A Rant.
I'm getting seriously annoyed by various charities again at the moment. Over the course of this week I have received TWO mailings from the same cat charity each enclosing free notelets, pens, fridge magnets and bookmarks asking me for a donation to help their starving cats, and then this arrived yesterday ... free notelets and ACTUAL money stuck to the begging letter!!
All I could think of was some little child dropping their pennies in a collection tin somewhere thinking they were making a difference and then the damn charity sending them out to all and sundry with begging letters.
Well know this for sure all you 'charities' out there .... if you send me any sort of plea for money you won't get a penny .... because if I sent you one you would most likely use it in something daft like this instead of helping the very people you are purporting to help.
And breathe ......
Rant over ..... thank you ... back to what you were doing ;-)
Sue xx
I used to get really annoyed when sent similar things from The British Red Cross. I emailed them complaining and then rang them up. I insisted on being taken off their list and was told that I would probably get the next mailing, as it was already set up. I did get one more but nothing since. I have seen their coasters etc for sale in charity shops for different charities, too!
ReplyDeletePam
I get so cross with these things too, although I have never had actual money sent to me. So very annoying for you. Hope you can figure out some way to stop this. xx
ReplyDeleteMakes you want to spit feathers, doesn't it. Nobody wants this damn tat that they spend millions on sending out.
ReplyDeleteThat is totally ridiculous. What are you supposed to do with the 3p?
ReplyDeleteOooh, don't get me started!
ReplyDeletePens that don't work, cards that no-one wants, address labels which are too small to read, and now pennies!
I quite deliberately don't give to any charity which sends out begging letters, and I donate any cards, pens etc to one of our local charity shops...... If they can afford to give stuff away, it may as well be used to fill the coffers of a charity which is less wasteful!
These charities are just going too far. Last year the RSPCA spent £21 million on advertising alone!
ReplyDeleteI can only conclude that the world has gone mad. fancy spending millions of pounds on asking people to give you money, the mind boggles!!
ReplyDeleteI am sure times are tough for charities. But I have decided on the 3 (cancer society, hospice and spca) that I will donate to in the year, but I will say no to anyone else no matter what kind of tactics they use.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem crazy for them to send money out. I would write an email (not worth wasting money on stamps) and complain to the head of the charity - or write to the Daily Mail. It seems such a scam.
I send them back with RTS. If the Charity can afford to send me Book marks, Address advices etc. etc. then I do NOT want to have anything to do with them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSeveral of my friends have stopped regular donations due to this sort of thing!
ReplyDeleteJust a heads up i recently got told that charity stalls are now being set up with chip and pin so that people cant say the usual get out clause of 'sorry i dont have change on me'. Pressure to pay anyone?
ReplyDeleteThe amount of 3p's this charity has probably sent out....what a waste!
I agree with you x
ReplyDeleteAgreed!!!
ReplyDeleteI remember reading on a comment some where, from someone who worked for them. they said something along the lines of, they buy in such bulk it costs nigh on nothing to send and people cover the cost and more when replying to the letters. what they missed was that people dont want tat, or to be made to feel they must give, when we all feel it is so wasteful. It annoys the hell out of me it really does. As Fast sos said, the worlds gone mad
ReplyDeleteI agree totally.
ReplyDeleteI object to blackmail--which this is. I never respond to postal requests as it only makes them send more.
ReplyDeleteThat is totally unacceptable I completely agree with you. What a waste of resources to send these letters out with silly gifts .... and actual money - first time I have ever seen them stoop to that level - infuriating, especially if you have been donating and trusting that your contribution is being used wisely.
ReplyDeleteBad marketing stunt there I'm afraid! The RSPB, I must say, has always been very good with me.
ReplyDeleteI had the same rant on my blog several weeks ago - cat charity sending cards (how could you send someone a card which was so obviously a freebie???) magnet, pen, notebook, bookmark and coasters. My little granddaughter enjoyed scribbling in the notebook and on the cards . . .
ReplyDeleteSince then, I've had another stuffed envelope from another charity with similar items. Like you, I am absolutely refusing to donate to these charities or any other who send me begging letters.
