Don't join the chain gang
Howard Lake | 19 October 1997 | News
UK Fundraising has learned that two chain letter appeals are circulating in the UK.
One asks you to send a compliment slip to “a young boy, Craig John, who is, sadly, terminally ill with cancer.” He wants to get into the Guinness Book of Records for holding the largest collection of compliment slips. You are then asked to pass on this request to “ten other places” or organisations.
The other appeal is on behalf of “Gary Richards” who is “just seven years old and has terminal cancer.” He also wants to be entered into the Guinness Book of Records for the largest collection of business cards.
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Guess what? These children do not exist. So all the universities, unions, magazines, advertising agencies, department stores, travel agencies etc who have passed on these letters to 10 other organisations are wasting their time and everyone else’s.
Fortunately, these chain letters don’t ask for the compliment slips or business cards to be sent to a charity. Such scams have happened in the US, though, to the American Cancer Society and the Make A Wish Foundation. But it is probably only a matter of time before someone does link such a chain letter to a UK charity.
It’s interesting to note that “Craig” and “Gary” both live in the same town in Surrey. In fact, they live just six houses apart. Now, isn’t that just too much of a coincidence?
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.