topic Re: Donating To Charities in Community Chat

Donating To Charities

Jordan2 — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:17:42 GMT

My elderly mother is on a fixed income but still likes to give donations to charities that are important to her. I keep a list so I know when and how much she has given. Anyway she gets a letter from one of the charities thanking her for the donation but have enclosed an envelope and card asking for more! She sent them $10 about 10 weeks ago and will donate another $10 at the six month mark. I'm really annoyed by this. It's as if the $10 isn't enough. Also they are counting on the fact you won't remember when you last sent a donation. My question is how often in a calendar year do you donate to a charity?

Re: Donating To Charities

PAlady — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:24:02 GMT

Jordan2 - If a charity I have donated to does that, I just throw the envelope away. Other than my local Humane Society, I only donate once a year.

Hope this helps.

Re: Donating To Charities

VaBelle35 — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:25:47 GMT

Many charities contract with a mail house for their mailings and this is a pretty standard move for both large and small charities (non-profit and political).

I wouldn't read too much into it. It apparently works very well otherwise they wouldn't do it.

Re: Donating To Charities

deepwaterdotter — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:26:09 GMT

I donate to my favorite charity, Warrior Canine Connection, three times a year. I like to contribute when the organization is participating in a matching campaign to maximize my donation. Sometimes they compete with other charities to raise the largest amount and win a reward of animal supplies to benefit the health and welfare of the dogs.

Re: Donating To Charities

Perkup — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 14:36:34 GMT

We donate about twice a year, but no matter how often or how much, we still get the letters. If we sent in a donation in January we would get another letter in a month or so asking for more.

We've finally narrowed our donating down to only one charity, and have named them as benefactors in our wills. We simply send back the others' letters with a nice note that we have narrowee our choices down and will not be sending them further donations, and asking them to discontinue the letters. Sometimes it works, other times they just keep sending them, along with the greeting cards, return address stickeers, note pads, etc. We just keep sending back the requests with our standard note. It has helped a bit.

Your Mother should simply ignore the letters until she is ready to make her next donations, and then respond to the charities she chooses. Her gifts represent a sacrifice on her part, and show her to be a wonderful, generous lady. You should be (and I am sure you are) very proud of her.

Re: Donating To Charities

Sooner — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:27:43 GMT

IMMEDIATELY get these charities (so called) to take her off their mailing lists. DO IT! It is simply a scam. Theiy PREY ON OLD PEOPLE! My mom became incompetent and we get tons of them every day through the mail: Veteran's groups; the biggest and "most respected" hospitals hawking newsletters; pet charities; and lots of others you wouldn't believe.

I am so soured on charities at this point. Sorry but MOST of them (the big ones) are simply money grubbing businesses to benefit the officers and executives. ONLY give to local charities that you can SEE what they are doing. I'm sorry, and I know a lot will disagree. but I am simply stunned and disgusted by what I've seen from the mail-outs we have received DAILY!

Re: Donating To Charities

SeaMaiden — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:28:39 GMT

I have five animal charities that I give to twice a year $10. That is $100 total a year. They always want more....but that's it.

Re: Donating To Charities

Deb1010yetagain — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:30:07 GMT

@Perkup wrote:
We donate about twice a year, but no matter how often or how much, we still get the letters. If we sent in a donation in January we would get another letter in a month or so asking for more.

We've finally narrowed our donating down to only one charity, and have named them as benefactors in our wills. We simply send back the others' letters with a nice note that we have narrowee our choices down and will not be sending them further donations, and asking them to discontinue the letters. Sometimes it works, other times they just keep sending them, along with the greeting cards, return address stickeers, note pads, etc. We just keep sending back the requests with our standard note. It has helped a bit.

Your Mother should simply ignore the letters until she is ready to make her donation, and then respond to the charities she chooses. Her gifts, however small they may seem to some, represent a wonderful generosity on her part and are worthy of great praise and admiration. A wonderful lady.

Very well said @Perkup. ITA

Re: Donating To Charities

kzjohnson — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:31:10 GMT

There are 2 organizations I'm very passionate about that are not part of the charitiable organizations available through my employer's payroll deduction.

When I set up my monthly donations to these 2 organiztions I requested to be pulled from their mailing list. No sense in wasting money asking for money when I already giving them money!

Both did so. And since setting up automatic donations, the amount of other "junk" mail I receive asking for donations has diminished greatly..

Re: Donating To Charities

chickenbutt — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:33:30 GMT

VaBelle35 wrote:
Many charities contract with a mail house for their mailings and this is a pretty standard move for both large and small charities (non-profit and political).

