Is there a downside to being listed as a charity donor?

[Guest]

A charity recently asked if they can share my name publicly as a donor. It would be just my name, of course. Is there a serious downside to doing this? It's easy to feel paranoid these days. 

[+ The Big Guy]

I’m not sure there is an unmanageable downside and it does help the charity to be able to use a prominent name to help with their fundraising.  The only impact I can think of is your name will get picked up by other organizations and you will be solicited more often.  For one who is philanthropically minded that is not usually a big problem.  

[SouthOfTheBorder]

it’s a problem actually - lists of donors are frequently sold and you will soon be inundated with phone calls, emails & mailings from every organization you can imagine.  The dark underbelly of charitable giving is that much of it run by “for-profit” entities that are are hired by the non-profits.  And those “for-profit” fundraisers take a percentage from any additional giving they develop, turning it into a rather cutthroat business operation cloaked in “giving”

the best way to give is anonymously with the understanding that none of your personal information will be accessible and give directly to the desired charitable organization via their Development Director.  Never give to organizations representing a charitable group. And don’t use credit cards either as the credit companies flag charitable giving and then sell your information about the transaction.  

This is  a very slippery slope when you’re actually trying to do something good. 

i learned the hard way 

[+ nycman]

Don’t do it. 

You will be placed in national database of "donors" that other charities can purchase. They will then harass you endlessly. Think about it, they have nothing to lose by going after you relentlessly. After all you’re not one of their donors. And they don’t really care if you get pissed off at your previous charity for publishing / selling your name. 

The bigger your original gift…..the more you will be harassed. Trust me. 

Edited March 17, 2023 by nycman

[Kevin Slater]

Whenever I give or, more likely, call to ask for a tax ID and date of inception (for estate planning), I always follow through with "and I don't care to be added to any mailings lists, please."  So far that's worked well.

Kevin Slater

[jeezifonly]

Non-profits share/trade/sell lists all the time. Opt out of publication if you can. 

[Luv2play]

I am just the opposite. I always allow my donations to be published with my name and the amount or the range if that's how they classify donations eg. $1000-$5000. It helps charitible entities fund raise in several ways, including by providing an incentive to donors to show their support for the causes they like. Also the entities can demonstrate a community of supporters. 

This is particularly important for community based organizations as opposed to national orgs. I give very little to the national orgs and concentrate on my community as my contributions make a bigger impact at that level. I'm not donating $millions or even $100's of thousands but in the range of four figure amounts to my favorite causes. These smaller groups appreciate every thousand they receive.

And I have never received solicitations from unknown groups for donations. Maybe it's a Canadian thing. May be different in US. 

[+ Lucky]

All of my charitable donations have been under one million dollars, and so far no one has asked to use my name.

[kingsley88]

I prefer to donate anonymously.  If you don't feel comfortable having the organization publish your name, then don't do it.

[MscleLovr]

In answer to the thread’s title: IMO there’s a very substantial downside.

With my donations, I insist on anonymity. Even with organizations that I enjoy supporting but where they rank donors in ranges (like Carnegie Hall and The Met) I insist as being numbered among the Anonymous.

My reason for being strict is this. Some years ago (post 2008) I gave a lump sum of money to (what was then) a very good theatre with terrific programming. I asked for no publicity. But I later found that their marketing department had shared my contact details with other arts organisations. Six of these knew me as a supporter already and they immediately contacted me, each asking for a similar-sized gift.

My contact details ended up on the marketing lists that many charities and arts organisations exchange. As a result, I received an overwhelming number of requests for financial assistance. I reckon I received about 3 letters a week (along with emails) for some years. 

[+ Pensant]

I’ve only contributed to local groups, esp. conservation-oriented, and have never received solicitations from other charities. I also give to an AIDS group in town, but request anonymity since I’ve heard they do share lists. 

[kingsley88]

5 hours ago, MscleLovr said:

In answer to the thread’s title: IMO there’s a very substantial downside.

My contact details ended up on the marketing lists that many charities and arts organisations exchange. As a result, I received an overwhelming number of requests for financial assistance. I reckon I received about 3 letters a week (along with emails) for some years. 

You probably get phone calls as well.

[Whippoorwill]

Giving money away responsibly and painlessly takes a little work and a little experience. 

For many years I have made about $50K/year donations to quality organizations mostly in the $500 to $1000 range, with a few donations of $5,000 or $10,000/yr. I have no problem with having my name published and then getting on lists. With just a few years to go, I am happy if listing my name helps a quality charity recruit other donors. The second most important reason people give to a cause (after a passion for the cause) is "who else gave?" I regard my gifts as an investment in groups I support and want other investors to join in. 