I work for a small hospice charity and we need to raise £3.8 million to offer the service to the 185 children and families we support every year. We are so mindful of what people will think if we start sending mailings out and we prefer to use email where possible to save money. We are lucky that a local firm prints marketing materials for free and gives us free envelopes, so we don't have to spend other people's money to market in order to raise more money. We do have to pay postage though. We don't send out 'freebies' either. I often get personalised stickers, sample christmas cards etc and just think it is such a waste. We even had to think long and hard about sending christmas cards to our volunteers as we have between 3-400 who help us in various ways, but we did have cards left over from previous years and spent hours writing the cards but still had to pay the postage (although cheaper as done through a franking machine) I hope that we have ethics and that our supporters believe that we don't waste money as we do our best to be as economical as possible.
ReplyDeleteFully understand your point of view and I hope you can get taken off their mailing list.
I agree, such a waste of the donations they receive. I used to stuff it all back in their pre-paid response envelope, write 'Please do not contact me again' on it in big letters and post it back to them...I especially did this with raffle tickets. I generally can't be bothered nowadays and either use it, bin it or put in the recycling. I have 4 or 5 charities I donate to every month by direct debit, causes that are personal to me, plus I also raise money for cancer by doing race for life. I can't afford to give to every cause that sends me a letter or email, and I hate to think my donations might be wasted on sending out unwanted rubbish to all and sundry.
ReplyDeleteTo Sue and to those who have posted comment, well said each and everyone. It is no different here in the USA.
ReplyDeleteI think we all agree about this. I too put them straight in the bin - I donate to charities which I like to support and that is that. One charity, which shall be nameless, rang and asked for money and I made a direct debit. A year later they rang again and asked if I could spare a little more, which I did. When they did it a third time I stopped the direct debit and gave all the money to Great Ormond Street Hospital, which I support anyway.
ReplyDeleteI used to donate to a local food bank when we could afford it. Now, charity begins in the home and is directed at us primarily, as we just have no extra pennies to waste anymore. Most so-called charities will only direct a few pennies of your donations to the cause intended, the rest goes to admin and the heads of that organisation. Where is the charity in that?
ReplyDeleteNo different here in Canada. On Monday I received an envelope from the Cancer Society with a very nice zippered heavy nylon shopping bag in it. Makes no difference, I still will not send money to any of these charities that send stuff in the mail. When my mum passed away we found she had a drawer full of notecards, christmas cards, notepads, pens etc. that she'd received and I think she gave to most of them!
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way. Much of the donations goes towards advertising, call centers, etc. It has led me to favor local organizations for donations.
ReplyDeleteI was always taught 'charity begins at home'. So our giving always stays locally. We make pillowcases and bibs for our local nursing home, quilts for children in foster care, lab robes for Hospice clients and Christmas stocking for needy children. The only 'away' charity we work with is making dresses for children, who would otherwise be unable to go to school. And even then there is no shipping, as the missionary is a local fellow and he gathers them up when he is home on leave. There is a website you can enter your name and address to be struck off bulk mailings, it takes a while, but we get almost nothing bulk mail anymore, and it is such a relief!
ReplyDeleteSame in Australia! I always mark them "refused - unwanted junk mail -
ReplyDeletereturn to sender" and send them back. If I do make a donation (usually
online) I add a note that I don't want to be contacted in the future.
If they persist I contact the head office of the charity repeatedly until
it is dealt with. I can be very stubborn!
I also wouldn't entertain giving money to these big organisations that can waste money like this. I prefer to give a monthly donation to a local charity where I can go and see how the money is actually spent - and offer my time too, which of course is free xxx
ReplyDeleteWorking for two three different charities over the years people would be amazed at how much of the donated money actually goes to big wages of directors and at least three to four steps down in various jobs that are paid for before the money goes to charity , If i give to charity now i tend to favour the smaller ones not the ones linked to the high st charity shops xxx
ReplyDeleteWhen the news broke about Olive Cook? the generous lady in Bristol that committed suicide from being pestered by charities I stopped giving to anything that comes by post or phone calls. I shall give but it will be to small local and in my will.
ReplyDeleteI am with you on this, its a complete waste of time telling them though. I worked for a charity and they are competing with other charities for donations. They are all sending crappy mailouts, and can't stop in case they miss out on a potential donation that then goes to their rival. I used to get mail and phonecalls asking me to donate, and I worked there!!
ReplyDelete