To wonder if people really do donate to charity instead of giving Christmas cards

[MumblesParty]

I see a lot of posts of Facebook from people saying “happy Christmas everyone, I’m not doing cards this year, donating to charity instead”. Obviously it’s entirely up to individuals if they do cards or not, but I often find myself wondering if they actually do calculate the cost of card and stamps, and give that amount to a charity. Or if they just don’t get around to it!

Anyone on here prepared to admit they said they’d donate but actually haven’t done it?

I haven't seen one FB post this year coming out with all the excuses and donating too charity. Those posts irritated me so much .Just say ..cannot be arsed, which is fair enough or just say nothing!

Work colleague used to say this, she probably spent a quid on cards and didn’t buy stamps as she handed them out. There’s no chance she gave to charity!

I give a few cards and give to charity, but it’s the charity of my choosing. I hate people asking me to support x/y/z.

I like to hope that people did when the trend first came about, yes.

I doubt people who are still saying it are actually donating.

But I think it's perfectly acceptable to stick a fiver in a charity pot instead of spending a fiver on a pack of cards, even if they would have each had 75p+ stamps stuck on them and you haven't counted the cost of the stamps. Quite frankly there were many years when I could afford the fiver but not the stamps, so the fiver went in a charity pot.

I do remember one year when I said it out of guilt because somebody gave me a card and I had stopped doing cards, and in all anonymous honesty I don't think I did give any money to charity that year because cards were becoming less common and I was glad to drop the tradition.

Usually I put a message on Facebook and explain to people I'm donating nice treats to the food bank BUT I tell people that if they want to give the food bank things like advent calendars, mince pies, chocolate etc make sure they do in well in advance. The food bank I deal with starts sorting out treat stuff, especially with children in mind, way before the end of December so that they can give out treats as well as vital necessities.
This year I gave money as I'd not got round to it. Both are gratefully received.

Yes, I donate instead of cards.

I make the donation because I want the money I would have wasted spent to be put to good use.

I don’t post on SM anymore either that is crucified on MN- but when I did I always included a photo of the receipt/email acknowledgment.

I volunteer with elderly people so I know that receiving a card means a lot to them. It's the fact that someone has gone to the trouble of buying a card, writing a few words in it and getting it to them.

Personally I love receiving cards with people's news. I'm quite happy with the Round Robin type; I just like to know how people I know but have not been in touch with much lately are getting on.

Because I know the above, I send quite a lot of cards and yes, it is a bit of an effort and expense, but I'd rather miss out on something I would otherwise pay for than not send cards to people I care about.

I also give to charity, but don't talk about it.

If you can't be bothered to send me a card, fine. I'm quite happy to accept that plenty of people have higher priorities than writing to me. But I do find it a bit insulting when people actually let me know that they don't think I'm worth their time, effort and less than the price of a coffee. And I couldn't care less about any charity giving they claim to do.

Personally I love receiving cards with people's news. I'm quite happy with the Round Robin type; I just like to know how people I know but have not been in touch with much lately are getting on.

I love the Janet & Roy-type round robin newsletters!!

Here's one set to music:

Given that there's no shame in just not sending cards (lots of people don't), I normally assume people have given to charity if they say they have. It doesn't need to match the cost of stamps.

I spend around £30 buying food for a local animal charity instead of buying cards. So does my daughter.