Organizations who buy lists are typically large national organizations who employ fundraising firms, as described above. (e.g., Father Flanagan's Boys Town. While I snicker at the idea of "Boys Town", I don't regard them as a quality charity.) Those outfits are easy to ignore. Take the ridiculous swag they send and throw the letter in the trash. Among quality charities, paying a fundraiser on commission is considered unethical and sleazy. And any reputable non-profit gives you an easy way to be removed from their lists...they are in the business of friendraising not enemyraising. I don't take phone solicitations. I just say "no thank you" and hang up. (Once you do donate by phone, your are typically on a periodic phone call list. So don't do that.) At my age, my goal is to die broke...you die leaving a million dollars, you lose; you die owing a million dollars, you win. Today I regard my job as giving money away (to a few darling young boys, and to a few high quality charities.) In both cases, it takes research, knowing who else "gives," thus a real value of (CompanyofMen for the boys) and donor lists for the charities. 

[Luv2play]

12 hours ago, MscleLovr said:

In answer to the thread’s title: IMO there’s a very substantial downside.

With my donations, I insist on anonymity. Even with organizations that I enjoy supporting but where they rank donors in ranges (like Carnegie Hall and The Met) I insist as being numbered among the Anonymous.

My reason for being strict is this. Some years ago (post 2008) I gave a lump sum of money to (what was then) a very good theatre with terrific programming. I asked for no publicity. But I later found that their marketing department had shared my contact details with other arts organisations. Six of these knew me as a supporter already and they immediately contacted me, each asking for a similar-sized gift.

My contact details ended up on the marketing lists that many charities and arts organisations exchange. As a result, I received an overwhelming number of requests for financial assistance. I reckon I received about 3 letters a week (along with emails) for some years. 

I'm surprised the arts organization shared your contact info after you had made a cash contribution to them. For a number of years I made an annual donation to a small theatre company on whose board of directors I was a member. I was listed on the annual program which was distributed at each performance to audience members. I was in the top tier of donors each year but never got a followup contact from any other arts organization. But just my name appeared on the program and the theatre company never gave out my contact info as far as I am aware.

[+ Charlie]

My mailbox is filled every day with requests for donations from organizations to which I have never given any money, but they have similar purposes to organizations to which I have given money, and they continue to solicit donations even though I never respond to them. Many of them send packets of greeting cards or other kinds of "gifts;" I occasionally keep the gifts and don't respond, but they will continue to send more gifts, all of which goes into my trash or recycling bins. I also get phone calls from many of these organizations, which I send straight to voicemail and delete. Whether it's animal support groups, education support, natural resources conservation groups, arts organizations, etc., they obviously get my information from organizations I do donate to. If they ask to put your name on a program, I would request that they just use "Anonymous."

[Rudynate]

I'm a small donor with a few pet causes.  Even my minimal charitable giving activity generates an avalanche of junk mail. 

[Whippoorwill]

It's small unsophisticated local organizations and some huge national organizations that subsist on tens or hundreds of thousands of $100-and-under donations who are the ones that trade or buy and sell lists. No sophisticated donor giving say, $1000 or more, gives based on a random cold-call solicitation that comes over the transom. Large gifts come from personal knowledge of board members, actual experience with or involvement in the organization, a friend or family member who has benefitted from the services of the organization, personal solicitation by a friend or family member, etc. All of these sources already know your address, phone number, and email. In addition, often organizations like alumni associations utilize their students, and arts groups their fans, in say, annual "call-athons." The real purpose of these irritating events is more often actually not to solicit you as much as it is to build a cadre of committed students-soon-to-be-generous alumni and audiences-soon-to-be season ticket holders and legacy society members. I have been on dozens of boards and committees and am currently raising hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for five different organizations from people I know and whom I believe would be interested in investing in one of those organization. None of these groups would dream of anything but a personal solicitation. They know a taking a name off someone else's list is a waste of ink. And that the packets of greeting cards or "gifts" are tacky, tacky, tacky. Of course, when generous donors invest in my cause, I expect to be solicited by them in return to invest in a different cause. But I am signing up for that. And at my age, there are few things I am sure of, but one of those is I am not going to take it with me. I get great pleasure out of seeing my hard-earned money spent wisely while I am alive. When I am dead, I will not know or care. 

[BtmBearDad]

If by publish they mean in a program for an event, I don’t think that would be too big an issue. But if they mean publishing it on their website, I personally wouldn’t want that. I also don’t like using a credit card/debit card to make donations. I did set up a recurring monthly donation to a charity once, and by the second month I found my mailbox, e-mail inbox, and v-mail getting requests from other charities doing the exact same work, (in this it was a children’s hospital). Since then, I always include a letter with any donation declining any swag, requesting that I not be put on their mailing list, and asking them not to sell or otherwise share my information. 

[pubic_assistance]

In today's "information age" I don't think it's a good idea to promote publicly, that you have wealth.

I always donate anonymously.

My goal is to support organizations I believe in. Not to advertise that I am wealthy enough to donate to charity. 

[BtmBearDad]

5 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

In today's "information age" I don't think it's a good idea to promote publicly, that you have wealth.

I agree with this - it’s just far too easy anymore to find out everything about you with a few clicks of a mouse. I’m not saying one should be paranoid, but one definitely needs to be aware of potential outcomes. 

[Guest]