I'm hoping to get some feedback re: a situation that I have found myself in. Last yr I donated money to both the Salvation Army and the March of Dimes. Over the past few months I have been absolutely inundated with solications from every well known charity known to mankind. I was wondering if this has happened to anyone else & if someone knows of a way to get my name removed from whatever source they are getting this info from. It has really taken the joy out of my original donations! Obviously one of these charities (or maybe both of them) sold my info to the rest and this just really offends me. This yr I plan on making a donation to my local PBS station and I sure hope this doesn't open another floodgate of solications. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately if you gave your telephone # when donating even if you add yourself to the do not call list any company that is an affiliate of the company you donated to or do business with can still legally call you. Trust me I researched this. I finally started telling people I make no donations via phone solicitations. If a request is sent in writing I will consider if otherwise please remove me immediately from your calling list. They cannot sell your info with the next data list. I can tell you from experience that it takes years. Try caller ID and just don't answer.

I even have an answering machine that says" if your a bill collector hang up. If I had money you wouldn't be calling me. If your asking for money then you don't know me well enough and if you're selling something I have no money to buy." I have never had anyone leave a message other than friends and hte same # rarely calls back.

when making the donation ask that your info is not sold given away or shared in any fashion

Love your phone message.

I write on the request ( or if they hace a phone # or fax # on the form) to remove my name from their listing.. Legally they are supposed to do so, if u verbal or in writing to remove ur name... some do , some do not...
More, than likely u will again be on everyones list..... one reason, if we choose to donate cash.. we do so in cash..... we can not afford to donate enough to tax deduct so we do not need a recp't

"NO" is a perfectly good answer. With federal and state funds down across the board, every 501C is scrambling for $$. Yes, we get inundated with calls and I stopped taking ANY and ALL calls from numbers I don't recognize. One 800# has been calling up to 8 times in a day and they won't leave a number. I want to see how long they will play that game.

When I do end up talking to an agency I tell them that they are not on my list of charities I support and wish them good luck.

I have caller ID and don't answer any #s I don't recognize. One time I answered a call from "private caller" thinking it was my daughter. It was a solicitor, so my reply was, "Do you want me to donate to you or pay for my medications, I can't do both?" He hung up on me. I found that works wonders, have since used it a couple times. I also have call blocking and can block a certain # of #s.

I have the 800#s calling often too. They have been doing this for 2 years now.

I honestly do not think one of those charities sold your info. After all, THEY want your donations, they don't want you giving it away to others, not in todays economy.
I DO believe that even your cable company could have sold it.
BUT in all fairness, times are REALLY hard all over, and donations are really down while the list of those needing is really growing! It might just be somebody going through the phonebook, or you got on a telemarketer list and they just doing "computer generated dial-ups".

Go to the national DO NOT CALL registry and get your numbers on there.
THen if you get a call, do not say anything, but instead push the * button on your phone 3 times quickly and hang up.
That sends a "BAD LINE" signal to the computer that placed that call!

I donate to PBS and have NEVER had any soliciting calls after wards!

I even have an answering machine that says" if your a bill collector hang up. If I had money you wouldn't be calling me. If your asking for money then you don't know me well enough and if you're selling something I have no money to buy." I have never had anyone leave a message other than friends and the same # rarely calls back.


I am SOOOOO putting that on my machine!

I think they do sell your info, they get more money that way.

I don't mind getting mail from charities, I get a lot of return address labels that way!! I can ignore them if I want to.

If they call, just say "not interested, sorry" and hang up, it's your phone and you don't have to listen to them.

they didn't have to sell your info- once you give to a large charitable organization your information is automatically on the (LIST) as someone who gives. we get 25-40 requests (weekly!) from everyone out there.
i did send to one with a note stating that if i received any thing from them for the next year i would never give to them again-once a year only! so far (2 months now) i have not been inundated by that one...but i don't want to send to everyone --- so havent figured out how to get them to stop.
i wish there was something we could call-like the 'do not call list' to be removed---hmmm....maybe there is??????? will have to look. seems like there should be.

Same thing happens to me. Don't know how all the others got my number. I tell them my charity funds are limited and to please take me off their list. It takes them a few phone calls and me to say no before they stop calling, but they do eventually stop calling. Sometimes, I just don't answer the phone if I know it's "one of them".

Most reputable charities will remove you from their calling list if you request it - but don't invoke the "I'm on the do not call list" line, because charities are exempt from the Do Not Call list (as are political calls and market research firms). Most times, a simple "Please remove me" is all it takes. I try to keep my donations local, and that's what I tell telephone callers. It's just a waste of their time to call me to ask for money, and most have quit calling me.

As for mail solicitations, you might try sending them back and asking to be removed from their distribution list. Personally, I just toss them in the recycle bin. I don't get upset that they send them, but I think about all the money the charity is spending on paper, postage, labor to stuff the envelopes, etc. I wonder if they get enough donations back to cover their expenses!

"As for mail solicitations, you might try sending them back and asking to be removed from their distribution list. Personally, I just toss them in the recycle bin. I don't get upset that they send them, but I think about all the money the charity is spending on paper, postage, labor to stuff the envelopes, etc. I wonder if they get enough donations back to cover their expenses!"

Years ago I requested a mass card from a well know Catholic mission, and ever since I've been receiving unsolicited mass cards, greeting cards and request for donations from for them and about 20 other like groups. I've sent stuff back with the request to remove my name and address but it never happened. Now I keep a few of the envelopes that come with the cards and put the rest into the recyclying box.

