UNICEF Canada ends orange box fundraising

Where Most Needed points out an interesting story about the Canadian UNICEF Committee's decision to discontinue its long-running collection of trick-or-treat coin boxes.

I looked into it and found that the idea started in 1950 when a Philadelphia Sunday School class came up with the idea to collect coins rather than candy on Halloween. The idea evolved so that kids could collect candy, too, and in 1955, Canadian trick-or-treaters raised $15,000. Over the years, more than $90 million has been raised for Unicef Canada.

Unfortunately, the coin campaign had flatlined in recent years at around $3.5 million, Unicef president Nigel Fisher told the Canadian Press. Apparently, as the cost of processing all those loonies and toonies increased, the effectiveness of the program decreased. With the orange boxes gone, UNICEF Canada plans to replace the campaign with a loftier $5 million annual drive by fundraising in 4,000 schools across the country.

Personally, I think any fundraising program that involves putting cash into a hat or bucket without collecting a donor's name is stupid counterproductive. All fundraisers know that the subsequent solicitations are where the real gravy is.