Are donors as compassionate as they were in past?

Kevin Baker, a columnist for Canada’s Financial Post, writes that the growth of marketing arrangements that connect the sale of corporate goods with charities has prompted many would-be donors to expect something in return for their benevolence.

“Charity has a new best friend: self-satisfaction,” he writes. “Consumers today like giving to others when giving makes them feel good about getting for themselves.”

Instead of appealing to donors’ good intentions, many charities today are teaming up with for-profit companies to raise money. Mr. Baker points to a recent campaign by Canada’s Third World Eye Care Society, which received a free pair of reading glasses for every pair customers bought from the for-profit company Suntech Optics, as evidence of the trend.

Such arrangements, of course, are not new. But they are becoming more common, he writes.

Mr. Baker suggests that instead of appealing to donors in the traditional way, groups like the Salvation Army, which is lacking in clothing donations, should team up with a major retailer like Sears to offer a coupon discounting customer’s purchase for every donation of clothing that the customer makes.

What do you think? Have charities become too consumer-driven? How does your nonprofit group work with for-profit companies fund raise and create a mutually beneficial relationship?