I'd gotten such a request from you. Obviously, I didn't! I don't get them weekly but I've gotten a small handful, always (as you describe) from people I wasn't planning on buying a birthday present for anyway. They come from people with whom my relationship is much like my relationship with, well, Deb Finn. People whose work I respect, people who I genuinely like, but people who I can't imagine asking for a job reference, let alone calling for a heart to heart about some important decision. Certainly not people who've ever been to my home. I've never thought it downright rude, but it does confuse me. I take requests seriously: if you ask me for something I don't ignore that. I might not give it, but I'll always think seriously about it. So at a minimum I suddenly have to decide not to give this person a birthday present. And that is a little invasive. All of that said, I don't think it reflects on the cause so much as on the birthday girl.