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Years ago I received a mailing from Habitat for Humanity. I admired their charitable work and so sent a small donation.
Bad idea.
For the next decade or so, I received about 100 times the cost in mailings as I donated. In other words, they lost money on me.
My dad is a different story. I just took him to the accountant to do his taxes. The dear man, literally, gives a few dollars to every single charity that requests it, unless he morally opposes their positions. (Planned Parenthood, Code Pink, don't bother.) The more he gives, the more mailing lists he gets on. He gets rafts of donation requests every week.
Giving is good. Selling lists of those who give to you, not so much.
Also not good, spending hours every month wading through unsolicited mailings, not to mention all the wasted resources for the printing, packaging, and shipping.
If you've been tagged as a good Samaritan, but need some room in your mailbox for great stuff like bills, there a are a number of things you can try:
- Call the companies and ask them to remove your name
- Go to the company website and look for an opt out link or a contact form
- When you order from a new company, make sure you opt out of any lists or address sharing promoted
- Contact a company that specializes in reducingĀ catalogs and other mailing
- Return the donation form in the postage-paid envelope with the words “remove from mailing list” written across the front
What methods have you used to get off junk mail lists?
Alison Moore Smith is a 61-year-old entrepreneur who graduated from BYU in 1987. She has been (very happily) married to Samuel M. Smith for 40 years. They are parents of six incredible children and grandparents to two astounding grandsons. She is the author of The 7 Success Habits of Homeschoolers.
How generous we are, it must be very annoying if they “sell” our data to spammers.
Hey Alison, I really need these tips right now because the junk mail I’m getting from (places my Mom donated to before she passed) is totally out of hand. I never tried going to their websites and opting out – thanks for the ideas. š
Hope it helps, Ileane. Now that Dad’s mail is forwarded here, the mail is starting to flow.
When I’m asked to fill in the form and leave my e-mail address I’m always afraid of getting tons of unwanted e-mails. Even if they say that they won’t use my e-mail for sending ads, they normally do. It’s very annoying.
So true, because it happens all the time. I have a particular email address that I use for ALL my online comments, purchases, etc. In short order it’s filled with spam, so I change to a new one. Sigh. Spammers should have a special place in purgatory for all the wasted resources they cause.
I’ve been wondering the same: How do all these organizations cover the cost of advertisement they bombard me with through the small amounts they received from me? In most cases I ignore them. Next to my mailbox is a huge bin. That’s how I get rid of them…