By Doug Garr
I once posted on social media that I’d be happy to donate a free tote bag to any charitable organization that takes me off its mailing list. My post received far more than the usual number of likes and laughs.
I was on the board for 10 years (and president for six) of my pre-war Upper West Side co-op. By far the biggest thank you I ever received from a shareholder was when I got the building to place a big blue recycling bin next to the mailboxes in the lobby. When I arrive home just a few hours after the mail is delivered, it is often already overflowing with unopened envelopes.
As a casual experiment, beginning just after the new year in 2024, I decided to stockpile all the postal service missives — solicitations popularly known as junk mail – in a box for later review. The criterion was simple: I saved only those letters from charities I would consider sending checks to. These included organizations that protect the environment, national parks, and endangered animals, as well as local food banks, the New York Public Library, and nonprofit hospitals where poor families’ children can be treated free.
I did not save the political mailings.
I’m someone who thinks of himself as reasonably compassionate and generous, but lately the avalanche of appeals has made me feel a growing resentment to the causes and charities I regularly support, who send me four or five such pieces of mail per day, often as many as eight or ten.
While one would think that the busy season for direct mail (the last quarter of the calendar year) would yield the greatest flow of direct-mail solicitations, I was somewhat surprised to discover that by mid-September, I had already filled up one large box and was close to filling a second one. I weighed them: 32 pounds.
My point is this: while most of us feel good about writing checks when the need is greatest – somewhere before Thanksgiving and the New Year – it has become a constant year-round nuisance. I began getting testy when, almost as soon as my donation was received, in just a few weeks, I received another letter from the same charity, asking me for more.
The outsides of the envelopes have very bizarre pitches: Their desperation increases when you don’t respond. “Urgent”, “Final Chance!,” “Final Membership Statement Enclosed,” “America’s Bees Are Dying At An Alarming Rate,” “One Billion Butterflies Gone!”
More creative is this approach: “Your gift will be MULTIPLIED 9X,” But that was one-upped by Care.org: “We Can’t Let Another Child Starve: Help Make 10X the impact.” Here’s a gambling casino-like multiplier: “Your $1 can provide $20 in medicine and aid for those in need.” The International Medical Corps is going all-in with “Every $1 you give can multiply 30X in impact.”
Then there’s the hysterical approach: “A DEADLY CRISIS demands GLOBAL ACTION.” My latest favorite: “As few as 5,574 left in the wild…” This last one was next to a photo of a tiger. I’m not sure of the species, but it wasn’t a Sumatran, because, according to one source, there are only 400 Sumatran tigers left in the world.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which both my late wife and I supported, reminded her that “It’s National Make-A-Will Month,” even though I informed them that she passed away more than three years ago.
I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.
I did feel a strange sense of guilt – not a lot, just a little — when the March of Dimes enclosed a dime in the window of their envelope. Yes, of course, I always took the coin before I eighty-sixed the solicitation. (I figured I’d paid for it in past donations.) And just this past month the World Wildlife Fund’’s mailer asked me to “Show your love of nature and Get a FREE WWF Zippered Cooler Bag!” You can’t get enough of those items. (See my first paragraph.)
I have just one question to ask all the environmental groups who are continuously putting the touch on me: Do you even know if your mailing is using recycled paper? Does anyone actually check?
What to do about all this? I’m not sure. I actually tried to update my wife’s causes by sending in donations last year and changing the name on the return coupon. In addition, I attached a short note kindly asking the charity to update their records. Of course, this simply resulted in me now getting two envelopes instead of just one, both of us now on their mailing lists.
There are apparently some measures we can take to combat this monumental waste of paper. (How many trees have to die to save a forest?) I spoke with an executive at Charity Navigator, a website that rates 225,000 nonprofits. He said only six percent of those have over $1 million in revenues. Charity Navigator is a good site to check out when you’re taking a deep dive into a charity’s efficiency – like, how much of your dollar goes to actually helping people, as opposed to administrative costs and salaries. You might be surprised at how some medium-sized, multi-million dollar outfits have family members on the board of trustees, not to mention how much they make. If Charity Navigator hasn’t rated them, you can go to the IRS filing that every 501 (C) (3) non-profit is required to disclose.
