretty sure that you and the others at the convention, won't have them on their top list of places to donate!

BTW, congrats on raising so much money and helping out! That's a lot of money!! Nice job!

 

[mylilchunkymonkey]

Thanks everyone, it was truly unbelievable to us and a slap in the face of Mr. Gygax's memory. It was well-known in the gaming community how much he supported the CCF's efforts, praised their work and that he donated at every opportunity. I wonder if they would have refused his donations if they knew where the money for his donations came from?

 

[gailz2]

CCF's loss. The Fisher House is such a great cause helping military families meet up with injured soldiers! I commend you and thank you -- my son was injured in the Army, but we were able to fund our trip ourselves. That is a great charity!

 

[Oklabell]

At my home church we have regetted donations from lottery winning due to being from gambling. Some Christian groups have guidelines in effect not to recieve monies from gambling even if it was for charity because it will be as if they supported it. I am sure they did not mean any harm.

But it is great that you found one to recieve it.

 

[pclinskie]

I had a Catholic Choir refuse a check for a fundraiser when Warren Buffet bought PC.
Until I showed them a copy of Doris' letter.

 

[JAE]

This donation wasn't from gaming as in gambling, at least that's not how I understand the original post. Is that correct?

 

[babywings76]

I had a Catholic Choir refuse a check for a fundraiser when Warren Buffet bought PC.
Until I showed them a copy of Doris' letter.

What letter is that? And what was the big stink about Warren Buffet? (Forgive me of my ignorance on these issues... :blushing: )

 

[pjpamchef]

What letter is that? And what was the big stink about Warren Buffet? (Forgive me of my ignorance on these issues... :blushing: )

Oh no, not this again!! Just put Warren Buffet in the search box and go from there! It's a long story!!

 

[JAE]

http://www.chefsuccess.com/f18/anyone-have-warren-buffet-planned-paretnhood-letter-doris-20967/

 

[Shawnna]

Ha, our church would have gladly taken the donation. We don't support gambling of any kind. But the Bible talks about money from the "ungodly" being laid up for the righteous. I'm not saying gambling is ungodly and I don't know that this is a word for word quote from the Bible, just my way of remembering it. There is lots of sin in the world...we all sin and God sees all sin as the same...but by a church refusing tythes on gambling money they are keeping someone from obeying God's word...even if they received it in a way the church doesn't approve of.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Money is green, no matter where it comes from. In addition, the IRS does not allow strings on donations, so a donor cannot have any kind of back door control over a foundation.That said, and I've served on the boards of two 501(c)3 foundations in my day, and I would not have been in favor of accepting donations from organized crime but gamers? Why not? Hey, I remember the days of GenCon being held here and seeing some of you out in public. I even rode the train to Chicago with people who looked a little...unusual ...but I would have gladly accepted donations from any of them.(Sidebar: Gary Gygax's company, TSR Hobbies, that published D&D between 1975 and 1983, was located southwest of me in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.)

 

[ChefBeckyD]

This donation wasn't from gaming as in gambling, at least that's not how I understand the original post. Is that correct?

That is true. The "gaming" she is talking about is actually playing a fantasy game....NOT gambling.

I wonder if CCF even realized what it was? I can't imagine why they would refuse the money - that's just crazy!

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

My first thought ...

What a witness ... NOT! While I may not let my kids do fantasy gaming if I had them, it does not do much to pursuade people to the cause of Christ to treat them like second class citizens.

 

[mylilchunkymonkey]

Yes, I'm sorry, the money was from a charity auction from fantasy gamers, not gambling!

 

[mylilchunkymonkey]

This is what I just received in response to my e-mail to CCF. Never let it be said that I did not give them the benefit of the doubt but it seems as though they are scrambling to cover their tracks once they've realized how badly this has blown up in their face. To quote a fellow game enthusiast, Woody Hearn, "Who cares if they didn't officially endorse the convention, they don't need to. Take the money and release a statement of appreciation that says they didn't officially endorse the convention but they appreciate the intent." Anyway, here's the response I received...

"Dear Concerned Gamer:

Thank you for writing to Anne Goddard and sharing your concerns. Anne was traveling when she received your email. We discussed your concern and she asked that I respond on her behalf Please know that we take your email very seriously.

There appears to be a misunderstanding which I would like to correct. When Gen Con contacted CCF about its auction, we were pleased to accept donations. However, we couldn’t lend our name for publication because our policies have specific criteria for endorsements. We were unaware that this had caused any problem or concern for Gen Con until we began receiving emails. This decision was in no way intended to be a reflection on Mr. Gygax, gaming enthusiasts or the game Dungeon and Dragons. We have the utmost respect for the gaming community and were touched by the generosity expressed through your auction. We were disappointed that we were not the recipients of the donation but we were pleased that another worthy organization benefited.

We realize this has become a topic of discussion in the gaming community and we hope you will help us by sharing this response.

