Donating to charity instead of sending Christmas cards

[Askingforafriendtoday]

Probably get slammed but why do people need to excuse ( as I see it) not sending Christmas cards by saying they are donating to charity? If you cannot be bothered/are too busy/cannot afford to send Christmas cards don't send them and explain why if you wish. If you want to/can afford to donate to charity do, if you don't/can't, don't. I find the justification really annoying. I love receiving Christmas cards, they help decorate the house beautifully, glittery, golden bits catching the light, and I'm interested in people's news if I'm not in regular contact with them. Charity Christmas cards are a good idea too, all chariyies only get a percentage of donations as it is.

I don’t think it’s that hard to understand, someone may typically spend for example £10 on Christmas cards but now realises it’s pointless sending them (in their opinion) so they send a text instead but give the £10 to charity because why not? It’s not always an excuse or a justification like people feel the need to answer to you, it’s just an fyi. They’re literally rubbish posted out to people, an extra £10 or whatever to a charity instead is fine

I agree with you, and it makes it worse that these announcements of charity donations instead of Christmas cards always come with an air of sanctimonious superiority and the implication that cards received are not appreciated.

Charity gifts are never done for the benefit of the recipient or a charity they would have chosen themselves. They are for lazy people who like to make themselves sound more charitable than they really are.

This! Its not really that hard to understand surely

I've seen this lots on MN this year, but surely most people who don't send cards make this decision without announcing/making a donation to charity.

I just gave up on cards a few years ago - no alternative expenditure, no announcement.

I don’t get it either. How much do they spend on Xmas cards? It’s not going to be a significant donation is it so why chose this to give up for charity?

You wouldn’t let everyone know you’ve given up a pub lunch to donate the money to charity so seems weird to do it for this

Maybe you just have some shit friends. I’ve only had this once, and the text said along the lines of ‘happy Christmas, sending money to charity this year rather than Christmas cards’, not OTT or looking for glory at all. And I don’t care what charity they donated their own money to. If your friends/family want to act like gods for doing so then maybe look at the company you keep.

From someone who does this...

Because cards are a waste of money, they are expensive to buy and post and ultimately end up in the bin.

Instead I donate the money to a cuase that will actually do some good like Social Bite or my local food bank

"I don't like to boast about my great generosity and altruism, but I've given YOUR card/present money to charity" !

I love receiving cards and want to stay on lists but I always send a thank you text, explain I’m donating and hope they’ll always want to send a card because I appreciate them.

If I were to add up card and postage costs it would be a considerable. So each to his own but I prefer to donate.

In rotation I usually donate to Salvation Army, the local homeless or, as this year, Refuge for women fleeing domestic violence.

I've had so many of these and it's really irritating. Just don't send them alright to cut out the faux virtue as I bet you don't!

I make the effort to send Xmas cards to old people in my family as they seem to value them so much likey MiL who is 84. She would be terribly hurt if DH and I didn't send her a special one with wonderful Mum on.

It depends if they are near enough to give the cards in person, or if they need to post them.

You can always buy super-cheap cards in bulk, or even make them yourself; but the postage will still be a killer if you wanted to send out several dozen/hundred cards.

My friend doesn't send Christmas cards since she lost her husband- she finds it too painful to write cards just from her. Rather than get upset, she donates the money to charity instead. She explained this the first year but hasn't felt the need to announce it each year. She just doesn't send cards.

I have friends and acquaintances that do exactly as you’ve described. They have no need to announce their charity donation along with their Christmas wishes. It is pointless information that serves no purpose when there is no information about the charity and why it was chosen.

Charity donations do not need to be announced to be effective.

Everyone I know who does this is a bereaved parent.

Lots of us don't write cards anymore because it doesn't feel right to leave our children's name off the card.

People announce it because others get really shitty about it for some odd reason, and its not easy to say "I'm not doing cards anymore because I'll get upset if I leave my child's name off the card, and you'll get upset if I put it on there".

I had a message like this from someone who is a very wealthy non-exec director of a FTSE-100 company and lives in a stately home. Pretty sure he could afford to send a few cards AND donate to charity!

I agree OP

I don’t send Christmas cards

I do give to charity

These two decisions are unrelated and I don’t see the need to tell anyone, just like I don’t need to tell anyone about the other things I didn’t buy, that mean I can give to charity.

No but if you normally exchange cards it’s polite to let people know you are stopping, adding in a ‘reason’ helps indicate that it’s not just a case of ‘I forgot you’ this year. Why would they need to put an explanation there? If I donate my own money to charity then I don’t need to explain my reasoning.

People can chose to do things differently than on you OP.

they can also chose to tell others what they are doing which highlights the cause they are supporting and may encourage other to do the same.

your friends might find your adherence to glittery cards that contribute to damage to environment annoying and are hoping their example might lead you in another direction

Well they could but clearly they don’t want to send cards…

To the person who says it's not a significant donation I somewhat disagree.
Previously I used to buy "special" cards for certain people that ran around £5 each plus postage say £1 ISH so £6 and I did that for 10 people that's £60 I can't see a charity saying no to £60.

Christmas is over. Stop moaning and move on. It’s a new year. Is anyone keeping cards up after it’s over? Thought not.

if you normally exchange cards it’s polite to let people know you are stopping, adding in a ‘reason’ helps indicate that it’s not just a case of ‘I forgot you’ this year

You could just say we aren’t doing cards any more - that makes it clear it’s not a case of “we forgot you”. No need to say anything about charity.

Once you add in the price of postage the cost can be quite significant

It’s a shame how many people are so anti -charity