Kyle Gardner, a Charity Navigator senior vice-president, told me the best advice is: “Don’t get on a list in the first place.” Apparently one way to do this is to go to the “anonymous giving” part of your cause’s website and opt out, where they require you to give your name. The better ones have decent donor privacy policies, and they actually follow them, Gardner said. Getting off a list is probably a fool’s errand, given how much time it will take.
Stay tuned for my weigh-in at the end of year.
My third carton is filling up quickly.
Doug Garr has more than 40 years experience as a journalist, editor, author, and speechwriter. His most recent work is Between Heaven and Earth: An Adventure in Free Fall (Greenpoint Press), a coming-of-age memoir when he fashioned himself a skydiving bum
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If you want to stop these (or at least cut them down) US Postal Service Form 1500 is your friend. To quote:
“How Do I Stop Receipt of Unsolicited “Obscene” Mail?
You may file PS Form 1500 at a local Post Office to prevent receipt of unwanted obscene materials in the mail or to stop receipt of “obscene” materials in the mail. ”
======
Critical note: the definition of “obscene” is **SOLELY** up to the recipient. So yes, if you claim the “save the butterflies” solicitation, or the “feed a politician” is “obscene”, the Post Office is required to follow up.
And yes, your local postal worker may complain, but it’s NOT their choice.
https://faq.usps.com/s/article/What-Options-Do-I-Have-Regarding-Unwanted-Unsolicited-Mail
My only comment is that I open them and use the paper if possible as scrap paper. And I NEVER donate. Sorry but it’s out of control.
Institution memberships are the worst. After getting nowhere with the NY Botanical Garden, I wrote to the Director and told her I thought it was rich that an institution like hers was complicit in cutting down trees. That finally worked.
We decided to forgo all but two museum/institution memberships, as they all get your and your guests’ personal information when they require you to book some or all events online.
None accept cash to enter and with your credit card they can search your entire life history.
Peter
What about the organizations like Consumer Reports, The Nature Conservancy, etc. that continually send renewal notices weeks/months after you already renewed? What a waste of paper, money, etc.
I agree! My AARP membership isn’t due until February ’25, yet they’ve been sending me renewals (with 2 plastic temporary cards) every month since June. I notified them but it made no difference. The only thing I’ve been able to stop are catalogs, by emailing each company and opting out. That helped cut down on 75% of my junk mail.
Its not a waste, a good number of folks forget when their renewal is up and just re-renew again
They would not send them out if it didn’t work
These organizations have limited ways of reaching prospective donors and the good that they achieve from these mailings far out weigh the inconvenience it may cause you. Yes, use as scrap paper, and yes, call the legitimate non-profits to take you off the list. To remove from a list can take up to a year so continue to call a few every week and before you know it your name will be removed.
We make all our donations each January & then just throw out the next 11 months solicitations (‘except those which make for good scrap paper).
Make the donation As anonymous – good idea had not thought of it before.
The app, Paper Karma is a worthwhile investment. Some organizations require multiple requests to stop sending mail but most end after one request. I have successfully whittled down 99.5% of junk mail after a 2-year campaign of religiously scanning these mailings and letting Paper Karma do the rest. I have no affiliation with the app or developers- it just worked for me to eliminate the junk mail and catalogs my mother had subscribed to over her long and fruitful life.
For the separate problem of catalog mailing list removals I encourage the use of https://www.catalogchoice.org/. It’s highly effective and free to use. They accept donations to support their work.
Yes, this definitely works. I also donate to them since they have relieved my mailbox of many catalogues I do not want. But it is a free service..
I came her to recommend this site as well. Thanks to Catalog Choice, I barely receive any junk mail. I give a donation on Giving Tuesday each year to support their work.
