Peter Maple, a fellow agitator over at “The Association of Grumpy Old Fundraisers Who Know Stuff” (AGOF) reports on a minor furor in the British tabloids the Sun, the Mirror and the Daily Mail regarding paying a minor reality TV celebrity a fee to back a campaign for the children’s charity Barnardo’s, which reportedly raised £242 million last year.

Barnardo’s said it paid £3,000 and explained, “We are soon to launch a new campaign to encourage much needed donations to our shops. Barnardo’s retail shops are part of the charity’s trading arm and as such operate in a commercial environment. We took a business decision to acquire the support of Alexandra (Binky) Felstead to bring the appeal to a new and wider audience.”

“We expect the £3,000 campaign to increase donations significantly and will be monitoring its impact on our sales. Barnardo’s does not usually pay celebrities who support our work with the most vulnerable children across the UK.”

As could be expected, the negative reaction to all this was swift. The intra-celebrity sniping ran true to form with one celeb weighing in with: ‘To take money from a charity to help it is morally repulsive.” A donor to Barnardo’s noted: “If I give fifty quid to help abused kids I want it to be used for that purpose – not redistributed by a celebrity to a different charity.”

Binky Felstead, the reality star of “Made in Chelsea”, said it was her intention to donate the fee to another charity that she supports. But as the temperature rose her spokesperson said Binky had not yet been paid by Barnardo’s and asked the charity to keep the money.

Peter wonders out loud what the big fuss is all about. After all, he notes, “Staff get paid, actors and after dinner speakers get paid — you need them under contract to ensure they turn up and do what the say they will.”

He cites the reason why paying pays: “I have intimate knowledge (and the scars) of relying on celebs’ goodwill when they say they will turn up on a wet Friday night in Shepperton and then get a better offer. By having a contract everyone knows where they are. If the celebrity then choses to donate back their fee that is a win-win, but if they don’t?”

Tom and I agree with the points Peter makes:

• “Good practice dictates that we fundraisers ask people to do stuff for free all the time. It’s called volunteering.

• “However if that person is the right ‘face’ or has the right skill set and is only mildly committed how much better to be safe than sorry.”

And we note that Barnardo’s isn’t alone. For example “Downton Abbey” star Elizabeth McGovern — who plays Cora, Countess of Grantham — was paid £28,000 by World Vision in 2013 for her band Sadie and the Hotheads to record an album.

So, dear Agitator reader we ask you the following:

• What’s your position on paying celebrities?

• Has your organization ever paid a celebrity?

• If so, why? If not, why?

Roger

P.S. Does the ‘quality’ or ‘status’ of the celebrity matter in whether you pay or don’t? Sadly, neither Tom nor I are up to speed on U.K. pop culture, so we’ll also let you judge whether or not you’d hire a celebrity like Binky Felstead to help advance your cause or whether you should save your money for the really Big Stars.