http://charitybloggers.com/freedomfighter Just another Charitybloggers.com weblog Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:06:20 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en As part of my charitable activities, I am pleased to contribute towards the cost of deprived city children having a holiday in the country. But I draw the line at my charitable giving subsidising the holidays of well-to-do friends. Adventure holidays, to raise sponsored funds for particular charities, have grown in ... http://charitybloggers.com/freedomfighter/2010/07/06/sponsored-holidays/ I hoped we had heard the last of mailings asking people to put coins in the post to a charity. The Mare and Foal Sanctuary, however, is still using this approach. And I can see the attraction: it is very much like someone calling at the door with a collecting ... http://charitybloggers.com/freedomfighter/2010/07/02/posting-coins/ After bombarding me (and no doubt many others) with requests for funds, The Smile Train  starts its latest letter by saying "if you make just  one gift ....we promise that we will never ask you for another donation again." Of course, it is not quite as simple as that! You have ... http://charitybloggers.com/freedomfighter/2010/06/27/can-you-believe-it/ Fundraising has become so sophisticated that actions which bring on my grumbles may have been intentional - perhaps to get me to read more carefully! Anyway, here is a grumble about a letter with the heading Alzheimer's Care and Research Fund. Nothing wrong with that, but the letter, referring of ... http://charitybloggers.com/freedomfighter/2010/06/12/please-simplify/ The size of envelopes for door-to-door collections really does matter. Collecting this week for Christian Aid, I welcome the larger envelopes. I have had (silver) cash filling an envelope. I feel sure that, with a smaller envelope, it, too, would have been filled - but with, of course, less cash. There ... http://charitybloggers.com/freedomfighter/2010/05/11/size-matters/ I am no admirer of The Smile Train's fundraising approach (perhaps too much US influence?) It is working hard to reinforce my views. An envelope arrives from the charity, with REMINDER stamped on the outside in red ink. Inside is a follow-up letter to one they sent earlier, again asking ... http://charitybloggers.com/freedomfighter/2010/05/06/no-smile-here/ The RSPB is asking for funds to be able to buy a new bird reserve (so what is new?). While the letter, appropriately enough, is signed by the Society's Reserves Manager for South and West Scotland (since the land to be purchased is in Dumfries and Galloway), I would be ... http://charitybloggers.com/freedomfighter/2010/05/04/for-the-birds/ It's good that many charities are realising how important it is not only to say 'thank you', but also how it is said. No longer, in many cases, is a 'thank you' letter simply an acknowledgement that the money has been received. It is the first step in securing the next ... http://charitybloggers.com/freedomfighter/2010/04/30/saying-thank-you/ If you put stamps on a Freepost envelope containing a donation to a charity, it is quite possible that Royal Mail will still charge the charity the normal Freepost fee - although the charity may be able to claim a refund.  One should be particularly careful to put enough postage on such ... http://charitybloggers.com/freedomfighter/2010/04/06/stamping-envelopes/ Is The Salvation Army living too much in the past? I have received a letter nicely thanking me at the outset for the support I have shown in the past. Yes - but the last donation was more than 12 years ago. The letter was sent to me at an ... http://charitybloggers.com/freedomfighter/2010/03/15/living-in-the-past/