rocketraider

Like many of you I support several charities and non-profit foundations. I'm selective of what I support, and it has to be either local or a cause that is important to me.


Is it just me or are some of the national groups getting way more aggressive in their funding appeals?


In past two weeks I have gotten cold-call "gifts" (calculator, calendars, and other trinkets) from four WW2-related non-profits that I have never had any relation with. I have to assume the National WWII Museum shared my name with these groups, as I bought a brick for my uncles who served.


Yesterday, got two followup letters wanting to "make sure" I got the "gifts" and asking again for what I consider substantial donations (in the $100 range).


Since I (1) did not order these "gifts" and (2) have had no prior relation with these groups, I ignore them.


It's not only the WW2 groups. My mailbox is full of appeals every day, so checking the "do not share my name" box is obviously not working.


Might add that annual renewal of my phone numbers with the Federal Do Not Call registry doesn't appear to be working either as the caller ID is loaded with "out of area" "unavailable" and unfamiliar area code numbers every day. I've read that these groups deem the risk of prosecution acceptable and simply ignore the DNC registry.


Short of being rude to the caller or sending a snippy letter to the NPO management, how do y'all handle such things?

oldcutlass

It seems the DMV, Veterans administration, car dealerships, supermarkets, Walmart, Amazon, credit card co's, etc... all sell your personal info. I just ignore and shred.

rustyroger

"Chugging" or charity mugging has been a nuisance over here for some time. Also very questionable practices by some leading charities who target soft touches has reached the stage that several Members of Parliament, roughly equivalent to a Senator perhaps?, have raised the matter in Parliament.
Notably an elderly lady with mild dementia was bled dry of her savings by constant charity fund raising requests.
Some of the fund raisers earn a commission for their efforts, selling charity instead of perhaps cars or insurance, with no moral concern for who they get money from.
At a show I helped out at back in June we chased away some characters who were accosting showgoers and trying to get them to sign up to a perfectly legitimate charity after some of the public complained of being subjected to hard sell tactics.

Roger.

CRUZN 66

That is my logic as well....

As for the rest of unsolicited requests... I do feel guilty about keeping most of those gifts, so I either give them away or just dispose of them if they have any reference to my identity (name, address, etc.).... Eventually, the gifts do stop coming, at least for a while.....

83hurstguy

I feel like everyone sells your information these days... car dealers, real estate agents, insurance guys, etc...

I've thought about adding up how much time each day I spend deleting emails, ignoring phone calls, or shredding junk mail, but it would be too depressing.

Diego

To tell you the truth, a lot of it may have to do with your age. Are you in your 60s?

My mom is 72 and the amount of calls she gets - despite being on a no-call list - is unbelievable. These people know they will get her eventually.

rocketraider

Possibly- I'm right up on 59 end of this month.

Asked one caller last night why they had called 4 times yesterday and twice the day before that and was told they did not repeat call. Said, my caller ID begs to differ. Doubt I'll get another call from them.

Railguy

It's the law if someone ask you to donate to a non-profit and you ask how much go's to the charity and how much go's to the fund raiser . They have to tell you it's the law. So when they ask you ,ask them. And they will tell you because it's the law. Then when they tell you "usually about 60% goes to the charity but I've seen as little as 20%". After they tell you question them about it. Ask them how much they are making personally. They will stop calling it's like you get put on a list.
R

Junkman

I have used a few tactics successfully... First I tell them that I am unemployed, and the home is being foreclosed. Other times, I tell them that I am dead, and that we are taking donations for the funeral. Lastly, I answer the phone as "Financial Services, how may I direct your call?" That usually gets rid of them without any words. They know that business's don't donate over the phone. You just have to get creative in how you answer the call, because if you don't answer it, they will keep trying to get to you. Once they realize that calling isn't going to work, because the person that they are trying to reach, is unreachable, they drop your number from the call list.

