Donation Requests and Mailing Lists

So, often in a memorial gesture for a deceased person who has meant something to me, I will do a donation to an organization of the family's suggestion or choosing.  Which means, I end up on mailing lists for all kinds of organizations.

And, although I may never respond to these organizations again, I receive mail from them for sometimes years after I made the initial donation.  It may be some months, or even years, between times that they contact me.  But every once in a while, I will receive another feeler or request.

Sometimes, they even send me things, and request a donation back.  Years ago, when I was a child, my mother was trying to return some such items.  The local postmaster told her not to waste her time or money on postage. If you receive an item in the mail, unsolicited, with a request for a donation or payment, you are under no obligation to make a donation or payment. Well, I get all kinds of calendars (but only one this year), bookmarks, stickers and return address labels.  What is most infuriating is when they cannot even bother to spell my name correctly on the return address labels.

I used to sort the mail for our department at work, and I noticed something really interesting.  When the recession hit, all of a sudden, we were getting mailings from companies that had the names of people who had not worked at the agency for years.  I figured that when times got tough, they expanded their mailing lists to try to fish for more customers.

I wonder how much that costs. I suppose that companies doing mass mailings get some sort of bulk rate discount. But, I think of the cost of paper, printing, and even paying someone to do design layouts. I guess the stuffing of envelopes is automated, but even so, to run the machine must cost something.  I suspect there is an agency or organization out there that can give us statistics about what kind of result this mass mailing produces.

I have to admit that sometimes in the past, I was ugly about these mailings.  In the time of postage paid return envelopes, I would sometimes stuff their materials into those envelopes and return it to the concern involved. I did not do that with not for profit social service or charitable organizations, but with businesses. I am not sure it had its desired effect.

So, although I do receive many, many donations requests, I have specific charities or causes that I primarily and regularly support.  The rest are pretty much ignored. Not because I think their cause is unworthy, but because I am limited in what I can do to help, and I cannot help everyone.