Surprise! It's the holiday season, and the deluge of appeals for money has started. I'm getting appeals in my mail box and e-mails seeking donations in my inbox. Facebook, too, is filled with reminders that Tuesday, Nov. 27, is "Giving Tuesday." And now there are lots of online appeals for donations to help those in California impacted by the wildfires. How do we know which are legitimate requests and which are scams?
I get it. I really do. The need is great. Non-profit organizations need money to operate and carry out their good works. I worked for a non-profit organization for 8 years in California. I'm a pretty generous person. I donate to a variety of causes. But enough is enough. I'm still getting regular appeals in the mail from an organization to which I donated ONCE 20 to 25 years ago! How much money has this organization wasted with its ongoing appeals about some "emergency" in this or that part of the world to someone who hasn't donated a dime to it in a quarter century?
Non-profits are so persistent that I now refuse to donate to any organization to which I haven't previously donated. The reason is simple: I don't want to end up on a mailing list, or an e-mail list, or to have my personal information sold to still other non-profits.
Predictions are that last year's changes in the tax laws will make it harder for people to itemize their charitable donations when they file their 2018 taxes. That means that donations are likely to decrease. Fewer donations means more pressure on the non-profits to raise necessary funds. And that may well translate into still more pressure on donors to contribute.
I don't want to be a Scrooge this holiday season. I still will donate, whether the donations are deductible or not. But I don't appreciate the constant 'reminders' for more money. Here are a few suggestions for non-profits.
- Please stop trying to disguise your requests for money as surveys or questionnaires. You're not fooling anybody, so just say you need money to do this or that project or to help this group of people or animals.
- Don't send me requests for money to provide Thanksgiving meals for the homeless when it's barely August!
- When you send me a thank-you letter or receipt for my latest donation, DO NOT include a form and envelope for another donation! That makes you seem greedy and unappreciative.
- So, too, does the not-so-subtle technique of filling in possible donation amounts, with the smallest amount listed being greater than my previous donation. If I give $25, the next donation form will start with $35, with the 'other' box being at the end (i.e., the highest). I know these tricks, and they don't work on me.
When I worked for 8 years for a large California humane society, some people would complain about the fact that employees were actually paid to work there. I was making $12,000/year, and I was one of the higher paid employees. Apparently employees who work for non-profits are supposed to work for free. Sadly, grocery stores don't hand out free groceries to those who work for non-profit organizations. Now we have CEOs of large national non-profit organizations being paid millions of dollars. For example, the CEO of Goodwill brings home $2.3 million each year. The CEO of the American Red Cross is paid $500,000. The CEO of the Salvation Army, by contrast, is paid just $13,000 per year. Quite a difference!
So when you get those piles of requests for donations to various charities this holiday season, please do a bit of investigating before you write that check or donate online. www.charitynavigator.org is a good place to start. After all, you want your donations to go where they will do the most good, not to fund a lavish lifestyle for the CEO.
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