I just used a site called Silent Donor to give to an organization I’ve never gotten mail from – and don’t want to start! Site seems excellent. Anyone else know anything about them? They take 5%, which seems fair to me, and emailed a tax receipt immediately. $50 minimum donation to use the service, for charities, etc only, no political causes, pay via credit card or bank transfer.
Yes, our lives are constantly bombarded by advertisements; from television, websites and now mail as you have proven. Capitalism at its best.
Loved this article — I think we all share your frustration!
for charities with prepaid envelopes, I send them back with a note to take me off their mailing lists. When I get energetic, I call the charity and ask the same. Getting much less than before.
I donate regularly to environmental causes, but I don’t get many paper mail solicitations. I do often receive emails from them, sometimes soliciting donations, but almost always with interesting information about the land, animals and plants that are the organization’s focus. I’m also made aware of upcoming webinars, etc.
The easy part: If I’m not interested, I can press “delete” or even “unsubscribe”.
I so agree. I’ve tried writing to charitable organizations (using their office address, not the free postage envelope that goes to a mail drop for checks, not for communications), requesting less mail and: or to combine multiple mailings. Seldom does that work. Only calls to the local or main office works, sometimes. Lastly, once you donate online, the emails are relentless, causing me to unsubscribe. It’s overwhelming!
Every day I receive 6-12 or more charitable requests for money. I believe it only took one $5 donation to damn me to this situation. Therefore, I open and remove my name from every piece of junk mail before recycling what I can. One of my bosses revealed to me that he stole paperwork out of the garbage of a competitor to start his client list, I am repulsed by the amount of waste, but also disturbed that my name and address are so casually abused and sold by organizations I do, and don’t. support. Yes, there is a box in my apartment, too, which I multi-task emptying while waiting for the teakettle to whistle.
It is so overwhelming – not just the mail, but the online solicitations. At least there I can press unsubscribe, but pressing Spam works better. I do donate, mostly to animal rescue and environmental organizations, but even that is getting overwhelming as new ones somehow pop up out of nowhere. The desperation is saddening. Wish I could donate to all.
I have two tacts: I call all catalogues at their 800 number and ask to be taken off their list. It works.
I also take any addressed/stamped envelope and stuff it with ‘guts’ from another charity after writing “Please take my name off your mailing list.” I do believe that works ,also.
I do the same. It can be perversely satisfying to stuff pre-paid envelopes with junk mail when other polite requests fail.
Blame the fundraising consultants. They devise these methods and convince the nonprofits that they work–and they probably do. I’m fed up, too. More and more, especially with paying bill through autopay, ALL my mail for a day can consist of solicitations and catalogues. But I’m torn. I’m afraid if the “junk” mail goes away, so will the U.S. Post Office. And I do not want to be beholden to FedEx and USPS and other private courier services. And I’m torn the other way — all that environmental waste distresses me. Most of the paper we so virtuously recycle actually never does get recycled. Instead, almost all of it ends up in the same landfills as all the other trash. What to do! What to do!
Is this true???? I recycle every bit of paper! I can’tstand that it goes into a landfill~
I’ve never understood why spending less than one minute a day throwing a few envelopes into a box is so exhausting. I agree with one writer that email is where there really is a problem (even with a spam filter): since the cost is so low, the potential is almost unlimited. I get well over 10x the number of emails vs. envelopes.
We used the self addressed stamped envelopes they provide. Stuff it with what they sent to you and return it to them saying ‘please remove our contact info from your snail mail list and save printing and postage. If you like you can send an email instead to “x” (we use an email address here that is separate from primary email. Or just don’t include your email as an option)
We might now get 1 or 2 per year and do the same with those.
If an envelope is not provided we go to their website and call them.
It took a bit of time but worth it to us.
Grace
I stupidly once gave to an organization that was soliciting on the street. From then on, for YEARS, I got solicitations about giving more money.
I appreciate the advice about donating anonymously.
Also. Reputable charities usually ask you if you want to receive notifications. Make sure to uncheck that box.
If I were President, I would raise the costs of junk mail to internalize the cost of added work to the USPS and of course the damage to the environment.
