Charities - SECOND NOTICE rant

[newbury]

SWMBO handles all the charitable giving. One of our prime rules is that she keeps a list that I can refer to so I can hang up the phone and be rude when they pester.
We probably average about 10 phone calls a day from the beggars, many avoided due to caller ID on most of our phones. If they get through and are ON the list they get politely informed we only give by snail mail, if they are not on the list and I answer the phone I hang up.

We just got back to Virginia from 2 months away and she has 2 boxes, 12x12x6 of charity mail. What kicked off this thread is that some of the charities are now sending mail with a big red SECOND NOTICE stamp. The American Cancer Society was one of them, and I think they are now OFF the list.

I know I got a lecture on how she hates seeing a SECOND NOTICE stamp in the mail.

 

[EddieWalker]

What do they propose to do to you if you fail to send them money after the second notice?

 

[KubotainNH]

These people are way beyond obnoxious. They seem to think they are now a monthly utility bill. Plus they push extra hard on the elderly.

 

[Clay45]

If I get a sob story, a second notice, or any other panhandler type correspondence I shred it. Never have received a 2nd notice but should it ever happen they probably won't get another penny. And if I contribute only to suddenly get a number of new requests for assistance that ends it for me.

I see causes that I'd like to support but they want you on the "monthly payment plan" so they're off my list as well. The "business" of charity may just be its undoing.

 

[phiferpharm]

Take a look at this site:
Charity Navigator - America's Largest Charity Evaluator | Home

It does a pretty good job of sorting out the good/bad/ugly of charities. FYI, American Cancer Society is not rated very well...

 

[Beltzington]

Unfortunately we are only harming ourselves with the anger, the caller, etc. gets paid regardless and they certainly don't care or they would not take the job. Knowing this still does not keep me from occasionally losing it. What irritates me the most is nothing short of going off the grid can be done to prevent this, I filed a complaint for a Do Not Call violator, had times, names, numbers and at the end of the day I was told is all we can do is put them on our list.
Just last week I was doing my son a favor renewing his vehicle registration (University Tags) and I had to opt out of the dept. of revenue providing the university contact information presumably so they could add him to their possible donor call list. SO great, now the government is getting in on the action.

 

[Garandman]

I joined the ACLU For one year 10 years ago: I wanted to be a Card-carrying member of the ACLU and NRA at the same time.

They are still sending me renewal notices 2-3 times a year.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I have been getting some beggar calls lately with message lately. The callers will pronounce my first name kind of like they know me but then stop. My wife and I had a chuckle over a call today asking for my mother with the same kind of inflection. My mother passed three years ago. Wonder if the caller was clearvoyant?

 

[caver]

I stop at an area Casey's convenience store on the way to my property. They have fresh brewed unsweetened iced tea which I enjoy. They are always asking if I want to donate my change to XXX charity. I hate businesses that do this.

 

[Msgtmje]

My mother in law used to live with us, as she entered her senior years she started getting charity requests that looked progressively more and more like bills. As she declined she was unable to tell the difference (Alzheimer's) between the requests and real bills. I came to belive that tactics like these are intentionally targeting certain groups and counting on the confusion and fear to increase their "take". I spoke to the USPS Postal police and was told that while what their doing is unethical it is not illegal and their is nothing they can do. In response I started to open the mailings, filled the postage paid return envelopes with the mailing appeal literature they sent or one of the other mailings and sending that back on their dime. It stopped in about 6 months. YMMV

 

[RSKY]

When we get a phone call from a charity I very politely ask what the name of the charity is and then ask them to wait for a minute while I check my list. I then tell them that I have donated in the past and that my extended family keeps a list of all the charities that we donate to. I explain that if we get even one unsolicited phone call from a charity none of us ever donate to them again even if we had donated before. It usually surprises the caller and they hesitate for a second and I go on and tell them that their unsolicited call will result in twelve families no longer donating to their organization. I then explain that we also post online to our churches web sites and most people there will stop donating to any charity that calls people. I explain that this is because most telephone charities tend to harass the older people in the churches. I then ask them to remove my name from their calling list and I hang up.

We get very few second calls.

