Donate ... If You Dare

I recently asked my cousin what I could get her mother, my aunt, for Christmas. Because my aunt is a civic-minded and charitable person, I thought of making a donation to a charity in her name. Then I thought about the barrage of emails,  snail mail and the phone calls that come with it. So then I thought about maybe a scarf or some earrings or something that doesn't require my handing over my email address. When my cousin got back to me and suggested a donation to St. Jude's Children Hospital, I told her, "What a great idea!" Even though I was secretly thinking, "Now I have to change my email, phone and mailing address to escape Marlo Thomas, Jennifer Aniston and Robin Williams asking me for money."

Let's back-up for second lest you think I am a heartless woman who won't donate to worthy causes for fear of mail (electronic or snail). I am very civic-minded. I've sat on the boards of several local charities and I am always looking for opportunities to volunteer. I also happen to think charitable contributions are a great "alternative" to materials gifts. For example, rather than give our wedding guests useless little trinkets as "favors," we made a large donation to a charity that was near and dear to our hearts. And recently I dropped-off some new clothing for the Light House Shelter in Annapolis. You get the idea. But something has shifted in the charitable world. And I'm not sure the shift is for the better.

See, there are so many non-profits out there, that they are now competing with each other for your hard-earned money. They know out-of-sight is out-of-mind so in order to keep top-of-mind, they mail, call and email you to death. Example. Three years ago I donated $25 to the March of Dimes for a friend's daughter's birthday. It was what the family asked for. Great idea. But since I made that one-time donation, I have gotten countless phone calls, emails and mailings (that include a real dime). Is this really what giving is about? Give us some money and then we'll harass you for years to come? And what about the cost of sending out mailings? How many of you use the return address labels that get sent to you from various charities? It's ok, you can raise your hand. There's no shame; they were unsolicited. Have you ever sent a check in return? Neither have I.

So where am I going with all this rambling. I believe in giving. I think people should volunteer. I see rounding off my grocery bill to the nearest dollar for (x) charity is a harmless means of doing a little good on a regular basis. I'll drop a few dollars in the Salvation Army pot and I'll buy a Toy for a Tot. But I am not giving my money or more importantly, my personal information, to a large corporation – and let's face it, that's what many of the big charities are these days – who would rather hound me for my last dollar than just say, "Thank you," and leave it at that. They say, "Charity beings at home," and if that's the case, I'm going to start keeping my charitable dollars closer to home as well.