I am amazed at how many solicitations for donations to charitable organizations we are receiving that include money in the envelope- it seems to be the up and coming trend. They tape a nickel or some other coin onto the letter and then proceed to explain how far that nickel could go to feed someone/clothe someone/save a dog/etc… I was tossing our junk mail the other day and for some reason decided to open one just before I put it in the trash. There was $1 bill in it!!! Just think how much money is most likely being trashed by people who don’t want to bother opening all of the junk that most of us get. I would love to know how many nickels (or $1 bills) some of these organizations are sending out, but I am guessing that thousands or tens of thousands of dollars or more are probably lost in the trash as a result. I absolutely will not donate to any organization that send out money in their request. We tend to do all of our donations once a year and we research any group we donate to thoroughly. Putting a nickel in an envelope does nothing toward getting my donation- it only annoys me. Anyone else noticing this same trend?
I guess they are planning on making a lot of people feel guilty enough to donate. I hate that.
I don’t let it get to me but I’m sure it’s effective.
March of Dimes has been doing this for decades, so it must work.
I detest the guilt trip solicitations. We have a whole drawer full of return address labels that were supposed to guilt us into making a donation.
I refused on principle to donate to donate to any org that sends me solicitations. I choose orgs that I work closely with and know the leadership of. When I do make donations, I ask that my name NOT be added to the list of folks who will be called or otherwise contacted or I will stop donating.
I know people who do donate when they get address labels. So far, no one in this household ever has and we all have a drawer full of free address labels. I feel it is wasteful for orgs to spend a lot of money soliciting donations and hiring firms that take huge amounts of donations that are collected. We have a prospective board member who says she will help us raise money, as that is one of her special powers. I hope she is successful, as that’s one thing I really dislike doing.
This is a list produced by the Attorney General’s office of the state of New York: http://www.charitiesnys.com/pdfs/2014_Pennies.pdf.
It lists for-profit telemarketers that fundraise for charities in New York. It’s eye-opening to see how much (or little) the charities receive from these efforts. Since I’ve become aware of this issue, I’ve been unlikely to give to unsolicited fundraisers. Far better to give to charities you know–but still check up on them.
@Periwinkle, thanks, that list was VERY eye-opening.