Solicitations for Donations

Have you received mail similar to what I have gotten?  Several times a week I get mail solicitations for donations that contain money. Usually it is only a penny or a nickel, but sometimes there is a dollar bill paper clipped to the letter.

The March of Dimes sends--What else--a dime. It is quite obvious even without opening and reading the letter that the inclusion of money is a mental ploy to make me feel guilty if I don’t return something in the way of a donation.

Do these mind games work?  No, not for me they don’t.  I donate to several charities of my choosing, but I don’t give to any charity because of guilt. I give because I want to help and I believe in the cause. And when I get the coin or the dollar bill from a charity that I support, I’m more likely to stop sending them any donations than I am to send along money that they might waste on some other prospective donor.

Another ploy that is a turnoff for me is when I send a generous donation to a charity or some political candidate whom I believe in, only to receive a letter thanking me for my donation, which includes a new donation form and an envelope to send in yet another donation.

Do these people think I made a mistake and didn’t send enough the first time? That I said to myself, “Oh gosh, I only sent $100, and I really meant to send $1,000.”  I am tempted to quit sending any future donations to those groups that insult my intelligence by asking for another donation immediately upon receiving one from me.

In case you’re now wondering just how cold-hearted I am, I do send money to some non-profits like the USO three or four times a year, but I do it at the time of my choosing. If I get a mailer from one of my favorites, I usually save the return envelope and pledge card to be returned when I feel up to it.

My wife and I both drop paper money in the Salvation Army kettles during the Christmas season, too. And I’m not in any way bragging about it.  I just want to establish that I am not a Scrooge about donating. My point was to show my disdain for organizations that try to guilt me into it. Other than that, I wish everyone would donate to worthy causes and not just to “take it off on their taxes.”  Beginning this year with the new tax bill that avoided that nasty "fiscal cliff," high income earners aren't going to get to take charitable donations anyway.