Ghost Hunting: Pay for my Hobby via Paypal
Ghost Hunting: Pay for my Hobby via Paypal
The majority of ghost hunters and paranormal investigators offer their services free of charge. Many teams will accept donations and state this fact prominently on their Web site, sometimes accompanied by a convenient link to their Paypal account.
Our group will accept donations, however we feel it is pretty tacky to advertise this in a conspicuous place right on one's home page or have a "Donation" button on a menu somewhere. We definitely feel that groups that charge for their services are total hacks, and are more likely to overestimate their competence level. Sure, people generally put a ton of effort and resources into helping clients to research the various aspects of a location and there is no doubt that conducting an adequate investigation entails a ton of time. But that doesn't mean someone else should pay for your time, effort, or materials.
The word "donation" implies no obligation, but we still feel it's tacky to prominently advertise the fact that you accept them. Why you ask?
Why Should I Get Paid for my Hobby?
People don't generally get donations for their hobbies. If this were the case, I should be able to fund my fishing expeditions through donations. "I am a competent fisherman and travel throughout New England and fish in interesting and historic locations. Please provide a donation so I can continue with this exciting activity." See what I mean?
Unfortunately, many ghost hunters have become deluded into thinking that they should get paid for a hobby that they choose to engage in. Personally, I don't care what your hobby is and I'm certainly not going to pay you to engage in it. It's your choice. Just because you are a ghost hunter doesn't make your hobby any more special than anything else. I have a cross-stitching group that meets weekly, donate now so we can continue to engage in this valuable activity. See how ridiculous this sounds?
Some teams suggest that providing ghost hunting is a public service! Holy cow! This constitutes an illogical rationalization if I've ever heard one. If you were picking up trash from the side of a highway, you are providing a much more valuable service than any ghost hunter and I think soliciting donations for such activities is justified. The highways that I drive every day are cleaner and more picturesque due to your activities, and I can appreciate that. But ghost hunting being a public service? This simply shows that some people will try and justify their behavior in whatever way they can no matter how ridiculous the justification is.
Results Aren't Guaranteed!
As a paranormal investigator--or ghost hunter--your results aren't guaranteed. What can you really offer with any surety? What benefits do your services actually bring to a client? Visiting a location, capturing a picture of some strange mist, and giving it to a client doesn't count as results of anything. In fact, if done right, a paranormal investigation will generally leave more questions than it answers.
We realize that our clients come first and provide a lot of supports specific to education, possible validation and/or debunking, and provide a safe environment in which to discuss strange experiences. We also give people specific ways to live and deal with the activity that gives them control. There is a lot of psychology involved. Given that, I believe that as a team, we do provide a valuable service, but I don't think we are your typical paranormal investigators. Too many groups treat their clients like they live in a zoo of paranormal activity and swoop in like "paranormal field biologists" capturing--usually debunkable--"evidence" and then moving on to another location. I've seen it time and time again. Is this type of investigating providing any type of "service" to the client? No, I don't think so.
Of course, if you are a client meeting a group of interesting people (the ghost hunters) is a given. Perhaps if you conduct thorough historical research, you can offer something substantial to a client, but other than that, all you can really assure the client is that a group of strangers will show up at a specific location, monopolize a bunch of time, and then go away.
We actually offer some pretty valuable paranormal marketing advice to businesses, all the way up to putting them in contact with several producers/site specialists who produce and/or are developing paranormal television shows. This is a real service that can potentially result in increased profits for a business and WE STILL DO THIS FOR FREE. We do this because we want satisfied clients and want to increase our opportunities to investigate. Simple as that.
Below is a sampling of paraphrased language from several ghost hunting Web sites. I have nothing against anyone that uses similar statements and applaud everyone for increasing the public's knowledge of paranormal activity. Nor do I believe that a groups willingness to accept donations reflect on its abilities to deliver a quality investigation. However, I do feel some of these statement cross boundaries and hurt the original mission.
I found that when soliciting donations, the statements made by groups generally fall within the following three categories.
We Don't Require Donations
Does anyone think it's a little redundant to say you don't REQUIRE donations.
"Our group do not require donations, however, we will accept donations to help cover expenses."
"We do accept donations for fuel but it is not required or expected."
How your Donations will be Used
Want to know what your donations will be used for? Fuel? Equipment? Dinner? Intoxicants to facilitate the paranormal experience? Some groups address this question with amazing detail. Others even advertise that they give a portion of each donation to a specific charity--which I feel is quite honorable and a good example for the rest of us.
"We accept donations to offset travel costs and equipment expenses."
"Our team will use donations to fund travel expenses including lodging and food, as well as purchase equipment and activities which increase the public's knowledge of ghosts."
Guilt and Exaggeration of Expenses
Some groups go too far whether it's a significant exaggeration of the cost of time and effort or attempt to guilt you into donating to help them reduce the fear that people are experiencing. I feel both of these avenues are misleading and irresponsible. Just because you have a fancy infrared video camera set up doesn't mean that clients should feel obligated to finance it. And as far as soliciting donations because it will help future clients to live without fear? Come on, if you are going to donate because of this I would suggest making a donation to a real charity that is proven to help people, your local food bank for example.
Consider the statement below that purposes to calculate man-hours. Whats the average man-hour for conducting an investigation? As far as I'm concerned it's NOTHING. If you want to get paid, do something else.
"Our group graciously takes donations for research and service to our community. When one calculates the man-hours and materials to complete an average investigation, costs can come to over $1200.00! "
This paraphrased statement--based on fear--is perhaps the most ridiculous justification I've ever encountered for the use of donations by a group. Believe it or not there are several groups out there that use this approach.
"Your donation will be used to help people to not live in fear of what they are experiencing."
I should note that there are a number of groups out there who specifically say that they DO NOT ACCEPT donations or monetary compensation. I applaud all these teams and I feel they are the most moral and ethically sound considering the nature of the endeavor.
So my final advice? If you want to finance your investigations, sell t-shirts, offer ghost hunting tours, teach classes, write a book, offer consultation services on how to start up a paranormal group, etc. I'm sure there are a host of other options that I'm not thinking of, but I simply don't believe opening soliciting donations is necessary nor should you expect any client to support your ghost hunting activities via donations or otherwise.
If you are a ghost hunter (or a team of paranormal investigators like us), plan on financing your operations out of your own pocket or using one of the methods mentioned above. Don't put the cost of your hobby back on the client by soliciting donations. I don't get paid to garden, fish, play with model trains, etc. Don't expect to get paid to ghost hunt.
For a real look at a hobby that pays for itself and offers a real service, visit Relic Recovery. I should note that we offer this PAID service for FREE to our paranormal clients. So not only do we not expect to get paid, we offer services to our paranormal clients that we would OTHERWISE get paid for.
So my advice to anyone who considers themself a ghost hunter to be wary in how you present yourself. Asking for money is always a dicey proposition. You can rapidily turn people off and your efforts to finance your hobby could backfire resulting in fewer clients and opportunities to engage in your hobby.
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