address labels

My mom gets free labels all the time especially for the Paralyzed Veterans she would donate money so they would send more until she saw on the news the founder of the organinzation gets most of the money abourt $500,00 a year and the vets only get 2 percent of the donations so the labels they send her will be free now she will not send any more money after hearing that.

Well, it looks as though everyone is wondering the same thing. I also get self stamped-self addressed envelopes, but I didn't use the stamps and now that they went up again in price, I can't. Even to get penny stamps to cover the other costs, I would feel weird using their stamps for something else. I do use the address labels and notepads I get, but like you, I don't understand why they would send this out when they could use the money for their charity..

HMMM... that's strange that they send you a check.... Does it have anything written on the back, like if you cash it you're agreeing to a bank draft every month? I get those all the time and we just use them up. It does seem odd that they have the money to print them up, track me when I move, and mail them out. You think they'd save that money for the purpose they're needing the donations for....

I have also wondered the same thing. If they need money how can they send you the lables?? It has to cost money to print them. I dont think they should send you things asking for money. I understand its for a good cause but they could do something diffrent to raise money. They could do fundrasers or something along those lines. You get something and they get a profit of it. Everyone wins.

One of the organizations I gave to last year sent me address labels, but I also read the note that came with it. It didn't just ask for money, but told me that these address labels had been done by people who have disablities. My money was giving them a chance to get a job, and one of the jobs they have is making these labels. They showed me how my money was put to good use. And I really appreciated that. The only thing is, they keep making them out to my former address, so I can't use them. LOL

I do get them all the time in the mail. I think I have 5 different ones in my drawer right now. And I never thought of it that way paying for printing and asking for donations.

I have often wondered about this too BlueStar! I get these labels from soooooooo many different organizations. I'm not in the economic bracket that I can afford to donate to them plus the charities that I always donate to (Ie: the cancer society that helped me so much through my own cancer ordeal.) With prices what they are for oil, gas and all, who can afford to donate to everything?! While it's nice to get the labels and all, I have to wonder how much money they lose by doing their business this way. I never heard of the one that sent you the $2.50 check...how weird is that? Strange way to ask for a donation. Lots of times I think they do this freebie thing to kind of guilt people into making a donation...in other words: we were nice enough to send this to you... I even still have ones coming in the name I had before my divorce lol.

I have a lot of them too. To top it off, I also get free labels from our long time insurance agent. With e-mail I do not even mail that many letters anymore. The other thing is the free stationary, and cards. I feel like they are trying to guilt us into giving. I do not like that. I give to United Way, it benefits local charities. I also give through my church, because it is accountable to me, I know where the money goes, and for what. I participate in stateside and foreign charities through the church. I agree, you do not give something to get a donation. At least not to me.

I get address labels all the time (always in the wrong address because we move so much), I don't donate to the causes because I like to keep my money in the community ( my hometown) by donating to local causes. I don;t think that the orginization spends money printing the labels, companies donate printing for them and use it as a tax write off. It is the same with the stationary and other things. Also the self addressed stamped envelopes usually have postage that they don't have to pay for unless the mail is sent back. Not for profits also get a bulk mailing rate along with a lower postage rate just for not-for profit organizations. I have never heard of the check things though, that just seems stupid to me, unless it is a scam for a bank draft.

Actually, no. Never! Why would they send me MY address labels? It just feels weird. Instead, normally the organizations here just send out forms to fill up with a self-addressed envelope (stamped). Or sometimes, they send us free unused greeting cards and say we can either pay them if we want or just keep it without paying. Personally, I think the cards are generally ugly and they print the name of the organization at the back. So when you send them to friends, it looks a bit cheapo on your part. Yet they keep sending the cards anyway. So we have to be forced to pay since we don't want to take advantage of them. But we really don't like those cards. So in the end, I wrote them a cheque (a little donation) and told them I appreciate that they keep sending those cards - but it is really ok and I would like them to stop sending. I also told them politely but in no uncertain terms that if they continue to send me cards, I will no longer pay for them and they would just be wasting their resources. Well, the cheque was cashed and they never sent any more cards. :)

I have about as many as you do! LOL...I do donate to certain ones but you are right....why don't they just ask for a donation? That would be alot more simple. Lately I have also been getting calendars! More then I'll ever need.

I never understood this concept either. Sending out address labels in hope of receiving a donation. I have in the past sent in a donation, but haven't recently. And I've never received a check for any money wanting it sent back with additional monies. That is very strange.

I think most of these organizations try putting everyone on a guilt trip. Oh, they sent me something, now I have to send something back because that was so nice of them...and alot of people fall for it. The organization that sent you the check for $2.50 is just a gimmick in my book....they send you $2.50 and you think to yourself, oh, I'll just send in another $2.50 and that will be a $5.00 donation from me. But, they still got your money one way or the other. People don't think. I'm glad to see most Mylotters don't fall for that crap. The one's that really get me upset are the one's that start your donations at around $25.00 and up....are you kidding me?...It should ALWAYS be send what you can and I'll be thankful.....ugh, they aggravate me to know extent.

LOL. I agree with you. I am always getting them in the mail too. I never send a donation because I feel like if they can send me address labels and afford to pay for stamps (which are going up all of the time) then they are not the kind of place I want to donate my money too. And you know it's not just yourself that they are sending these to. They probably send them to thousands of people. Stamps are like $.42 or $.49 since now. That would add up...I'm sure they get a discount for mass mailings but still use the money that you are spending on junk to go towards some good honest stuff. I donate money to the Ronald McDonald House because they are a great organization and has helped me when my daughter was in the hospital.

Yes, getting a check does seem strange. I have never seen that before. I do get address labels in the mail, and sometimes I send money if it is a cause that I really care about. I think they have companies that print them for them at little or no cost. The printing companies can write it off on their taxes as a charitable donation, and the organization that is looking for donations is sending them to entice you to donate. They also get discounted postage rates for bulk mailings. It does cost money to make money. But it is an investment for them. If they spend $1,000, and that brings in $10,000, it is money well spent.