At a recent fundraising seminar, I was told that the best time to call people and solicit donations is between 6-8pm. Allow me to describe my house during this time. The entire family is just getting home. The kids are tired and cranky. Mum and/or Dad is making dinner and very tired. Other parent is helping kids with homework and/or doing other chores (pay bills, clean house, fold laundry). Between all this activity, family tries to find time to sit around a table and ask how each other’s day went, what we learned, or discuss some monumental change in the world.  

The phone rings. It is surely a friend who needs help, another kid asking our kids a question about homework. It is certainly NOT a stranger trying to sell me something, or a good samaritan trying to engage me in a conversation that will lead to me wanting to support their cause…