Per :
I have saved all charitable requests received in the mail since about the middle of October, just for curiosity. As of this morning, I have more than 40 requests for support. There may be some duplicates in the pile, I didn't make any effort to sort out and throw out duplicates. I use Charity Navigator as my primary screening tool, as well as those local charities my wife and I are personally acquainted with. It still is a huge amount of effort to relieve my wife and myself of our hard-earned pension and savings. What do other folks do?

*Only* 40 for two weeks?...... -)

With us it's probably in the hundreds.

Long time ago, I decided on the "Pick a few good ones.... " path and
donated to Amnesty International.

It then became obvious that they were selling my name/address to mailing
list vendors and I felt betrayed - like a piece of meat somebody hung
out for the wolves.

And don't get me started on the telephone solicitors.....

I have somebody in the house who is a extremely-good, decent,
big-hearted person but in declining health and who keeps responding to
these things.... and the volume seems to grow daily.

We get the full-color pics of tortured animals on the envelopes, the
glass-window envelopes with the dollar bill or fifty-cent piece inside,
the fake gifts for GIs... you name it, we get it.

I try to pull that stuff before it gets to the kitchen table, but am not
always successful, so the trend continues and the volume grows. Last
time I asked the mailman, he said we got the most mail by far of anybody
on his route.

My theory is that there are list vendors out there whose databases get
updated with the types of mailings people respond to and, over time,
users of the databases become able to select people depending on which
button pushes work on which people.

Respond to the dirtbags behind "Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes"
(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/opinion/08fri1.html) who sent that
dollar bill... and you'll get more mailings where money is part of the
come-on.

Respond to the color pic of the mutilated animal... and you'll get more
full-color gore.

I don't *know* this.... but, coming from a computer application/database
background, it seems like an inevitable progression: a profit-making
niche that *will* be filled.

As of now I, personally, don't give to *anybody* who solicits by mail.
If I wanted to feel better about myself, I'd find out where the homeless
people hang and hand out cash... but not a dime to anybody who knows my
name and address.
--
Pete Cresswell