I AM NOT 21 AND I HATE POLAR BEARS

Advocacy is the smallest nonprofit sector. This sector employees 85,000 people and has countless number of volunteers and members. Advocacy nonprofits are unique in that they receive 31% of their revenue from donations which is larger then other nonprofit sectors: Social services 14%, health care Choice USA and National Right to Life. This is just one dichotomy of many in the advocacy sector.

So what does advocacy have to do with being 21 and hating polar bears? If you are a UO student walking past Lillis or the EMU you definitely know! This title is in response to the two main advocacy groups that annoy student on a daily basis,Greenpeace and some children's organization that I personally have been successfully avoided:) I love polar bears, children, the environment and I am 21 however advocacy can have really annoying fundraising techniques at times. I hate it when you are late to class and they try to stop you with heartstring lines like "Do you want to save a child today" or "Do you want to help save the environment" and you say "NO" or just ignore them. Afterwards you feel like such an asshole. I hate it even more when advocacy groups berate students while perusing the ASUO Street Fair. The Street Fair is a place for the student to escape from the world, eat amazing food, and barter with street vendors. On the off chance that you have time to talk or if you just can't say "NO" the fundraising asks and more importantly second/third asks are terrible. They have terrible fundraising skills if they worked at the AGP calling center they would not last a day! The only thing they have are heartstrings

Now that I have trash talked advocacy groups for a significant time I feel like I should redeem them. Advocacy groups are amazing they often single handily lead the charge on major issues world wide. They fight for ones or things that can't fight back. Think about it! What would the civil rights movement be without advocacy groups, or women's rights, or abortion or gay and lesbian rights, or environmentalism... the list goes on infinitely. I can't answer this question but maybe as a community we can.