Humorist Vic Oliver said, “If a man runs after money, he’s money-mad. If he keeps it, he’s a capitalist. If he spends it, he’s a playboy. If he doesn’t get it, he’s a ne’er-do-well. If he doesn’t try to get it, he lacks ambition. If he gets it without working for it, he’s a parasite, and if he accumulates it after a lifetime of hard work, people call him a fool who never got anything out of life.”
There’s something about the green stuff (why do we call it that?) that never fails to cause debate of some form or other. Do a quick search via your favourite engine and the sheer quantity of sites promising to make you wealthy is testament to how preoccupied we are. I’m not known for my skill with numbers (I’ve probably said it before but it’s one of the reasons why Give A Brick appeals so much, it’s easy to count 
) but I’ve been forced this morning to think percentages. Don’t worry, I’ve had a cup of tea now so my brow is unfurried again.
The reason for the maths quiz earlier was to do with Paypal and their charity discounts. It really made me appreciate Charity Choice and the work they do with The Co-operative Bank to allow us 100% free online donation If we’ve explained our fund-raising concept properly, you should know by now that we ask everyone to give just £1 (or $1, depending upon where in the world you live) and then ask them to ask their friends to do the same. Simple enough you’d think. However, when using a payment processor that charges a minimum fee per transaction, that £1 can all too easily be eaten into by fees.
The purpose of this post is not to complain about the 20p transaction fee from Paypal (although if the CEO of Paypal happens upon this humble offering and would like to change the policy, we won’t argue with you ) because I understand that to send money across the miles costs something.
Instead, I’d like today to take the opportunity to praise and congratulate Charity Choice and the Co-Operative Bank for proving such a wonderful transparent service. If it also serves to alleviate some of your concerns about using an unknown payment processor, all the better Just to clarify, when you Give A Brick via Charity Choice, 100% of your £1 goes directly to Give A Brick. The processing costs associated with taking your payment (usually in the region of 2% if the small print on my supermarket receipt is to be believed) are absorbed by The Co-operative Bank as part of their charity work. You can Give A Brick using any credit or debit card, regardless of where in the world you live.
Back to Paypal for a second because I understand that it is very convenient. I also understand how safe it can make you feel. (You’re talking with someone who had their bank card details compromised on the day of her Grandfather’s funeral. Believe me, I know how upsetting it can be when some crook spends your money without your permission.) Since I’m not writing this post to complain about Paypal’s 20p transaction fee, I won’t tell you that every time someone gives a brick via Paypal, Paypal take 21.4p. All I will say is that if you could consider the alternatives (Charity Choice or BMyCharity) I would be very grateful 
All that said, Give A Brick does have a Paypal account and our ‘Donate’ buttons are now live
We are thankful and humbled every time you Give A Brick, regardless of how you give 
Did you enjoy this post? Please Give A Brick. It’ll only cost a quid
photo credit: woody1778a
The first project Give A Brick is supporting is the building work at 
What should Give A Brick support next? If you have an exciting community project that, 
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