to judge people who don't send charity Christmas cards

[AnyoneforTurps]

I totally understand if people can't afford /can't be arsed to send Christmas cards. But - if you are going to send them - why in the world would you enrich WH Smith or Paperchase when you could support a charity?

£2 to some people is the difference between a packet of cards and a loaf of bread

Nobody is judging people who cannot afford to buy cards at all.

Just saying that, at Christmas, when so much money is going to big retailers it would be nice if more people made a more ethical choice when it comes to Christmas cards.

The OP was pretty clear on that.

LaFilleSurLePont

Because I like to keep in touch with people I know and not give money to a charity to line the pockets of someone in charge rather than the people to whom it has been donated.

i got 20 charity cards from debenhams and they were 1/2 price....that made me feel uncomfortable, does that mean the charity get less then?

yabu
i choose what i would like to give to charity. and i give it. each month. gift aided. in cash.
it is rarely reasonable to judge anyone.

i truly never realised Christmas cards were such a minefield. surely you just bung some in envelopes if you feel like it, and don't if you don't. why do they cause so much angst and so many threads??

I was addressing the OP,Mabel. I have no problem with people sending Christmas cards.I send them myself. I was just asking the OP why,if she's apparently so concerned about charities receiving money for cards,she doesn't skip cards altogether and donate the money to charity,rather than smugly berating people when she could do more herself.

YABU. I work in charity fundraising and even I think they're mostly a waste of money. I'd rather give a donation privately (and sign a Gift Aid declaration so they can increase it by 25%) than show off my seasonal 'generosity' to my chums.

I'm a (VERY) skint single parent. All of my Christmas cards have come in packs from the 99p shop. I'd rather get a couple of extra bits for my DCs (quite sparse this year) Christmas stockings than pay way over the odds for cards that in actual fact give very little to charity.

I do however do things to raise money for charity in other ways. I walked a marathon earlier this year and raised over £300 for cancer research, and I'll be doing something for Great Ormond Street in 2012 too (they saved my life, more than once as a child. Also having been almost housebound with anxiety at the start of 2011 it's good for me too). And if I do have a little extra cash and see a collection for a charity that I like I'll put a little in the collection pot. All far better ways to do your bit, to my mind.

YABVU OP, and a bit of a snob too.

Bluddymofo

I got mine from paperchase and sainsburys and they were charity cards. But i bought them in spite of that as it was only about 10p a pack and a bit tokenistic tbh.

However, I have donated to the Kids Company this year and would encourage you all to do so. All money goes to them: www.kidsco.org.uk/

YABU, and I work for a charity that does Xmas cards as well.

Its my business how I choose to spend my money and which charities I choose to support, but FWIW, my preference is for buying cards and making a donation to a charity instead.

With postage prices as they are, it often feels like the charity is the Royal Mail

Good point,Bluddy.

I'm not buying/sending cards at all this year. I'm saving the money and donating it to a local DV charity

www.nehantsdvf.co.uk/taking%20steps%20Hook/taking%20steps%20leaflet%20Hook.pdf

They only need £5k a year to keep going, but it's a struggle.

I don't buy charity cards to "show off" I buy them because I want to support a good cause at the same time - although I do often buy xmas cards from the National Autistic Society because I have an autistic child and think it's another way of promoting the fantastic work the NAS does. So in that sense I suppose
I am making a statement.

And I don't think buying charity cards and donating to charity is an either/or thing as some posts seem to be implying. Do both, do neither - your choice.

Oh pur-lease.

I'm not saying that people who buy charity cards,I often buy them myself,though I won't pretend that I think they're a particularly efficient way of donating,are trying to show off,but I cannot bear people being smug and self righteous about giving to charity.berating others for doing things differently.

If someone is so concerned about charities then they should look to see if they can do more,not whinge on at other people in such a smug, self congratulatory manner.

George, I don't think it's 'either/or', it's just that I abhor being told that people must give conspicuously or they will be judged.

Awareness raising is a great reason for buying charity cards.

But if you have a choice between two virtually identical products at the same price, why not choose the one which benefits a charity - even if it's just a tiny amount?

Not smug, just sensible IMHO.

i like to buy a charity xmas card.

but i bought a box of cards for 50p in teh january sales and so haven't sent charity cards this year.

George, I don't send enough Christmas cards for that to happen - I seem to only need to buy them every three years!

FWIW, the last ones I bought were for the charity I used to work for.

I buy whatever cards I like the best. If they're charity ones, then great, if not, I don't worry, because I donate to the causes I wish to support throughout the year.

Given that Oxfam now produce their own carrier bags, rather than recycling existing ones like all the other charity shops (certainly around here), I'm not convinced that they are making best use of the money they collect from sales in the shops.

I only send moonpig ones now