Giving Money Away

[susandennis]

I do not give a lot of money away, but I try to share. I do it because I have been incredibly lucky and incredibly blessed and I know others haven't so it seems fair to help out now and again.

But, I am now rethinking my process. I'm sick and tired of a mailbox full of invitations to charity events that I have zero, none, no interest in. I'm sick of letters begging for more more. I'm sick of brochures and phone calls. I feel like I am being penalized for giving in the first place.

Last year I donated $600 worth of software to a school for homeless kids. That has triggered an avalanche of begging. I gave $1,000 to an ADS hospice and that has gotten me invited to every function in town and a ton of junk mail. A couple of years ago I gave $1200 to an outfit called Dress for Success which outfits women looking for work and helps them with job interviews and stuff. Those people became stalkers. I quit giving money to public radio and TV ages ago because I couldn't stand their all out assaults multiple times a year.

There are three giving situations which do not trigger torture.

1. The closest Goodwill is less than a mile from here. Their hours are very generous. You drive up, give them the stuff they thank you and hand you a receipt and you never ever ever hear from them until the next time you drive up.
2. We have a newspaper here put out and sold by homeless people. They sell it quietly and nicely on the street. It costs a dollar. I generally always buy a copy when I see someone selling it and I usually pay them $5.00 for the copy.
3. My wonderful teddy bear recipients (a crisis shelter for women and children). All I ever get from them are wonderful thank you notes and generous tax receipts.

I'd like to be able to give to a wide variety of different kinds of places that clearly need the cash. I'm not even all that wedded to the tax write off. And I do truly understand that they must have fund raising machines to stay in business so it's really a mobious strip, a vicious cycle. And it pisses me off. I just went down to get my mail and had 9... NINE... different pieces of mail asking me for money. It's a waste of money and it's aggravating.

Comments

[cathboblet.livejournal.com]

I don't know that it will entirely deal with the problem, but have you considered signing up for 41pounds.org? (http://www.41pounds.org) They'll get you off marketing lists etc for a one time fee of $41, and you stay off those lists for five years. They have the most beautiful website, half the $41 goes straight to non-profit environmental organizations, and they make everything incredibly easy. I signed up about 4 weeks ago, and have already seen an enormous drop in the amount of junk mail I receive. I'm a huge fan of theirs!

[susandennis]

Interesting. I've never heard of this org. Their website is lovely. I think I'll do a little more research - thanks so much for the tip!

[jawnbc]

This happens to me to. For the organizations I contribute to regularly I have made it clear to their database people that the next unsolicited request for donations will trigger me never donating again. They've been perfect since.

AIDS, cervical cancer, and a political party that puts poor people at the top of the agenda.

[jimcarson.livejournal.com]

I had a similarly annoying experience with Greenpeace back in my commie hippie college student days, and slightly more recently with public broadcasting. It seems my information is more valuable spammed among organizations, then eventually to companies selling products.

Like

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I had a similarly annoying experience with Greenpeace back in my commie hippie college student days, and slightly more recently with public broadcasting. It seems my information is more valuable spammed among organizations, then eventually to companies selling products.

Like <ljuser="jawnbc">, I also stipulate no mailing lists or phone calls. I do do regular donations to (and shopping at) Goodwill, Red Cross, OxFam and a cycling advocacy organization. They seem to be okay with taking my money under this condition.

Let me know if you try 41pounds and it works. I've written the DMA to opt out. That works surprisingly well, if for the primary reason the marketeers don't want to waste money on ineffectual campaigns.

donotcall.gov helps, but obviously non-profits and political organizations have the gaping exemption. I have not had any luck with "optoutprescreen," the credit reporting agencies' clearinghouse for not getting the preapproved credit card offers. Every other week it's the Untied Airlines or Continental Airlines VISA. I'm collecting the junk mail and will send the offers to the other company to recycle.

[kyrielle]

I wish more organizations made it easier to say, basically, "Look, if you call me, hassle me, or send me junk mail, you won't get another donation." Instead you have to work to make that point (and some of them don't care even if you DO make the point).

[nanne.livejournal.com]

Oh, I just throw the ones I don't care about away. It's like credit card offers. And I've been honest with callers about not donating because I was being bothered too much. Seems to have worked in a few instances. Then again, I've never donated more than $250 to any given institution, so I'm small fry. I know from professional fundraisers that they target the big givers strongly--better return for their effort.

[davmoo.livejournal.com]

First off, I donate only to local organizations that I believe in. It takes a major disaster to get me to donate to a national organization.

And then, like others here, if its going to be a situation where I donate regularly, I make it *crystal clear* that if my mailbox gets filled every day or my phone rings off the hook and I find out that my contact information came from that organization, they will never get another single penny from me ever again. One time I also showed up at the group's director's home front door and asked "Why did you give out my name and phone number?"...this is one advantage of sticking with local groups...you know who to blame :-)

In a few cases I donate cash and don't give a name. I've been known to do things like shove $50 dollar bills in to Salvation Army Christmas pots and things like that.

[pheon.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I want a way to tell an organization that "this is a one-time donation; if I want to give more in the future I will decide when and if." There does not seem to be way other than threatening the caller with never giving ever again. Which doesn't work in all cases. I gave the Humane Society some money in support of animals stranded in Katrina's wake. I cannot get them off my phone and out of my mailbox.

And this relentless pursuit has a chilling effect. I got a letter today from the high school I graduated from in 1957. They have set up an endowment fund in memory of my classmate who died last August. I have an inclination to give, but if I do, I am guaranteed to be inundated with lots and lots of solicitations.

As an aside, many years ago my brother was living in Brazil and I was his state-side address. So I got most of the junk mail like his college alumni magazine and begging letters for money. At a friend's suggestion --- and my brother's agreement --- I sent one issue back marked "Deceased. Return to Sender." And it worked! For about 2 years; then they started up again. So now you know the time to resurrection for a graduate of M.I.T.: 2 years.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't mind if an organization that I give to regularly would send me an annual reminder -- just one -- and leave me alone the rest of the time. It seems to me that most of these organizatioons would save a lot of money in postage if they presented this as an option.

I wonder if they're hoping, by sending requests every three months or so, that a sufficient number of people will forget that they've already given this year (and won't even bother to check!).

[tmb2005.livejournal.com]

I agree with you 100%. The constant solicitation drives me crazy. What's particularly maddening is when I just make a contribution to an organization and then not a month later get a mailing asking for another one.

I keep telling myself to be patient, that this kind of constant badgering must be effective in raising the funds that they need, but I still hate it. It's gotten to the point where the majority of my mail goes directly into the trash can unopened.

A little while back I was forced to tell current students at both universities that I graduated from that if I received one more phone call asking for a contribution I would never give the school another penny. That seems to have worked so far.

[reveurnomade.livejournal.com]

Festuche strikes again! I just read marigold's entry about festuche, and followed her link to her journal and decided I must add you.

Well, and I had to comment on this entry - I worked for a year as a development director for a small nonprofit and one of the biggest reasons I left the job so quickly was that I could never bring myself to feel comfortable with asking for money. The org. worked with college students who mentored young kids in housing projects, and at one point my exec. director asked me to send letters to the parents of the college students - I did, but it just felt so out of line.

Personally, I don't mind the mail all that much, and I really don't mind e-mail, but when organizations are putting so much of our donation money into paper and envelopes, I tend not to donate.

[susandennis]

Welcome!

I worked for one non-profit organization way way way back in the dark ages and decided that I did not need to do that again. I learned that you really need to be passionate about the cause (which I was not) and you have to love to beg for bucks. It was a good learning experience.