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Downsizing, To Move or Not to Move? That is the Question

Aging Well | Last Active: 1 hour ago | Replies (476)
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@fiesty76

@funcountess, Good to read your post and to hear from you! I had numerous bags of items to donate and although Goodwill has a truck very near my home, I prefer to donate to Salvation Army or Council for the Blind because they pay their top adminstrators so much less than those of Goodwill.

Salvation Army has stopped receiving donations during Covid but was really surprised on Saturday that the Blind donation center was closed, too. Another resale store for Habitat for Humanity, which I've made donations to as well has also closed its store.

The pandemic is adversely affecting all charities and while I donate goods and money to specific charities, this year the number of solicitations from all sorts of additional charities has flooded my mailbox.

I wish they wouldn't send notepads, calendars or other small enticements because those in no way influence my decisions. One charity even sent a pr. of socks along with other small "trinkets". I've been told that charities often "sell" their donor lists to other charities and if true, wish they would stop.

I've sent back requests in another envelope with a request to be removed from their mailing lists but those have been ignored. Does anyone have a solution for stopping unwanted charity solicitations?

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Replies to "@funcountess, Good to read your post and to hear from you! I had numerous bags of..."
Scott, Volunteer Mentor | @IndianaScott | Dec 15, 2020

Hi @fiesty76 I'm Scott and I spent a large part of my work career in nonprofits. I understand your frustration with so many direct mail solicitations.

Nonprofits that send trinkets, items, or sometimes a dime or nickel showing through the envelope work for those charities. Believe me, they watch those returns very closely to make sure they make them money. Some use outside, for profit companies to do those mailings where the for profit gets some portion of the contributions and the remainder goes to the nonprofit. And yes, far too many nonprofits make part of their money (sometimes significant amounts) by selling or 'renting' their donor and/or mailing lists to other nonprofits and sometimes to for profit companies, such as catalog retailers. Often times the disclaimer printed on the back of the materials will tell if they sell your name or not.

If you write a charity and request to be dropped from their list they should honor that, but those often 'get lost' in the internal systems they have. Also many will still keep you on a 'one ask a year' list! Always cheaper to keep a former donor than find a new one -- even if you were only a donor to the organization they bought your name from. I find if I send a letter to them asking for them to stop soliciting me they seem to honor those more than a phone call. Also, even though it is a waste of money, they will keep sending to you until a certain amount of time passes and you do not ever give. This timeframe varies by each charity.

I always tell family -- drop the guilt -- use the item they send like return address labels (I use them on bills), have note pads out the gazzoo I use for doodling, and the rest get recycled. It is their choice and they wouldn't do it if it didn't earn them money.

I hope the sun is shining in your neck of the woods today!

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