(no subject)

[asterroc]

Dear Charity to which I sent a donation,

Thank you for your considerate letter of appreciation. For future reference I see no need for you to waste either monetary resources or the resources of the Earth doing so, but it was thoughtful of you and I will understand if it helps most donators to continue donating. Also for future reference, you know what shows your appreciation even more than sending a thank-you card? Spelling my name right.

Love,

Zandperl

Comments

[framefolly.livejournal.com]

*snorts*

The thank you letter I liked best was from Donors Choose -- for helping school teachers get resources. I got a set of letters from the students, bad penmanship and spelling and all :) .

(Um, donators --> donors?)

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

That's awesome. (letters from kids)

Heh, yeah, I knew the word was wrong but couldn't find the right one at the time. :-P

[oldsilenus.livejournal.com]

Aren't thank you notes legally required for donations higher than... I think maybe it's $25? Certainly somewhere in that range....

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

I haven't heard that before, but it could be. I know that some people want receipts for tax deduction purposes (though at my low level of income and donations, itemizing isn't worth my time and it isn't worth my paying someone else to do it for me). But anyways, this charity actually sent me two separate thank-you cards (different designs of cards), and they were cards rather than letters, which presumably costs more to print.

[oldsilenus.livejournal.com]

Ah, got it! Yeah, the thank-you cards definitely aren't required, no...!

I know for a fact (having run a small theatre company for a few years) that there's an amount above which a formal receipt (which is often written in the form of a thank-you note, on letterhead &c.) is required; I just couldn't remember off the top of my head if the number is $25. I'm pretty sure, having thought more on it, that that's the amount at which an organization has to claim where the donation was from – as opposed to, say, five bucks left in a donation jar – and that it's actually $100 at which the organization is required to write a receipt.

(Of course, I could just look this up, but I'm feeling lazy right now. ;p )

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Ah, that makes sense to me. Are online receipts allowed if the donation is via the internet?

[oldsilenus.livejournal.com]

I don't know!

I know that when we've received donations online, the receipts have still been via physical mail. (We are incorporated and are a fiscally sponsored member of an arts not-for-profit umbrella organization, but aren't a not-for-profit in our own right (although we're in the process of considering whether or not that would be a good step for us to take). So, I know some of this stuff – all that I've needed to know so far – but not all of it.)

[marquiswildbill.livejournal.com]

Your name isn't even hard to spell. Failure on the charities part.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

I think it's b/c it's a variation of a normal spelling that so many people get it wrong.

[marquiswildbill.livejournal.com]

I guess. But the fact that they have your name in the form of the check or card you used to pay should prevent stuff like this from ever happening. I worked with a guy named Ed who had an odd spelling of Edward (it had a ou in it, I don't recall it exactly) that this always happened to. He stopped donating to people who wouldn't correct it. Can't say I disagree with the sentiment.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

This was a donation of items via Child's Play - children's hospitals set up Amazon wishlists, I purchased from one, and it was mailed directly to them. Presumably the hospital had my name printed out but had to type it in or hand write it onto the thankyou card. My point is that it's a common error, but still irritates me.

[marquiswildbill.livejournal.com]

I get irritated when someone adds an extra "L" to my last name, so I don't blame you.

[captain-risu.livejournal.com]

i love how the nature conservancy sent me a complimentary paper memo pad with their logo on it. was it atleast recycled paper? no, they didn't indicate so anywhere.

[spazzy444.livejournal.com]

I love it when places try to help you spell your name. I know my name and I spelled it correctly on the form/check/letter/etc.

We always know when Nick get's spam mail, because he goes by his middle name, and his first name is not an unusual name but lacks one letter of its "typical" spelling.

Then again, I take time to thank people when they pronounce my name correctly on the first try - it happens so rarely.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

I don't want to give my real last name here, so I'll pick another one to use to illustrate this next story: let's pretend it's "Rosonberg". Our last name is spelled unusually, with an O where there's usually another vowel. My Dad once told a person that our name was "Rosonberg with an O" and received in the mail a letter addressed to "Mr. O'Rosenberg". Even more amusing because they were very clearly trying to make an Irish name out of a Jewish one. Heh. :)

[demigoth.livejournal.com]

I don't mind thank you notes so much, but when a charity (especially one for protecting nature) mails me pleas for more donations every other week for a year, I cross them right off my list. It probably cost them more to do that than the amount I donated, and if they can't get the hint, I don't want them wasting any more of my money.

Email requests are annoying but at least they don't waste resources quite so badly.

I should make a resolution to contact them and at least try to convince them not to ask me for any more money in a non-electronic format. I'm lazy about stuff like that.