RSKY

 

[RSKY]

Another thought. I read an article a few years ago about a reporter in Colorado who researched several local charities. He found one that was really doing good work. Most of the money collected was used for whatever the charity worked for. The guy actually went to the charity headquarters and talked to the head man. During the interview the reporter remarked that he really liked the design of the collection boxes for extra change in all the local stores. The charity boss got a look on his face and said that they did not use collection boxes in retail stores. Some scumbag had printed up the boxes and placed them around to make a little extra tax free cash. Had the charity's logo on the boxes and everything.

I do not give to many charities and only local ones at that.

RSKY

 

[SPIKER]

M.... In response I started to open the mailings, filled the postage paid return envelopes with the mailing appeal literature they sent or one of the other mailings and sending that back on their dime. It stopped in about 6 months. YMMV

My sister-n-law used to take the pre-paid envelopes and tape them to a box and ship back all the junk mail, rocks sticks you name it to them on their dime. The packages were over weight & they would end up having to pay up more for the old mags and post mail spam,,,

 

[CurlyDave]

I think giving to most formal charities is a scam. They are run by people who live a lot bigger lifestyle than we do.

We almost never get phone solicitations. Our land line goes to the fax machine, which will ring through the day but which we never answer.

We give locally. We contribute to our church, and if there is an event that has a cost we will sponsor a family or two to that event. We help support a missionary family that we know.

We frequently hire people from local families to do work we could do ourselves. Often this doesn't end up being a tax deduction, so the amount we can put into it might be lower, but I am not convinced that God has much of a relationship with the IRS. What it does do is give people both needed money, and the dignity of working for it.

 

[turnkey4099]

I got my first "second notice" the other day. It was trying once again to sell me a maintenance contract on my 8 year old car..

Harry K

 

[MikePA]

Life's too short to get so worked up about things you can't control. You can't stop the calls or the letters. Ignore the calls and throw the letters out.

 

[Deere Dude]

Life's too short to get so worked up about things you can't control. You can't stop the calls or the letters. Ignore the calls and throw the letters out.

Ignore the calls by saying no and hanging up or take the nice address stickers out of the envelope then throw them away.

 

[Deere Dude]

Life's too short to get so worked up about things you can't control. You can't stop the calls or the letters. Ignore the calls and throw the letters out.

Ignore the calls by saying no and hanging up or take the nice address stickers out of the envelope then throw them away.

 

[newbury]

Now right there are a couple of good ideas!

My mother in law used to live with us, as she entered her senior years she started getting charity requests that looked progressively more and more like bills. As she declined she was unable to tell the difference (Alzheimer's) between the requests and real bills. I came to belive that tactics like these are intentionally targeting certain groups and counting on the confusion and fear to increase their "take". I spoke to the USPS Postal police and was told that while what their doing is unethical it is not illegal and their is nothing they can do. In response I started to open the mailings, filled the postage paid return envelopes with the mailing appeal literature they sent or one of the other mailings and sending that back on their dime. It stopped in about 6 months. YMMV

When we get a phone call from a charity I very politely ask what the name of the charity is and then ask them to wait for a minute while I check my list. I then tell them that I have donated in the past and that my extended family keeps a list of all the charities that we donate to. I explain that if we get even one unsolicited phone call from a charity none of us ever donate to them again even if we had donated before. It usually surprises the caller and they hesitate for a second and I go on and tell them that their unsolicited call will result in twelve families no longer donating to their organization. I then explain that we also post online to our churches web sites and most people there will stop donating to any charity that calls people. I explain that this is because most telephone charities tend to harass the older people in the churches. I then ask them to remove my name from their calling list and I hang up.

We get very few second calls.

RSKY

My sister-n-law used to take the pre-paid envelopes and tape them to a box and ship back all the junk mail, rocks sticks you name it to them on their dime. The packages were over weight & they would end up having to pay up more for the old mags and post mail spam,,,

 

[k0ua]

My mother in law used to live with us, as she entered her senior years she started getting charity requests that looked progressively more and more like bills. As she declined she was unable to tell the difference (Alzheimer's) between the requests and real bills. I came to belive that tactics like these are intentionally targeting certain groups and counting on the confusion and fear to increase their "take". I spoke to the USPS Postal police and was told that while what their doing is unethical it is not illegal and their is nothing they can do. In response I started to open the mailings, filled the postage paid return envelopes with the mailing appeal literature they sent or one of the other mailings and sending that back on their dime. It stopped in about 6 months. YMMV

I think you are on to something here. We see a lot of the "second notice" mail sent to my 83 year old mother in law who lives with us.