Donating to charity instead of sending Christmas cards

YANBU I agree & think it’s pathetic when I hear it too. I doubt these people actively go out of their way to make a fiver donation to charity anyway.
I think the saying stems from a lot of Christmas cards are ‘charity cards’ which benefitted from the sale.

You can't recycle glitter, if you put your glittery cards in the recycling then you're doing far more harm than good.

It doesn't bother me if people put up
a post to say they've donated to charity instead of sending cards.

I stopped sending cards a number of years ago and other than from parents we (thankfully) didn't get any this year. I don't donate to charity instead of them though.

I gave up on cards years ago. I send the money I would have spent on cards and stamps to the gibbons. I'd much rather someone donated the cost of my own card to a charity, they all just end up in the recycling bin anyway, so I'm always happy to see other people's announcements.

We didn’t have cards this year, from people who usually send them, so I won’t be sending next year. I donate to a local charity regularly, to other larger charities less regularly and to a few at this time every year.

I’m not offended by not receiving cards. If that’s the way it’s going, that’s fine. They will be recycled though.

Why does it need to be one or the other? I love Christmas cards but the cost of stamps is ridiculous so I only send them to close family these days and totally understand why I don't get many back. I also give out hand delivered ones to local friends and work colleagues.

I agree that the "instead of Christmas cards I'm donating to charity" posts or texts are just the worst sort of virtue signaling. The only time I want to hear about what charities you are donating to is if you are completing some sort of arduous challenge like a marathon to raise money for them. Or maybe hosting a charity bake sale or something.

It's good for the charities, so I'm not going to knock it.

Personally I hate it

Just donate to charity without virtue signalling about it on social media.

I find it strange also. For a few years now I’ve not done cards and I’ve said “we aren’t doing cards this year” end of.
My in-laws still send cards despite us saying we aren’t bothered and don’t put them up. But if they want to continue wasting their money that’s fine.
we get each other one and our daughter.
I don’t mind special ones but I don’t see the point in a cheap card being bought and sent that literally says “merry Christmas”

When the price of stamps went up, my Christmas cards were going to cost £20 to post out. I donated food to the dogs & cats home and the hedgehog lodge. I prefer to do that as it actually means something to these animals. Most people don’t care about the cards. Last Christmas I did send 3 cards as those people were bothered!

I’ve had cards from people in their 20s and, I hadn’t sent them any.

Children also give them to each other seem to to enjoy it. They’re also prettiest due to using Christmas cards to raise money, I’ve noticed.

I think it really does vary and I’m not sure that you can divide it up by age.

The one thing I really don’t see the point of these days is picture calendars that you hang on the wall. I’ve been sent a couple and I appreciated the thought, but I just don’t use them anymore.

I think it is mostly the older generation keeping up this tradition.
Most of the 30 and 40 something people we know put this message up on their socials a few years back as a way of explaining they weren't snubbing anyone and to phase out cards. The majority of us now don't exchange them (or have carried on with the message).
I now give out a few in person and send them back to one friend and one elderly relative.

Now that really is a stretch. But I suppose if 20 quid at Christmas instead of cards is the only time you give to charity then, well, crack on.

So you'd like people to send them to you but you don't want to send to them?

Actually, that’s a good point. I was going to say “but what about the cost of postage?“ But, perhaps because I don’t have enough friends, the cost of postage was around a pub lunch. I’d much rather give up a pub lunch than lose contact with friends, howeve distant, and with relations. There is the argument that if you only keep in touch with them at Christmas, then what’s the point: I think there is a point.

To me, especially as I get older, maintaining connections, however distant and from the past, is important. We like to know that we’re thinking of each other. We like to know that we remember.

That's the exact outcome that people want. Those of us who don't send bits of card 100% do not want to be given any.

It’s not anti charity at all. It’s anti being performative about donating to charity.

This has made me a bit sad as I have just done this as I thought it was a better use of my money. I hoped that my friends would understand but maybe they are thinking the same thing! I did an ecard instead from Don’t Send Me a Card and I thought it was really cute and specified the charity that I had chosen. I will probably still do it again next year but not because I am showing off about donating to charity or don’t care about my friends and family!

I never send Christmas cards. I would never use that as a reason to give to charity, though. I don’t put up Christmas cards either. I open them and then they go straight the bin, like any other post.