Saturday, January 16, 2010

Money Not-So-Well Spent

I always put my return address on the snail mail that I send out. And I never need to handwrite the address, thanks to the address labels that I get from charities that I have never donated to.

I guess these charities have purchased my name, hired a marketing firm to print the labels with my address, and then paid mailing costs to send me the labels. The labels are accompanied by a financial appeal letter with a pre-printed response form on which I am to check off the amount of my gift and mail back in the envelope that is also enclosed. Sometimes I even receive a certificate in honor of my support.

I rip up everything but the address labels. It would be a waste to throw them out.

(Postscript: My husband and I tithe to our church and we give regularly to some charitable organizations that we have carefully selected. We do not consider gifts of address labels in our selection process.)

No comments: