Realllly? wrote:
This whole thing sounds really fishy to me. As I said in the previous post, I have helped with races for a few years and I cannot imagine this happening. Our races are not as big as this one, and we don't give out nearly as much prize money. Something odd is going on, and the way in which the RD is approaching the winner is just shady.
If this were a clear-cut case of a charity losing money as a result of the "mistake," I would ask the OP to consider whether he wanted to donate the money back to the charity. But my feeling is that if it were truly a mistake, there would not be legal threats and bullying by the RD.
Can someone please clarify if the Surfing Madonnas Ocean Project will lose the money if it is not returned? I know that it has been suggested already, but maybe the OP can offer to donate $900 to the Surfing Madonnas Ocean Project charity during the coming year (monthly payment or something).
I am not implying that this should be required, but the OP seems to think the charity is doing good within the community (and the oceanic environment in general), so that could be a great thing for him to do.
I think we need to consider what it means to presume that giving the $900 back is "the right thing to do" though. If they had approached him in a more civil manner, maybe we could say that. Plenty of things go to a good cause:
If you bought a pair of TOMS shoes - a company doing good, charitable work - and then started receiving letters from the founder demanding that you pay an additional $45 because they charged you the wrong price, would you really pay them? At a certain point, we need to maintain a level of expectation that when you win prize money, there is closure.
As someone who helps put on two races a year for a local charity (as fund raisers for the charity), I feel for the RD, but I can not imagine threatening legal action in the event that this happened. People on the Board would certainly be expected to cover the mistake. But I also do not see it happening due to the absolutely stringent (internal and external) regulations on most charities' pocketbooks.
Tough situation for all involved.
OP, if you did return the money, to whom would you make the check payable? Just out of curiosity...
Checks are to be made out to:
Surfing Madonna Oceans Project
1106 2nd Street, Suite 301
Encinitas, CA 92024