The needs of children are great and we welcome your support. Should you wish to learn more we invite you to visit our website at Christian Children's Fund: Improving the Lives of Children - Sponsor a Child Today.

Again, I thank you for taking the time to voice your concern. Your passion for gaming and your support for children are admirable.

Sincerely,

Cheri Dahl
Vice President,
International Communications and Fundraising

 

[janetupnorth]

Interesting - are you really SURE they are scrambling to cover or did the person from Gen Con calling get it mixed up. Are you sure THEY didn't over-react to fact that CCF didn't want their name in print and say forget you we'll go elsewhere?...just a thought...

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

It does sound like they just didn't want it in print and that somehow that was unclear.

 

[pcsharon1]

As a military wife, I simply say Thank you for your donation. As the mother of a child about to turn two I say I would never, NEVER turn down food for my baby if he was starving. I also say, Shame on Christian Childrens Fund for judging people they don't even know based on their title!

 

[pcchefjane]

This is what I just received in response to my e-mail to CCF. Never let it be said that I did not give them the benefit of the doubt but it seems as though they are scrambling to cover their tracks once they've realized how badly this has blown up in their face. To quote a fellow game enthusiast, Woody Hearn, "Who cares if they didn't officially endorse the convention, they don't need to. Take the money and release a statement of appreciation that says they didn't officially endorse the convention but they appreciate the intent." Anyway, here's the response I received...

"Dear Concerned Gamer:

Thank you for writing to Anne Goddard and sharing your concerns. Anne was traveling when she received your email. We discussed your concern and she asked that I respond on her behalf Please know that we take your email very seriously.

There appears to be a misunderstanding which I would like to correct. When Gen Con contacted CCF about its auction, we were pleased to accept donations. However, we couldn’t lend our name for publication because our policies have specific criteria for endorsements. We were unaware that this had caused any problem or concern for Gen Con until we began receiving emails. This decision was in no way intended to be a reflection on Mr. Gygax, gaming enthusiasts or the game Dungeon and Dragons. We have the utmost respect for the gaming community and were touched by the generosity expressed through your auction. We were disappointed that we were not the recipients of the donation but we were pleased that another worthy organization benefited.

We realize this has become a topic of discussion in the gaming community and we hope you will help us by sharing this response.

The needs of children are great and we welcome your support. Should you wish to learn more we invite you to visit our website at Christian Children's Fund: Improving the Lives of Children - Sponsor a Child Today.

Again, I thank you for taking the time to voice your concern. Your passion for gaming and your support for children are admirable.

Sincerely,

Cheri Dahl
Vice President,
International Communications and Fundraising

I don't see that they refused it, just they would not allow their name to be used in publicity. They have a policy for endorsements...does that make it biased? Did you see the policy itself yet? Maybe you need to make further investigations before you presume they are against gamers...

 

[mylilchunkymonkey]

I guess from their response it just made me think that they were saying, yeah, we'll take your money, but only if no one knows about it. Like they're ashamed that the money came from gamers or something. I don't know, I guess I may just be taking it the wrong way. I worked in public relations for about 5 years (and it was my major in college) and the wording of the response just made me think of some of the press releases and e-mails I personally had to send when my company was trying to backpedal over an issue.

I'm sure that no harm was intended by CCF, however, I do not believe that the GenCon people were merely overreacting. I know some of them personally and they are very fair, level-headed people. They would never withdraw a donation of any size without very good reason and just decide to give it to a different organization. I truly believe that, whether it was miscommunication or not, the GenCon staff must have felt that the donation was being rejected by CCF.

 

[mylilchunkymonkey]

I don't see that they refused it, just they would not allow their name to be used in publicity. They have a policy for endorsements...does that make it biased? Did you see the policy itself yet? Maybe you need to make further investigations before you presume they are against gamers...

Please do not assume that I randomly slapped this up here without any research. I have searched extensively on the CCF website for the policies mentioned in the e-mail I received and have not been able to find them on-line. I HAVE responded to the e-mail I received and asked to see a copy of the policies that she mentioned. And as soon as I receive a response from her I will post for all to see.

I am not here to start a random smear campaign with no basis or to fulfill a personal vendetta. If I wanted to do that, I'm sure I could wander over to one of the political threads. My husband and I are, in fact, contributors to CCF. This is why I took such an interest in the issue. And, please note, that I have posted her response for all to see. I could have told everyone that my e-mail was ignored by the organization. I do not intend that people should stop donating to CCF, only be aware of a situation that seemed wrong to me.

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

However, as someone who hopes to work in PR/Development some day, I would like to say the following:

Sometimes people giving gifts give them with strings attached, such as publicity on the donation.

While that can benefit the donor, sometimes charities have to avoid anything that might look like an endorsement. Look how protective PC is about its logo!

Anywho, I am glad the donation was accepted by a good cause.