Collecting for the RNLI

[nik]

Hello chaps, I am getting married tomorrow, and in leiu of wedding presents from guests, I am asking for donations to the RNLI.
My local station is Cowes. I have not been able to speak to them, but I presume the best way of passing on the proceeds is to take them down to the East Cowes RNLI office as opposed to sending them off to a central office.
If anyone is in the know please let me know.

Nick.

[SeaSkills]

If donations are intended to benefit a particular lifeboat station, you just need to make that known when the donation is made. The payment can be made anywhere - it will find it's way to RNLI Head Office at Poole even if it's earmarked for a specific purpose.

The alternative is to provide some piece of equipment that would be of use to the station of choice

[nik]

So what would you suggest?
If cheques are made out to RNLI, then they go to head office?
If I want donations to my local station, would cheques be to "RNLI Cowes"?
And is it fair to donate all funds to my local station?
I will try to contact them tomorrow, but time is short.

Nick.

[chewy]

If you donate it to your local station then the money will still go to Poole but it will be spent at the station of your choice.
The plus side to the above is you can go and have a look at what your money was spent on and meet the people who are going to use it.

All the best for your big day.

[SeaSkills]

Originally Posted by nik

So what would you suggest?
If cheques are made out to RNLI, then they go to head office?
If I want donations to my local station, would cheques be to "RNLI Cowes"?

The simplest thing would probably be to make cheques payable to RNLI, and submit them (either to your local station or by post to Head Office) with a covering letter asking that the money is used to benefit the station of your choice

Originally Posted by nik

And is it fair to donate all funds to my local station?
Nick.

It's your money, and your choice. My personal view is that the RNLI knows best where money is most needed and when we donate we just donate centrally. However I am aware that many people do want to support a particular boat. The simple truth is that if your money is earmarked for one station, it frees up other donations from general funds to be used elsewhere. It is unlikely to be treated as "extra" money for Cowes. If you want them to benefit from something that they wouldn't otherwise have, try talking to them about any specfic piece of equipment they might need. Examples I'm aware of have ranged from a telly for the crew room, night vision equipment, and binoculars