The volume of my snailmail junk mail is nothing compared to the political spam that I get every day (75-125 messages per day)
Catalog Choice and Charity Navigator are two excellent organizations. I always check Charity Navigator before donating. Although an organization may have a 3 or 4 star rating, I check to see the amount of money the CEO, President, Board of Directors, etc. are making. It is astounding to find out how many organizations pay huge amounts to these executives.
Guidestar [dot] org is another website where you can search nonprofits and find their audit Financial Statements and 990s. It’s free to create an account. They have a transparency rating system for orgs.
In response to your comment about executive salaries, normally people who serve on nonprofit Boards don’t draw salaries for their “work” as a Board member. They’re actually supposed to help with fundraising. Regardless, don’t people who work at nonprofits deserve to be paid well/a decent wage? Nonprofit doesn’t mean the org shouldn’t/doesn’t earn any money – it means any profit is reinvested in furthering the mission of the org rather than paying it out to shareholders (of which nonprofits have none). Nonprofit employees – even their executives – work just as hard (or harder) than for profits, often times with fewer resources.
(I’m not talking about huge, national nonprofits like ARC, March of Dimes, etc.)
Another option: instead of donating to middleman nonprofits, #DonateDirectly to the needy: cash to the panhandler on the corner, electronic money via social media to individuals or families asking for help. You’ll get no junk mail from them, you won’t be paying for CEO salaries in the upper 6 digits or other administrative overhead either.
Sometimes that’s good – sometimes it just perpetuates their misery. It might make you feel good, but it’s unlikely to get the panhandler to shelter or housing or mental health or medical care. Complicated programs require administration; fact of life.
Yes, how horrible that a donation you make to a nonprofit might go to administrative overhead costs like keeping the lights on, or paying for a computer with Windows 11, or toilet paper for the office bathroom. Nonprofit workers shouldn’t have basic resources needed to do their jobs. /sarcasm
For better and for worse, there are lots of political efforts underway to close down USPS. That will be the undoing of federally subsidized junk mail and bulk commercial mail.
The Postal Service is critical to a democracy. Ben Franklin wrote extensively on the topic. Once you shut off the means of public communications, you control the population. Closing the Post Office would mean the end of America.
You don’t like junk mail? Fine. Toss it, make a quilt out of it. If you like your letter carrier or need the postal service to send something to someone somewhere, if you want the postal service to survive, then tossing the junk is the best thing to do. The postal service makes millions from delivering junk mail. No reason to malign it. Embrace it. Celebrate it. Toss it knowing that your helping the service survive.
If that’s the purpose of the post office, then we should not have one. But I have to wonder whether a more streamlined postal service, with less pressured employees, might be the result if we could kill this environment-destroying waste. A lot of junk mail is not even recyclable and uses inks that are very harmful. The post office should not be able to monetize our information. If it requires more subsidies, I will be happy to pay them.
Why do we still need a subsidized service that just delivers massive amounts of garbage and waste to everyone? We have email now, and for packages, we have UPS/FedEx/etc. Time to let the USPS and subsidized junk mail die.
Great business model
Organizations must have figured out that if they keep sending you mail, eventually you will open one of the mailings, and make a donation. It’s an unfortunate part of fundraising. I have been successful in getting rid of much other junk mail by simply stopping my subscriptions to most magazines, and opting out of all credit card-affiliated mailings (that is something you can do at your individual credit card website). Til then, thank god we have paper recycling!
Thanks for the well written article in a much needed news source.
OMG, I have been desperate to get off these lists. I would still donate, but ONLY ONCE a year. This writer echoed exactly what has happened to me, and I resent the time I choose to spend removing address labels (which I want to shred), note pads, stickers, calendars, etc. from the mailing. I get pleas for $ from charities I’ve never heard of and would not consider on my donation list. I was told the charities SELL your name! Is there any way to stop this? I have tried “Return to Sender,” but not sure if that works. Some are now sending every other week. Others threaten ~ “We haven’t heard from you!” It makes me sorry I ever donated, at least with my actual name. YES, it is a waste of trees and forests, which is terrible.