“Most giving is 80% emotion and 20% rational. The best way to get to someone’s emotions is to tell a story.” From a Reeher Blog giving fundraising tips.

Good morning, and, yes, it is a good morning because the woman of the house did make it back home and things are now in better alignment. It is Monday, January 20, 2020, and I bid each and everyone a hearty hello and welcome. In addition to our Church-related giving, we do our best to give back. We really do. However, there are some things about giving to organizations that tend to aggravate me. We often start giving to one of these for any number of reasons. Perhaps we respond to an appeal they make on TV or through a mailout. Or, maybe someone asked that we consider a gift to honor their loved one. Whatever the reason, once you give to any of them you become a lifelong recipient of their materials. And, many of them send us stuff. We didn't ask for the stuff. We don't want their stuff. Some even send money. We get flags, ballpoint pens, calculators, assorted greeting cards, refrigerator magnets, and return address labels by the stacks. I know they are being advised by marketing folks and this type of induced obligatory response giving does seem to yield a better result than just plain appeals. On average. However, according to a Forbes article I read, this is not the case for all fundraising. Some are using up quite a bit of their received donations to cover the cost of the so-called gifts they provide. We believe in some of the causes who send us letters of appeal. We gave a fairly large donation to a veterans support group a few years ago to honor someone who had passed away. Since then, we have received an avalanche of appeal letters along with their gifts, etc. The wife sends back the $1 bill they send. Sadly, we occasionally get a letter from them asking what they have done to upset us since we haven't given in a while. Aggravating. It may be a good cause, but, stuff like that is aggravating. Now you know how I feel about it.

I finally remembered what it was that I had written about in the last paragraph of one of my previous blogs. That was the one lost due to what I assumed to be a computer glitch. On that day I was talking about sports fandom. I had earlier admitted that we too had at one time purchased gear to show our support for our local professional football team. My thought in the lost paragraph was how we do change over time. It is part of the natural process. We might still enjoy watching a sports event on TV, but, we are no longer inclined to be all hyped up to the extent that we spend a lot of money showing our support. At least some of us are like that. I do have to reveal that my wife wanted a new LSU shirt after they won the national championship. We drove over to the Academy store in our area and I sat out in the car while she went in to find her a new LSU shirt. They didn't have any! Yay! She said she supposed she could still wear her old one even though it had faded some. Interestingly enough, during the actual championship game, she was on the couch playing games on her laptop and only occasionally looked up to see what was going on. She would ask me what had just happened. So, why the need for a new shirt? We are from Louisiana. Many family and friends are from Louisiana. One of the shared interests most Louisianians have is their unrelenting support of LSU. Team identity. Friend identity. Me? I can do all of that without buying a new shirt. (I'll come back to what I wrote about that I had previously failed to remember, at a later date. That is, if I remember to remember it.)

That look from Mr. Bentley says, "Can we take a break from the keyboard for a while?"

Why not write about it now? The mood of today's edition just doesn't fit. One of the things we have wanted to do is to get back started walking again. Our Christmas schedule did not permit much of that and we have more or less been on the run since the beginning of January. Last Thursday morning, I decided to go to the big mall and walk. I was a little reluctant. You see, there are these ladies that we do not know. But, they are very interested in our wellbeing. They are sweet little ladies but they do tend to be a wee bit nosey from time to time. It's not the gossipy kind of nosey but they get a little too close to me when they are asking how I am doing. I got to the mall and made my first lap. I did not run into the ladies. Hallelujah! I noticed how out of shape I was but I persevered and started my second lap. When I got to the food court I stopped to rest for a few minutes. So far so good. Suddenly, I felt the presence of someone coming up behind me. It was the leader of the group. She leaned down and asked how our season went and how we are doing and how is my wife and how it had been a while since she had seen us. I visited with her for a few minutes and gave my report. She was glad to know we are okay. Me too. I think. I do know this. This is very well-intentioned. It's just a bit different than what one might expect. I know what some of you are thinking. Be glad someone cares about how y'all are doing and we all need all the encouragement we can get. I can say Amen to that, while, at the same time looking over my shoulder to see if that's them coming up behind me. Have a great rest of the day and may God bless each one. Amen. ....More later.