Another annoying thing is when I make a donation to a charity I receive a thank you from them that includes address labels with my name and addy as well as a request for another donation. I now keep a list of when, who and how much I donate to the groups I choose to support, everything else goes into recyclying. I have enough address labels to last me about 15 years, most of them also get recycled.

I made a larger than usual donation to our local PBS station and they badly misspelled my name on the receipt. I can't tell you how many other solicitations I got with the same error. No mistaking who the name seller was!

Sorry!

I read once that you can track where these come from (if by mail) by using different spelling or middle initials on the forms. I bought some Time/Life books many many years ago that had my name misspelled. For many years I received offers from various companies with that same misspelled name. They must have made plenty selling my name to all those lists. I suppose you could do this by phone also by using a bogus first name. But my solution is like so many of the others, just don't answer unfamiliar numbers. I figure if it's from someone whose number I don't recognize or if it's really important they'll leave a message.

The phone company kept calling me wanting me to get their cable tv and or up my email speed finaly after getting calls three days in a row I told them that they were pushing me to go to the other cable along with phone and email the man asked if I would like to be put on the nocall list they havent called me sence

The same thing happens to me too. I really wish they would espect the privacy of the giver.

LOL

The BMV here sells lists of information. Boo!

I donated to a politician in Wisconsin last year and now I have received email requests from at least 12 different candidates. Someone is giving or selling names and numbers.

I finaly broke down and got caller ID. I only pick up if I recognize the number and want to talk to them. If it is soem one that I don't know they can leave a message and I can decide to call them back or not. what gets me now is all the automated machine calls. The call then goes on my answering machine. Annoying. I will not pick up machine calls.

A local world wide charity that my husband supports faithfully called him to come for an interview. Thinking they wanted information on why he is a supporter or something about his age and lifestyle, he was pleased to go. Turns out the interviewer only wanted to sign him up for a donation in his will!
Not only did he feel disappointed, and a bit cheated, he felt duped by the local chapter who is run by a woman we know well.

The do not solicit law exempts politicians and charities.

I donate to PBS an don't really get a flood of any requests. Only donate to 1 other group and thats the Salvation Army - do it at Christmas at all the kettles I see - folding money, cash - no info, easy. I give them more if the let me ring the bell!!
(Will mail cash to the local animal shelter, they always need help) sharet

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I forgot to mention that these solicitations are all by mail with the mailing labels enclosed that someone else mentioned. I probably have enough mailing labels to last me for 5 yrs as I rarely mail anything! I am on the do not call list, but have found that does not eliminate all the calls so I don't answer if it is not a # I recognize. What gets me too is how many of these solicitations are in Spanish due to our last name. My dh's family originated in Spain or Portugal, but that has been many generations back. I think before I donate to my local PBS station I'm going to ask if they sell donor's names. Of course, they might not tell me the truth, but it is worth asking.

When we donated to pbs we got slammed with calls and mail. We only donate with a postal money order and don't put our real name

I have quit giving because of this problem. I give cash donations to whom I care to give

I have given money thru the mail and have decided that I'm only going to donate to things in my own town. When I get tons of address labels, sweatshirts and other things I wonder how much money the charity really gets.

We mostly donate to projects done thru our church. We know 100% goes to the project because all the staff are volunteers and our name is never made public to anyone.

I, too, have a lifetime supply of labels. I have sent written requests to 2 places I donated to in the past (they send cards which I like and used) and have not heard back in the last few months. The rest end up in the recycle bin!

You could send an USPS money order with PBS name and address on both sides. Also write their address as return & destination location on the envelope. You can still keep receipt if needed for taxes.

The man I bought my last house from made his living from buying and selling mailing lists and told me that when you give money or actually buy something from a catalog you get put in a different catagory and your name and address will sell for more money. With all the junk mail they produce I have to wonder why the post office is in dire straits.

LOL-Love this!!

The one that works best for me is just lay the phone down - when you hear the long ringing tone, you know they hung up and you did not waste your time listening, arguing or explaining a thing....... they don't usually call back

Yes, they do sell your name for mailing. I cannot tell you how many mailings we get, because we reg. give to World Vision and Smile Train. By the way, 94% of your donations go where it is suppose to go for these two charities. I researched it on the comp. We were getting 5-6 mailings, PER DAY!!!!!! No lie! WE had enough carrot seeds to start a farm and all the pennies and nickels. Here is how I stooped all of it. What ever they sent me, I put it all into the postage paid envelope they send you and returned it to them!! Also told them to give the carrot seeds to the countrys that needed them. Believe me, it didn't take long and we no longer receive all the donate letters.

[quote=Quiltbeagle]The post office is in dire straits because many, many people don't mail things anymore. I pay all our bills online and receive most of my bills by email. A book of stamps lasts me several months because I mail things so seldom. With so much less mail going out you wonder why charities keep sending return address labels to people. I now throw them out as we have enough for a lifetime.
Junk mail gets special, cheaper rates for the senders so wonder just how much profit the post office makes from that.

One of my Aunt's message machine says-Notice to bill collectors and solicitors I am retired and on SS and medi-care if you must leave a message I'll add you to my list of who recieves the dust bunnies in my piggy bank-Ya all have a nice day now.My other Aunt's MM says If you want money or are selling something you've dialed the wrong number

I feel no obligation to be polite to these people. I simply interrupt them, say I'm not interested and Hang Up.