I wouldn't read too much into it. It apparently works very well otherwise they wouldn't do it.

This! It is annoying, sure, but it's nothing personal.

I also agree with Sooner that, to a great degree, it is targeting seniors who they figure need to respond each time, and/or have forgotten that they already gave, etc.

This sort of procedure must be profitable because it's been going on for a while.

I'm not supporting it, of course. I despise it because it's kind of an ugly way to get more money but I guess many just don't care HOW they get it - as long as they do.

Re: Donating To Charities

Deb1010yetagain — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:37:25 GMT

The political causes/candidates are the WORST!! Once you give it's like they stamp "sucker" on your file and they keep coming back to you (supposedly it's a crisis and they really need money).

Re: Donating To Charities

Desertdi — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:44:38 GMT

The part I don't like is when they start CALLING me. NO.....I don't answer the phone......................

Re: Donating To Charities

circles — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:48:31 GMT

I use to donate to every charity that sent me a plea...then they would follow that with yet another one and so on and so on...

I just "love" the ones that send you a "reminder" that I hadn't sent them any money ...

When I wasn't recieving pleas in the mail I was getting phone calls at all hours...including one at 7:20 am....I thought they had to wait till 8am to call...

I finally stopped all donations....all mail gets thrown in recycle and all phone calls get put on caller block...

Re: Donating To Charities

newname0 — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:51:15 GMT

When Jerry Lewis did his telethons awhile back I heard him recommend that people should send 5.00 to a number of charities and not a lot of money just to one. In other words spread it around. So I did what he said and almost since then I have been put on a mailing list for many charities that send me appeals periodically. I think they get paid if you send them a modest offering and they then give your mailing address to another charity. I have gotten so many freebies from these organizations like note pads. labels, calendars, pocket calendars, Christmas cards, etc. that I am innundated with stuff.

Some charities now send you money. I have gotten coins and free stamps and whatnot. Everytime we move (and we move a lot) I tell my DIH not to let the Post Office know of our new address because all these charity appeals follow us around but he still does it and they eventually learn my new address and start sending again.

So I recommend if you don't want to be bothered by charity appeals don't give to them and only give through your church. It will save you a lot of clutter in your mail box.

Re: Donating To Charities

chickenbutt — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:55:19 GMT

I believe that one of the ways they make money is to sell your personal information to others. So, once you donate to one, or a bunch of them, you begin getting pleas from zillions of them. I don't think that should be legal but then nobody asks me.

That also goes for door-to-door and telemarketing, including robocalling. If my number is private and unlisted nobody should be able to use it without my permission. Same goes for my property - if it says 'no soliciting' and 'no trespassing', that should mean EXACTLY that. If you want to pay my property taxes and mortgage, maybe I'll cut you some slack - MAYBE.

Re: Donating To Charities

jonbon — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 21:18:48 GMT

I generally donate at the end of the year and simply ignore all of the pleas at other times.

Re: Donating To Charities

Lipstickdiva — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 21:24:13 GMT

I have started to donate more locally. I used to donate to St. Judes but I too got very soured because the more I gave, they more they wanted. I was getting stuff several times a week from them asking for donations and sending me pads of paper, mailing labels, pens, etc. Then the phonecalls started. I was even on an automatic monthly donation to them and was still getting more pleas for donations.

Re: Donating To Charities

Sunshine Kate — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 21:27:42 GMT

I usually only donate once per year. Only because it's for my convenience.

I will never donate to the American Cancer Society again, as I once did.

Have you noticed all the brand new cancer centers springing up all over? Yep, they no longer want to find a vaccine or total cure for this life threatening disease. There's too much money involved keeping job security for medical personnel.

It makes me sick to my stomach. There's no doubt in my mind a vaccine is probably under lock and key and it's top secret.

Re: Donating To Charities

lulu2 — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 22:22:48 GMT

The constant solicitations drive me nuts. I'm tired of phone calls, packages of greeting cards, calendars, return address stickers, nickels, dimes, Mass cards, you name it. Whatever you give is never enough.

Our Grands (5, 8 10, 10) decided to adopt a child donating part of their weekly allowances. Within a month they began calling these children asking them to commit to birthday and Christmas presents as well school clothes and supplies.

Re: Donating To Charities

Moonchilde — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 21:42:19 GMT

@PAlady wrote:
Jordan2 - If a charity I have donated to does that, I just throw the envelope away. Other than my local Humane Society, I only donate once a year.

Hope this helps.

Same here. I am not a "regular" donator. If I'm moved to donate to a cause, it's *once a year* and if I get continuous mailings I stop donating to that charity. They must not need my money if they use most or all of it up sending me mailings.