Using those address labels from charities

[Lamb]

Do you feel it's ethical to use the address labels that charities send to you without sending money in return?

 

[Josiah]

Ethical? Well...... at times I DO keep them (even the dine or whatever attached to the fundraising letter). I don't really need many (hardly "snail mail" anything).

I didn't ask for them..... I can't return them...... they'd just go in the trash.... That's how I "justify" it.

 

[tango]

Do you feel it's ethical to use the address labels that charities send to you without sending money in return?

If people send me stuff unsolicited I figure it's for them to either send a means to return it to them (at their expense) or accept I'm going to use them.

Personally I get irritated at things like the letters that say "hey, here's a dollar, why not send it back to us with a few more dollars of your own?". I'm not going to donate to a charity just because they sent me a dollar, all that tells me is that either they are wasteful or they play mind games with me.

 

[Stravinsk]

I don't receive such things in my mail.

I also have a sign on my box that asks for "no junk" - to me that means any vendor ("charity" or not) - that is seeking $$ from me.

But if I did, I wouldn't have a problem using them. If someone sends me some product that I have not ordered in the hopes of getting my business or seeking payment for such product they can get stuffed if they think I should compensate them for their efforts. I didn't order your service, and maybe if it's a charity I don't wish to donate. Those are my prerogatives, and I don't feel any obligation because I didn't initiate anything. Nice try, you failed. Thanks for the free stuff.

 

[tango]

I don't receive such things in my mail.

I also have a sign on my box that asks for "no junk" - to me that means any vendor ("charity" or not) - that is seeking $$ from me.

But if I did, I wouldn't have a problem using them. If someone sends me some product that I have not ordered in the hopes of getting my business or seeking payment for such product they can get stuffed if they think I should compensate them for their efforts. I didn't order your service, and maybe if it's a charity I don't wish to donate. Those are my prerogatives, and I don't feel any obligation because I didn't initiate anything. Nice try, you failed. Thanks for the free stuff.

In many ways it's worse than an annoyance - I destroy things that have my name and address on them rather than putting them in the general recycling or garbage, and dozens of stickers I don't want is a hassle to get rid of. A shredder will struggle with that much glue, which means I have to burn them. Hence the ones that I like I'll use but generally the ones that suggest I support a charity I don't actually support are things I'd most likely just destroy.

To be honest I get really sick of some of the mind games charities play. If they're not trying to trick you into giving more than you wanted they're trying to lay a guilt trip on you for not giving as much as they think you should give. As I get older I find myself wanting to support a small number of local charities and leave the faceless megacharities to do whatever it is they do.

 

[psalms 91]

In many ways it's worse than an annoyance - I destroy things that have my name and address on them rather than putting them in the general recycling or garbage, and dozens of stickers I don't want is a hassle to get rid of. A shredder will struggle with that much glue, which means I have to burn them. Hence the ones that I like I'll use but generally the ones that suggest I support a charity I don't actually support are things I'd most likely just destroy.

To be honest I get really sick of some of the mind games charities play. If they're not trying to trick you into giving more than you wanted they're trying to lay a guilt trip on you for not giving as much as they think you should give. As I get older I find myself wanting to support a small number of local charities and leave the faceless megacharities to do whatever it is they do.

I dont have a problem with using them and not giving as it is a ploy to make people feel guilty

 

[Lamb]

I agree with a lot of what everyone has said!

I think it's such a money waster for these ploys on the parts of the charities and it makes me look at how charities are run and which is more deserving. Some of the really big charities give the heads huge salaries! It's shocking how little actually goes to the needy.

 

[psalms 91]

Yes a lot of these so called charities are only charity for those running them

 

[Rens]

I once got a beg letter with 15 cents in it. Thanks m8!

 

[George]

they can get stuffed

looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

I've never received any money in the mail except from the survey people and I do fill out the survey and send it back. As far as the labels, yes, I use them. Otherwise, they go to waste just sitting there. Sometimes I send a donation, but most the time I do not.

 

[MarkFL]

I rarely use them simply because they don't print my last name correctly...it is a slight Americanization of a French name (think Pierre Simon La Place). My mother doesn't mind that, yet she feels guilty for using them if she doesn't donate, and I tell her she needn't feel any guilt for the same reasons others have posted here.

 

[Lamb]

I refuse to donate to someone who can't get my easy last name correct!

 

[psalms 91]

lol, I dont trust those charities since they dont even ask, just work off a mailing list

 

[tango]

Increasingly I don't give to national charities at all, because I have no way of knowing what they do with the money. A local charity is less likely to have a CEO taking a seven figure salary.

 

[psalms 91]

agreed and in our area there are many things worthy of donations

 

[MarkFL]

Yes, I only donate locally myself...I feel like more of my donation will reach those in need, without a huge overhead, distribution network and board of directors who each take their 6-7 figure salaries off the top.

 

[tango]

Yes, I only donate locally myself...I feel like more of my donation will reach those in need, without a huge overhead, distribution network and board of directors who each take their 6-7 figure salaries off the top.

I must admit I get irritated at the stores who ring through your stuff and then ask whether you'd like to donate some trivial sum to whatever charity they picked for the month. It might only be $1 but it seems like the kind of technique that's intended to guilt people into giving it (a lot of people don't want everyone in line behind them hearing them say "No, I'm not going to donate one measly dollar to a good cause") only for the company in question to take all the credit for the final donation anyway.

 

[MarkFL]

Oh yes, I find that annoying and sneaky for exactly the reasons you just stated. I always state in a firm clear, but not overly loud, voice that I already give to the charities of my choice.

 

[Lamb]

I must admit I get irritated at the stores who ring through your stuff and then ask whether you'd like to donate some trivial sum to whatever charity they picked for the month. It might only be $1 but it seems like the kind of technique that's intended to guilt people into giving it (a lot of people don't want everyone in line behind them hearing them say "No, I'm not going to donate one measly dollar to a good cause") only for the company in question to take all the credit for the final donation anyway.

I understand that their manager's force them to ask so I just reply, "Not today, thanks!"