Community Chat

[foundinlv]

They get paid by Medicare although it probably isn't much.

[olivia1123]

On 4/4/2014 lulu2 said:

On 4/4/2014 Krimpette said:

I hate that. You try to do something kind and generous and then end up getting hounded for more. And if you don't answer the phone, you still get hounded with the mailings. It just seems so wrong to me. Most recently I had that with St Jude's. I finally wrote them and said that if they didn't stop the incessant phone calls, they'd never get another donation from me. Their phone calls have stopped.

Sadly St Jude's is one of the worst when it comes to these calls. From now on our donations will be anonymous, but we will no longer be able to use them for tax purposes.

I donate to St. Judes monthly. It is taken from my credit card. I have never received a phone call. I do get mailings though.

My Mom was in hospice for 6 days. I never received any calls or mailings for donations. Bless the amazing people that do this work.

[Irshgrl31201]

We have charities we give to weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly. I let them know in advance that I want no phone calls to my home. They can send all the literature that they like but no calls. When you start to donate to 5 or more charities the phone calls can get overwhelming if they call every week or even every month. I have a set amount I give and sometimes depending on their circumstances they may get more but we really insist on no phone calls. I had this happen with two charities in particular and the more you give the more they call and do it over and over. Once I was firm with my no phone call request they did stop.

I can understand them calling to some extent but when they do it daily or weekly people really get annoyed and they become quite a nuisance and people will stop contributing if they feel they are being harassed.

I am on the board at our history museum and have also worked as a fundraiser for my daughters old private high school and I work on getting donations for that and people do like to give money but they do not want to be hounded. It is a fine line. You want to get the most money possible but you do not want to alienate people either.

[Mominohio]

We have law enforcement agencies in this area that are always soliciting for the families of fallen officers. My mom tends to get their calls very often. My dad was a LEO, and if she was going to help anyone, it would be them (and the animals!). For some reason, she feels the need to explain to them (when they call) that she is alone and on a very limited income, the widow of a LEO, and isn't able to help them at this time. The amount of badgering that goes on is ridiculous. They just don't take no for an answer. I've told her if she answers the phone and it is anyone soliciting that she does't want to donate to, she should just hang up, she is under no obligation to continue the conversation or even hear them out.

The other situation that blew me away was one of the big animal charities, maybe it was the ASPCA, but I'm not sure, was contacting my mom wanting her to donate so much per month. She wanted to send them a check, but they refused her donation and said they could only take it by credit card over the phone. At the time, she was working hard on getting out of debt, and had cancelled all cards, so she didn't donate. I think if you don't want my check, you probably don't really need or want my money. I can't see an organization turning down any form of donation, cash, credit, or check or money order these days, but I guess it is happening.

[maryebrown_1]

On 4/4/2014 mominohio said:

We have law enforcement agencies in this area that are always soliciting for the families of fallen officers. My mom tends to get their calls very often. My dad was a LEO, and if she was going to help anyone, it would be them (and the animals!). For some reason, she feels the need to explain to them (when they call) that she is alone and on a very limited income, the widow of a LEO, and isn't able to help them at this time. The amount of badgering that goes on is ridiculous. They just don't take no for an answer. I've told her if she answers the phone and it is anyone soliciting that she does't want to donate to, she should just hang up, she is under no obligation to continue the conversation or even hear them out.

The other situation that blew me away was one of the big animal charities, maybe it was the ASPCA, but I'm not sure, was contacting my mom wanting her to donate so much per month. She wanted to send them a check, but they refused her donation and said they could only take it by credit card over the phone. At the time, she was working hard on getting out of debt, and had cancelled all cards, so she didn't donate. I think if you don't want my check, you probably don't really need or want my money. I can't see an organization turning down any form of donation, cash, credit, or check or money order these days, but I guess it is happening.

That would send up a red flag in my mind...because you really never know who is calling!

[olivia1123]

On 4/4/2014 ~foundinlv~ said:

I never gave hospice a donation. They told me my dad was in a coma when he wasn't (he lifted his arm when I spoke to him). They gave him a barbiturate for pain when he was not in pain. The end quickly came after that. They called but I told them to stop and it did.

edited:typo

Found my Mom was in hospice for 6 days. She was 95 and had pneumonia. My sister and I decided not to treat her with antibiotics because this was the 3rd time it happened. She went from the emergency room to the hospice floor.

She never opened her eyes but we were not told she was in a coma. The nurses were incredibly polite and loving when they were tending to her. If she was in any way agitated they gave her morphine - we wanted it that way. We knew it would end her life but she never suffered for a moment. We saw no reason to prolong the inevitable

I am sorry that your experience with your dear Dad was not positive for you and your family.

Ellen

[raven-blackbird]

same here moxie..............when my grandfather died of a stroke, my grandmother paid to have a wing on the hospital built just for stroke victims, in appreciation for all they had attempted to do for him and it didn't hurt it was a Catholic Hospital.....they ended up naming the wing after him.......every year they would call her for donations for one thing or another they were doing.........she gave money every time they called..............................................raven

[Cats3000]

When you tell people on the phone to stop the calls, you don't know who you're talking to, whether your request will be honored or whether it will even get to someone who can remove your name from whatever list is being used. Instead, write a letter to whoever runs the hospice (the administrator, director, or similar person). Tell that person that the phone calls are unsolicited and unwanted and demand that they be stopped immediately. Send the letter certified mail, return receipt requested. That should end the matter. If it doesn't you may have to take the matter to the state agency that licenses or otherwise regulates hospices and ask they to intercede.

[Burnsite]

Hi, moxie, It has happened with some charities and I cross them off the list if they are going to harass me for money. It's not too many--about three or four.

I give the money when I have it, and I resent demands when I cannot give it.

[Kachina624]

On 4/4/2014 sweetolivia said:

On 4/4/2014 ~foundinlv~ said:

I never gave hospice a donation. They told me my dad was in a coma when he wasn't (he lifted his arm when I spoke to him). They gave him a barbiturate for pain when he was not in pain. The end quickly came after that. They called but I told them to stop and it did.

edited:typo

Found my Mom was in hospice for 6 days. She was 95 and had pneumonia. My sister and I decided not to treat her with antibiotics because this was the 3rd time it happened. She went from the emergency room to the hospice floor.

She never opened her eyes but we were not told she was in a coma. The nurses were incredibly polite and loving when they were tending to her. If she was in any way agitated they gave her morphine - we wanted it that way. We knew it would end her life but she never suffered for a moment. We saw no reason to prolong the inevitable

I am sorry that your experience with your dear Dad was not positive for you and your family.

Ellen

My sister and I also were not pleased with the service we got from hospice when dad was terminally ill. The night he died I was out driving trying to get a morphine prescription filled at 3am, because they forgot to order it. When they called for a donation, I told them I didn't wish to support them and to never call again. They haven't.