Harrassment from charities

[VHG]

I know this isn't "News" but I was not sure what section to put it under.

My elderly mother is now in her late 80s and can no longer look after her own affairs. For the last year or so I have been handling all her mail, making a note of who writes to her so I can contact them when she goes into a home or passes on.

In the past she has supported some animal charities (Guide Dogs etc) with small donations, and also gave some money (small amount) to a cancer charity when one of our relatives got cancer.

But I am staggered at the amount of mail she gets from Charities, she gets it from over 80 different charities now, sometimes hearing from some of them more than once a month.

Some of them are bordering on scams, with envelopes saying in huge letters "open now - you may have won £20,000" or similar phrases.

She now gets mail from at least a dozen cancer charities, even though she only gave money to one, proving these charities "sell on" your details to each other (which I thought was against the Data Protection Act").

She also gets mail from dozens and dozens of animal charities, and the other day even got one from a charity called "Freedom from Torture" which she has never had before.

I believe this is bordering on harrasssment, and I would suggest you all think twice before sending money to a charity, or expect to get bombarded.

[VHG]

I have to say the two WORST charities for mail are the PDSA and IFAW.

The PDSA (Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals) have sent her TEN letters since September 2011, including a number of "scam" type "You may have won money" letters

Also the IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) who have also sent her 10 letters since September, and many of those being "scam" type prize draw letters.

I suggest you steer well clear of these two, unless you want to have your letter box bulging with mail.

[pdust]

the exact same thing happened to a friends mum, she is sick to death of it and keeps contacting them asking them to stop sending mail, which they ignore. I would rip the letters/leaflets in bits and put them in the prepaid envelope that usually comes with them and send them back.....

[daffy654]

I give to a few charities but never get mail from ones I haven't previously given to.

[rov1100]

Maybe she should get her name on the Mail Preference Service to stop unwanted junk

http://www.stopjunkmail.org.uk/guide/mps.php

[Zeuhl]

Yes MPS as Rov suggests - all the main charities run their files icluding rented and reciprocals (swopped between charities) against the MPS files.

What you have described as 'scams' are not. They are almost certainly legitimate prize draws run in line with all relevent laws and controls.

Harassment? - there is no law against sending someone a letter and nothing injurious in receiving one or 80 of them for that matter. I suggest you get a grip!

The charities you mention all fund valuable work and the campaigns are carefully managed to raise much more money than they cost - otherwise they wouldn't do it.

In these difficult times the charities need all the help they can get - not hysterical sabotage.

[rowanwitch]

she probably forgot to tick the no further correspondance/information sharing boxes

[VHG]

>>What you have described as 'scams' are not...

I have seen many of the envelopes and letters my mum gets and they are as near to scams as you can get.

One of them had a huge heading "You have won £20,000" but above it in very small writing was the text "I would love my next letter to you to say..."

They are full of double speak, innuendo, and dubious claims that make it very very difficult for an old person to know if they HAVE won or not (which I am sure the letters are intened to do, spead confusion and fear if you dont reply).

I hate to see charities like the PDSA reduced to this level of fundraising. The IFAW already has a bad reputation for excessive fundraising.

I know it is a difficult time for charities, but it is also terrible seeing some of the emotional blackmail used on these letters ("if you dont send money this cat will die").

>>>>there is no law against sending someone a letter

No, but 10 letters in 3 months is bordering on harrassment, particularly when you have not even given money to that charity.

[VHG]

I see the head of IFAW, Fred O'Regan, was given 379,294 dollars a year (June 2009 to June 2010).

Nice work if you can get it.

http://www.bbb.org/ch...yarmouth-port-ma-2586

[Zeuhl]

<<10 letters in 3 months is bordering on harrassment, particularly when you have not even given money to that charity. >>

From the same charity?

If so, it seems more like bad practice and waste of money to me. After 30 years in and around Direct Marketing (incl a lot of work with charities) I can't imagine any 'cold mail' programme paying-back with that many mailings and that frequency

As suggested by Rov; MPS, or write Gone Away on outer and return to sender and failing that Recycle Bin.

[Zeuhl]

Regarding Fred O'Regan

I don't know much about IFAW but they've always been a bit too marketing led for my liking - and charity governance in the USA is different.

And the salary is only £240,000 for someone who is chief exec of a highly visible, multi-national company with several subsidiaries.

It's not fundraising on a kitchen table by any stretch of the imagination.

[chaptazbru]

I support the IFAW because they do a lot of good. However, I only donate when I want too or can afford too, I ignore any mail from them I don't want to open. I support several charities and can't give money on a continuous basis.

[Dodger666]

I suggest you contact these charities and tell them your mother's health is failing an she can't look after her own affairs and to stop pestering her.

http://www.charityfac...you/getting_your.html

Don't give them your name & address otherwise you'll get pestered.

[ludwig]

// I suggest you contact these charities and tell them your mother's health is failing an she can't look after her own affairs and to stop pestering her.
Don't give them your name & address otherwise you'll get pestered. //

Dodger, if that's how they're going to respond to a heartfelt plea to leave your elderly mother alone, it's hardly worth making the plea in the first place because they obviously don't give a toss.
It's marketing. I wouldn't be surprised if they deliberately target the elderly because they get the best return from it. Every so often there's a chance of hitting the jackpot and getting the whole estate bequeathed from someone who's fed up because their children don't visit them enough.

[boxtops]

I get direct marketing from loads of charities, some of which I have never given to. Often they send me address labels, which are very handy to keep and use. I just shred the rest of what they send - it makes good recycling.

[Dodger666]

If what you say is true Ludwig, then VHG should take it up with the "Fund Raising Standards Board" who regulate fundraising.

http://www.charityfac...ng/who_regulates.html

[TheOtherHalf]

We also still get loads even though I went of the mail preference list. Anything that comes now just get put in the recycle bin, but I keep anything useful like pens, bookmarks etc. serves em right. They are wasting a lot of their own money so why should we give to a cause like them. The only ones I support through the post is Anthony Nolan, otherwise I just put in charity boxes or fund raise myself

[anotheoldgit]

Since your Mother is no longer able to look after her own affairs, have you thought about taking out a 'Power of Attorney' or 'Lasting Power of Attorney'?

http://www.justice.go...of-attorney/index.htm

[mariabeech]

Yes My friends and I supported this IFAW for years but none of us ever won a prize. I asked them for a prize winners list and instead of people winning the amount stated on the appeal form they had only won very small amounts.

[LifeIsGoodAlways]

Just got one of this "You can win" prize draw letter from IFAW. And I am far from being a senior citizen and even I got very confused by the letter - did I just win something or did they want me to send them money? Very confused I did what any millennia will do - I googled it. It's really *** me off that they resort to this kind of tactics that's why I only support small charities with clear proof of all the work they do. IFAW was always a suspect charity on my list and now I have very good reason to bin them! They're barred from my monthly charitable giving budget.

[YorksCarol]

Ref IFAW - there are several points. If you do enter a prize draw, the date is a couple of years hence. During that time, they send you mails more or less every month insisting you return the form (hoping for yet another donation) otherwise you forfeit your entry to the prize draw. NONE of these envelopes are postage-paid - you have to fork out the money to return them - over here in the UK, sending 2 of these back costs £1 second class! I've reported this to the Advertising Standards/Charity Commission and hopefully they'll investigate...