I usually don't answer these calls but had one that seemed kind of important on the caller ID which turned out they want money, so they say they're sending some pledge kit and I was like 'okay thanks I'll think about it' and then they told me they expect at least $15 if they send this stuff, so I quickly told them no way and they can keep their stuff. And then the guy ask if it'd be okay with $10 and I told him the most I can commit to your cause is $0 so they didn't send me the pledge kit either.
Now this reminds me back in my college called asking for money they said even $1 is okay too but if you donate $1 they usually call next year and ask you to upgrade that to say, $500, and after realizing they seem to expect you to double your contribution every year if it started out less than a 4 digit number I just always said no. But you know what this is similar to? Piracy! I remember going to a lecture on piracy and one of the key point the guy made is 'don't be asking the pirates what's the lowest price that they'll be willing to buy this stuff. It's going to be $0'. The lecture went on about how big companies need to stop having any expectations of being able to get anything out of a pirate. It's not on whether that's right or not, just that the expectation of a pirate willing to pay for your stuff is nonsensical and you're not going to be able to pressure those guys into paying. I wish the robocallers got that memo and realized that the most amount of money I can guaranteed to commit to your cause that I've never heard of is $0. Doesn't mean there's no chance I'll donate to your cause but $0 is the best pledge you can get from me.
Now this reminds me back in my college called asking for money they said even $1 is okay too but if you donate $1 they usually call next year and ask you to upgrade that to say, $500, and after realizing they seem to expect you to double your contribution every year if it started out less than a 4 digit number I just always said no. But you know what this is similar to? Piracy! I remember going to a lecture on piracy and one of the key point the guy made is 'don't be asking the pirates what's the lowest price that they'll be willing to buy this stuff. It's going to be $0'. The lecture went on about how big companies need to stop having any expectations of being able to get anything out of a pirate. It's not on whether that's right or not, just that the expectation of a pirate willing to pay for your stuff is nonsensical and you're not going to be able to pressure those guys into paying. I wish the robocallers got that memo and realized that the most amount of money I can guaranteed to commit to your cause that I've never heard of is $0. Doesn't mean there's no chance I'll donate to your cause but $0 is the best pledge you can get from me.
