Charity skydive but who pays?

As a centre that organises Tandem jumps for many national charities - heres the simple answer. The mimimum raised is £395 of which a mimimum £160.00 goes to the organisation - having organised 1385 people to do these jumps last year (2007) that means that charitable organisations recieved £221,600.00! as an absolute minimum - would that money have gone to the organisations directly - I think not!, in addition many people raise more than the minimum ands some decide to pay for the actual jump themselves, in addition anyone aged 40 or over requires a signed and stamped medical that a GP has to provide - generally at a cost of £75.00 plus to the individual that they cannot recoup from the sponsorship funds - LET PEOPLE FUND RAISE IN THE MANNER THEY WISH, people fund raise in all manner of ways, applaud their efforts rather than slamming someone doing something

I did a skydive for charity last year, and was required to get minimum sponsorship of £340 and could jump for 'free'. Of course it wasn't free, the money for the jump came out of the sponsorship money, leaving about £120 for the actual charity. I've never done anything like this before, and have suffered depression and panic attacks for years, so to do something as amazing (and scary!) as this, was a huge thing. All my friends and family realised this, and I raised the minimum sponsorship relatively easily, but didn't give up then, I carried on collecting from local businesses etc. I finally raised about £500, so the charity got a lot more, and I got more satisfaction from doing it, knowing the amount I'd raised. I think if you can pay for it yourself and give more to charity, go for it, but for those of us who cant afford to pay for such an amazing experience, put in a bit more effort with sponsorship collection and go above and beyond (literally!)

I'm 15 and on my 16th birthday I'm taking part in a tandem skydive for charity! How on earth am I meant to afford to pay for it myself. It was said previously that 'surely EVERYONE has hundreds of pounds to spare' well the truth is not everyone does. I want to help a charity, Oxfam, and I have realised that by collecting in school this would be the most effective way of raising a lot of money. Even if some of it is used to pay for my jump at least I am doing something to help others!

I was seriously thinking of doing a charity jump and money raised would go to Christie's. The hospital has treated family and friends, young and old.

After reading comments, some people have made me think twice and I now feel like I would be "ripping off" a charity as I wouldn't be able to pay for the jump myself, but as some have said at least I would be doing something.

I'm not an adrenalin junkie, I'm a single mum, over 40 and would probably have to pay for my GP to certify I'm fit to jump, also, there is a risk of death or injury to myself in all this. (Scared or what!)

I have raised money for charity in the past (men's charity wax) and pursuaded companies to give their support and services for free but the cost of getting a plane into the air and have an instructor surely can't be expected to be done for free.

So for all you people that can afford to pay for it, good for you, you should give more too. For those like myself who can't, I will continue to do my bit and jump if I can get the support!

I just read all of the comments posted, I am interested in doing a skydive for charity but would not be able to fund it all! I appreciate the problems that people suggested but I do agree with the fact that least money is being raised that maybe would not have been given otherwise. Also for a lot of people it is challenge for them and that is why people are willing to support them (not someone who is a daredevil) therefore that is how the money is raised to such a high amount! It is commendable for people to pay their way but if you can't, other efforts into raising money should surely be appreciated! But thats just my opinion!

Okay, so you are now sat there in front of your computer and moaning, if it annoys you so much why don't you send the hundreds of pounds difference to the charity yourself...what do you mean you can't afford to, surely EVERYONE has hundreds of pounds to spare to send to charities, no ? Okay so why don't you go out, collect sponsers (not easy) book a course, get down there, spend a day training, and then have your 30 second parachute jump, go home, collect the sponsership money (even harder), post it off to your charity, THEN your charity gets a couple of hundred pounds. Your way : Moan that everyone should pay their own expenses (which many can't afford), maybe 10 people do it and the charity gets the whole lot, 10 x £350 (minimum you need to raise to cover costs and donation) = £3500. The other way: 100 people do it, raising "only" £120 (minimum again) in donation, 100 x £120 = £12,000, over THREE times the amount, or of course you could just sit at your computer, moan about it and do nothing.....doesn't matter how many people do that..1000 x £0 is still NOTHING.

Its down to the individual and sponsor at the end of the day - some sponsors will pay to see that individual do whatever theyre doing.
Take the great british sponsored hair cut - the balding guy in the pub that refuses to stop growing his pony tail even though its the only patch of hair still growing on his head - is more likely going to get people to sponsor him rather than say if the local David Beckham did a sponsored hair cut- unless of course it is totaly ridiculus and he has to wear it in public for weeks on end...

As I say its down to the individuals - I would pay good money to see my nan do a parchute jump - whereas my 20 year old daredevil cousin who does this sort of stuff all the time wouldnt get as large a sponsorship..

and what you knockers and doubters are all forgetting is that to drum up this sponsorship takes some hard work - and that is deserved in the reward of the jump.

If you are going to do anything for charity which incurrs cost, then you or the company must pay for it and not the charity. Simple

I think that a charity skydive should raise funds that go straight to the charity. The person doing the jump should pay for the parachute jump themselves and if they are doing it as a cheap way to get into extreme sports or skydiving then it is just cheating people out of money. Do the skydive people, but give all the money to the charity

I can assure all persons here below that ALL legitamate charities and drop zones in the UK make it perfectly clear how the costs are broken down on all their paperwork - please rather than giving people a hard time for actually doing something (would you complain if you knocked on their door and they gave you 50p rather than £50)and applaud their efforts on behalf of their chosen organisation - as an aside this year AFTER jumping and admin costs the total raised was £221,328.00 so knock that number if you believe that sort of contribution nationally is not valid!

I am sure that most charities are grateful for any contribution from anyone. Some people want to do something for charity but can not finace it all themselves. They should be applauded at going out and doin something and not sat griping.

Of course not all the money people give goes directly to the source...some of it goes to keeping those charities running. It is the same principle - if someone can't afford to do a jump surely it is better for them to raise some money rather than nothing!? would you argue that charities should close down becasue money is used to pay staff? I don't think you should knock people who are doing something for charity - perhaps a little more support would go a lot further!