The annual fund-raising campaigns, so traditional during the Christmas season, have come and gone and once again the Maltese have shown great solidarity with people in need.

The L-Istrina campaign collected more than e1.4 million on 29 December, and this was followed up with e471,209 collected by RTK radio for the Dar Tal-Providenza in Siggiewi.

But what is the difference between the two campaigns?

The L-Istrina campaign is backed up by a heavy public relations campaign that starts long before the collection day arrives. For example, piggy banks are sent to schools to collect money from children, and there is a constant presence of L-Istrina in the media, which builds up even more when the day gets closer. L-Istrina is aired live on all major television stations all throughout the day of the collection.

On the other hand, the RTK campaign is kept rather low profile. It barely gets a mention in the media and, most of all, it is not transmitted live on all local stations all throughout the day. There are no pre-collections, and there are no daily press conferences or press calls in the week preceding the event.

If, therefore, one takes all this into consideration, the RTK campaign, although effectively collecting only about one third of what L-Istrina manages, did extremely well.

The scenario changes completely if one were to add another factor into the equation. This is because the biggest difference between the two campaigns is that while L-Istrina offers thousands of liri as gifts to all those who donate money towards the campaign, the RTK campaign takes pride in not offering presents in exchange for the contributions made.

All throughout the build-up and during the fund-raising marathon itself, L-Istrina organisers continuously promote the amount of prizes that could be won by people who donate money. This year it was even said that people would be getting back more than the money they donated in vouchers and discounts, apart from the amount of prizes that could be won – including televisions and cars.

For its part, the RTK campaign humbly asks for donations from the heart, from people who really want to contribute towards others in need without expecting something in return.

All this raises the question as to whether the L-Istrina campaign is just another occasion for people to gamble. This time, instead of trying their luck at the Super Five jackpot – we all remember the fuss that there was late last year when the fund for the lottery’s first prize continued to rise and rise as nobody guessed the five numbers drawn – people were gambling for charity.

One does get the impression that the L-Istrina organisers think that unless they have so many prizes on offer, people will not contribute. The way that the presenters continuously remind the people watching TV about the amount of prizes that can be won, indicate that the campaign is just that – people are asked to gamble a few liri or euros for charity in an attempt to win something back. One wonders how much L-Istrina would collect without the prizes that are offered.

Of course, the money that is collected by L-Istrina goes a long way in helping people and in need and we are in no way trying to diminish the feat that was achieved. What we are questioning is the way that people are enticed into giving their contribution.

L-Istrina organisers will probably argue that they will collect less money if they were to follow RTK’s example. But, on the other hand, the RTK campaign is a more noble effort because people there donate just because they want to, not because they want to win something.

Maybe L-Istrina should try this out.