Donations instead of cards

[Ally]

That's good Shelley and great that you know all your donation will be used for what it's intended for. x

[meriad]

I do every year and have done so for the past 5 or so, if not more. Mine is always a cat related charity so it's just a matter of choosing which one - and it's always a small one that 100% relies on charity and has no executives manning the show and demanding fat cat salaries. Also, make sure you fill in the Gift-Aid form so they get even more money

I know some people object to receiving e-cards, but that's just tough. I'd rather be able to donate money to a charity that needs every penny they can get vs spend who knows how much on cards and postage only for it all to end up in the recycling bin. For the very few people who do get 'proper' cards - ie milkman and postman etc I print off paper copies of my e-card (which I make / design myself)my own and print it off at work.

[saundra]

iv cut down on cards this year only now send
to my elderly auntys if i dont send them a card
they might think im dead
i used to ring them alot but they never ring me which annoys me
and i send to special people my lovely SIL my brother and 3 special friends
everybody else gets cards via son
and i send e cards i love them

[Osc]

I've pruned our list quite a bit this year, especially the overseas cards which now cost 90c each to post. I keep up with so many people on FB now, and was quite ruthless with people who haven't sent us a card for a few years. I like the charity idea, but we have a scandal over here at the moment where some charity executive salaries have been topped up from charitiable donations so am sceptical about donating.

[meriad]

Osc, find a small independent run charity... depending on what type of cause is close to your heart

A lot of churches / organisations provide meals over Christmas for the homeless and they could always use things, be it cash to buy food or donated food
Another alternative, does Dublin have a food bank? buy things for there
Buy a few gifts and drop them off at a children hospital for kids that may be there over Christmas and won't have much
Animal charities not associates with the larger SPCA branches usually need to find money themselves to buy food, bedding, blankets etc....

I'm a firm believer in that Charity starts at home - the larger international aid agencies get so much as it is

[cruiser2]

We make monthly donations to two local hospices and send a cheque to Sense ( Charity for blind and deaf children) every Christmas.
We post several cards including two to America and relations and friends who are too far away to deliver locally.

[JoM]

I'd love to do this but a lot of people we send to are people we're only in touch with at Christmas so they might think they're being snubbed

[TheOstrich]

We've pruned our Christmas card list in the last few years, down to under 40 now, and half-a-dozen of those are hand-delivered. We're not into e-cards, not that generation!

All our cards now are charity ones bought from the local hospice shop. We also make a Christmas donation direct to the food bank run by a local church, which we understand is helping to feed 50-60 needy families on the housing estate near where we live.

Apart from a regular donation Mrs O has always made to Lepra, we no longer give elsewhere. The fat-cat salaries paid to the big charity executives was the final straw for us. I never buy the Big Issue as all the local sellers are foreigners, and when I'm accosted on the streets, I'm more than happy to tell the chuggers where to get off .....

Bah humbug!

[JoM]

I've counted my list this morning and I'm down to 47 cards. I usually have to post around 25 of those. The stamps cost more than the flippin' cards do

[Kaz]

I'm only sending about 30 this year - some of those will be hand delivered as they are family here......

Far fewer than it used to be, but then we still sent more last year than we received, so I don't think I'm forgetting anybody