It's that time of year again...

[Bill Graham]

I've started unsubscribing to all the email lists I either signed up for or got signed up to by buying something from some website. I generally do this once or twice a year and it seems like the last couple of years it's been twice. If this keeps up it'll be a quarterly thing(or monthly).

With the arrival of the holiday season it just gets worse and worser. And the catalogs in the mail! When will merchants realize that just because I bought something from them years ago and nothing since they're wasting their money sending me a printed catalog? Geez, Louise! Wake up and smell that there's no coffee brewing!

And lets not forget the non-profits, if they'd spend the money on their causes that they spend sending me letters begging for more money along with return address stickers, note cards and calendars my guess is that they'd be ahead of the game. I already gave them money and I'll give them more next year, isn't that good enough? Why do they badger me and shower me with gifts I never asked for and don't need in the hope that I'll be among the fraction of a percent of their faithful that'll throw some more cash their way? I contributed to the cause for the simple reason I thought it was worthy, I didn't need to be bribed. You do something I think is a Good Thing, don't punish me for helping you.

OK, got that off my chest and the soapbox stowed away.

Am I alone in this? What do you think?

[Frederick Skelly]

And lets not forget the non-profits, if they'd spend the money on their causes that they spend sending me letters begging for more money along with return address stickers, note cards and calendars my guess is that they'd be ahead of the game. I already gave them money and I'll give them more next year, isn't that good enough? Why do they badger me and shower me with gifts I never asked for and don't need in the hope that I'll be among the fraction of a percent of their faithful that'll throw some more cash their way? I contributed to the cause for the simple reason I thought it was worthy, I didn't need to be bribed. You do something I think is a Good Thing, don't punish me for helping you.

A friend of mine is on the Board of a non-profit. He warned me that there are several companies that will contract to fundraise for a non-profit for "free" if the company gets to keep 50% or more of the money they raise. Many of these companies solicit by phone, so I now refuse to donate over the phone at all. Others solicit through the mail, often sending the "gifts" you mention.

[Bill Graham]

A friend of mine is on the Board of a non-profit. He warned me that there are several companies that will contract to fundraise for a non-profit for "free" if the company gets to keep 50% or more of the money they raise. Many of these companies solicit by phone, so I now refuse to donate over the phone at all. Others solicit through the mail, often sending the "gifts" you mention.

There's that as well, you make a good point. I don't answer phone calls from telemarketers anyway and if I did, I wouldn't give them money. Any donations I make are directly to the non-profit I deem worthy.

I used to work for a local non-profit, our executive director was from the national ranks of the BSA. He was really good at explaining how the "throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick" theory of fundraising is cost-effective. According to the bean counters it works and I'm not a bean counter so I can't argue.

All I know is that it pisses me off.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I quit donating over the telephone several years ago. The wife and I tell them if they'll mail us something, we'll take it in consideration.

The one's I detest are the ones that send you something you don't want, like Christmas cards, and then send you several letters and cards stating they sent you the something you didn't want in the first place for which they now want a donation.

[Brian Henderson]

Advertisers are stupid. Many, many years ago we went to a bird show to get some supplies for a bird. They have been sending us ads for the show ever since, even though we don't live anywhere remotely close to it anymore. More than 20 years ago, we went to a coin show in another state and we still get their mailers wanting us to come back. Common sense would tell any rational person that we're not coming, but these are advertisers and are totally lacking in common sense.

[Brian Henderson]

I quit donating over the telephone several years ago. The wife and I tell them if they'll mail us something, we'll take it in consideration.

The one's I detest are the ones that send you something you don't want, like Christmas cards, and then send you several letters and cards stating they sent you the something you didn't want in the first place for which they now want a donation.

I just thank them for the free gift, since if I didn't request it and they sent it anyhow, I am under no obligation to either return it or pay for it. Then I tell them to add me to their internal do not call list and hang up.