When my elderly mother became ill, I found the same thing. She had an incredible amount of this stuff. From the stack of stuff she had in her room with notes next to a list, I think she was overwhelmed by it. I wonder if it is the elderly or older folks who get so much b/c they don't seem as able to just toss it out like the rest of us do.
Wednesday is "junk mail day" at our house. It's an almost odd Wednesday when we get anything BUT junk mail. This week, we received 12 department/grocery/home improvement circulars, 4 different coupon booklets, 8 credit card offers, and 7 "plea-mails" for cash/sponsorship. All this in two days. Thankfully, we can recycle almost all of it, but I still have to go through (esp. credit card offers) and remove the fake credit card glued to the insert first.
Gene - My great-aunt was a tough cookie, a WWII vet, and a generous donor to several faith- and veteran-related causes. As for appeals in the mail -- her record was eighteen in just one day. Nine years after she died -- nine YEARS, for cryin' out loud -- we are still getting begging letters in her name.
A major source of income for these groups is selling their lists to other groups. What a waste of time, effort, paper, and trinkets.
Submitted by krmartello on Fri, 02/27/2009 - 08:25.
i stopped giving altogether because of the onslaught of requests for donations. i only give to my favorites through payroll deduction at my job. they don't sell my address to other charities to make more money. on one hand i can see why nonprofits would need to focus their energies on those who are proven givers, but on the other as a recipient of so much mail, i'm with you that there ought to be some sort of limit. i have to admit saying "no" is hard, but at some point you just have to take care of yourself.
Submitted by druicilla on Fri, 02/27/2009 - 10:36.
OMG!!! My 92 year old Great Aunt would sometimes get a dozen or more of this kind of thing A DAY!!! Her daily exercise plan was walking down to the mail center and picking up the mail. And yes, a lot of them were ruthless in their manipulation of her generosity. It made me sick to see her agonize over which ones to give to. Sometimes, if I picked up her mail for her I would toss them out, but she always noticed the light load :)
Submitted by officegirl on Fri, 02/27/2009 - 10:43.
Being inundated with what SOlswold above calls "plea-mails" makes me want to *stop* giving, just to shut down the deluge. I'm thinking subscriptions to certain magazines will get you on some of these lists as well.
Gene, if you come up with a "Do Not Beg" list, I'll be the first to sign up.
Signed,
I Give What I Can When I Can So Please Don't Make It Difficult
(aka G.)
I'm 100% with you on this one. I also find it interesting that Corporal Sean Kaspar may have just received a scale model kit of the fighter aircraft that nearly blew his leg off. Hours of fun and happy memories ahead for the dogface as he recovers!
My 88 year old mother gets tons of donation requests. Somehow, she got on some "sucker" list and gets lots of junk mail like the above. There's no real way to make it stop.
Submitted by whymewhyme on Thu, 03/12/2009 - 04:35.
i stopped giving altogether because of the onslaught of requests for donations. i only give to my favorites through payroll deduction at my job. they don't sell my address to other charities to make more money. on one hand i can see why nonprofits would need to focus their energies on those who are proven givers, but on the other as a recipient of so much mail, i'm with you that there ought to be some sort of limit. i have to admit saying "no" is hard, but at some point you just have to take care of yourself. sesli sohbetsesli chat
Same Experience
When my elderly mother became ill, I found the same thing. She had an incredible amount of this stuff. From the stack of stuff she had in her room with notes next to a list, I think she was overwhelmed by it. I wonder if it is the elderly or older folks who get so much b/c they don't seem as able to just toss it out like the rest of us do.
Yes, enough is enough
Wednesday is "junk mail day" at our house. It's an almost odd Wednesday when we get anything BUT junk mail. This week, we received 12 department/grocery/home improvement circulars, 4 different coupon booklets, 8 credit card offers, and 7 "plea-mails" for cash/sponsorship. All this in two days. Thankfully, we can recycle almost all of it, but I still have to go through (esp. credit card offers) and remove the fake credit card glued to the insert first.
Giving
Hey, my wife use to work for United Missouri Bank! Gene, always enjoy your blog.
charitable solicitations
Gene - My great-aunt was a tough cookie, a WWII vet, and a generous donor to several faith- and veteran-related causes. As for appeals in the mail -- her record was eighteen in just one day. Nine years after she died -- nine YEARS, for cryin' out loud -- we are still getting begging letters in her name.
A major source of income for these groups is selling their lists to other groups. What a waste of time, effort, paper, and trinkets.
i hate to admit it
i stopped giving altogether because of the onslaught of requests for donations. i only give to my favorites through payroll deduction at my job. they don't sell my address to other charities to make more money. on one hand i can see why nonprofits would need to focus their energies on those who are proven givers, but on the other as a recipient of so much mail, i'm with you that there ought to be some sort of limit. i have to admit saying "no" is hard, but at some point you just have to take care of yourself.
Ugh!!!
OMG!!! My 92 year old Great Aunt would sometimes get a dozen or more of this kind of thing A DAY!!! Her daily exercise plan was walking down to the mail center and picking up the mail. And yes, a lot of them were ruthless in their manipulation of her generosity. It made me sick to see her agonize over which ones to give to. Sometimes, if I picked up her mail for her I would toss them out, but she always noticed the light load :)
I have the same reaction
Being inundated with what SOlswold above calls "plea-mails" makes me want to *stop* giving, just to shut down the deluge. I'm thinking subscriptions to certain magazines will get you on some of these lists as well.
Gene, if you come up with a "Do Not Beg" list, I'll be the first to sign up.
Signed,
I Give What I Can When I Can So Please Don't Make It Difficult
(aka G.)
Junk Mail
I'm 100% with you on this one. I also find it interesting that Corporal Sean Kaspar may have just received a scale model kit of the fighter aircraft that nearly blew his leg off. Hours of fun and happy memories ahead for the dogface as he recovers!
Please start a charity!! I
Please start a charity!! I am living an inudation nightmare. You are so lucky that you think this is an anomaly.
This has been my experience too
Once you give to one, the rest come knocking.
Donation Requests for the Elderly
My 88 year old mother gets tons of donation requests. Somehow, she got on some "sucker" list and gets lots of junk mail like the above. There's no real way to make it stop.
i stopped giving altogether
i stopped giving altogether because of the onslaught of requests for donations. i only give to my favorites through payroll deduction at my job. they don't sell my address to other charities to make more money. on one hand i can see why nonprofits would need to focus their energies on those who are proven givers, but on the other as a recipient of so much mail, i'm with you that there ought to be some sort of limit. i have to admit saying "no" is hard, but at some point you just have to take care of yourself.
sesli sohbet sesli chat