RonFX

Guys:
I try to be polite the first couple times they call and ask them not to call back, if that fails, then I ratchet it up. I get abusive,rude,mean and nasty with them, I tell them that anyone who calls from your number will get the same treatment. On occasion, they try to tell me that I cannot talk to them in that manner, the abuse only gets worse. I tell them, if you don't like the way I am talking to you, do not call back. You called me, I did not call you, this seems to work.
Thanks, Ron

MDchanic

Tangentially, we got a number of calls and letters after my father in law died, attempting to collect on debts that may or may not have been legitimate (sorry, pal, you can't get money from a dead man). The "He died" line did not always stop them, so we finally looked up the cemetery's street address and told them all he'd moved to that address, with his plot as the apartment number. They all stopped...

... Except one. It's been about ten years, and we still get a letter now and then, addressed to her parents, from the cemetery, demanding that they get current with their plot payments. Someone really ought to reconcile those mailing lists...

- Eric

Junkman

That letter from the cemetery is probably for the grounds keeping care. Some cemeteries charge a one time fee when the plot is purchased, and it covers perpetual care of the grounds, and others bill it yearly. If you care about the person that is buried in that cemetery, you should pay to keep up the cemetery. All too many cemeteries have become overgrown with weeds, and there is no care done at all, because there is no money to pay for the grounds keepers.

MDchanic

No, it's not for the grounds care. It is specifically for payments on plots that were bought on time.

My in-laws are dead and buried (in those plots).

My wife and I plan to be burned and dumped - no need for extra real estate.

The cemetery just has no clue as to what they're doing - if you've already had your guys bury someone, don't keep sending mail to him.

- Eric

My442

Ask for their 990 tax form.

It shows what % of the donations actually go to the charitable cause.

You would be shocked to know that a lot of these charities are scams.

Railguy

990 does not need to be filed if income is under $25000.
Railguy

z11375ss

How about this one? I got a DVD in the mail from the NRA of which I am a Golden Eagle. That's like a step above Lifetime Membership. I had been donating to them for twenty some odd years. So, they mail me this DVD with a sheet of info I don't pay any attention to. I toss it because I don't want it. I get a bill in the mail for the DVD since I had not returned it in the correct amount of time for me to not be charged for it. I called the NRA and asked if they were proud to be extorting Members for donations and when did this start? I then paid for the DVD and told them to enjoy the $12.50 because it was the last money they would ever see from me. I was donating at a 2 to 3 hundred dollar a year clip. Buying memberships for folks I knew, that kind of thing. I told them to look at my donation history and enjoy! Dipsticks.

Railguy

Stumbled across this website a few weeks ago.
http://www.melissadata.com/lookups/np.asp?ein=261463662
Railguy

Railguy

You have to watch how they word things to I've seen where charity's say 100% of what they receive goes to the charity. Don't forget the money goes to the fund raiser first then the fund raiser gives ,say 20% to the charity. So yes they are not lying 100% of that 20% does go to the charity.
Railguy

rustyroger

This is legal?.
In the UK we have the Unsolicited Goods Act. It means if somebody sends you something through the mail you haven't asked for, then it is up to the sender to bear all cost of recovering the goods. The recipient is required to hang on to whatever was sent for a reasonable time, effectively a couple of weeks. If the recipient then tosses it in the trash or gives it away after then then that is too bad for the sender.

Roger.

MDchanic

No, it's not.

In the US, if someone sends you something unsolicited, it is a gift to you, and you may dispose of it as you wish, period, without owing anything to the sender.

Legally, z11375 could have just tossed the disc had he so chosen (but I wasn't going to rub salt in that wound).

Incidentally, I, too, am an NRA Life Member, and I have never received this sort of solicitation from them (probably because I'm too darned cheap).
I do not know whom z11375 contacted at the NRA, but I would suggest that this fundraising attempt may have been wholly generated by a contracted fundraising company, and the fundraising managers of the NRA may be unaware that their contracted fundraiser is using these sorts of tactics (they do a LOT of fundraising...)

- Eric

z11375ss

BTW, I did throw it in the trash! It was for something about getting ready for a home invader or some such. No interest, round file. How many big belt buckles have they sent me for being a "Golden Eagle"? I have a few.
Bottom line. I was very surprised the NRA would do this sort of thing or even be associated with it.

z11375ss

Great info site. Thanks.

MDchanic

So am I. That's why I wondered whether it was the invention of a contractor (who keeps a percentage of what they collect), without the knowledge of the central administration.

Some of their fundraising ploys are hokey, but I've never seen any that were dishonest.

- Eric