Starting in August each school day we looked at a charity request we received in the mail. We read the literature they sent and looked them up on Charity Navigator, making a note of their financials and how much they spend on programs, fundraising, and administrative costs. At the end of the week we put the 5 charities on a chart with relevant information (including whether they sent any ‘free gifts’). Then we discussed how we’d like to donate our money.
We kept track of every incoming request. In these last two months we received…61 mailings asking for money from 33 different non-profits. That’s right, 61.
I’m going to call out the worst three for the sheer amount of stuff they sent. World Wildlife Foundation sent many gifts along with their SEVEN requests for money. That’s right. They sent almost a request every week. Habitat for Humanity and The City Mission tied for second place with 4 requests each in a two month period. Three charities sent three requests.
And no, we didn’t give money to all of the repeat requesters. The worst is when they sent a letter thanking us for a donation and asking for more money at the same time
I’m going to give a shout out to Rescue Village for being the ONLY one to send us a thank you letter without a request for more money. Much appreciated.
This has been an interesting learning experience for us both. We’ll continue to track the information and requests, but we’ll be doing things a little differently in October.
I love making projects like this a part of our school day. It’s real world math education and decision making. How can this $1 make the biggest impact and what things are important in making the world a better place are discussions we had every single day.
And, yes, Gage was annoyed when a charity wasted the money we gave them to send more gifts and request more money. An important lesson learned.
Stacy's Books 
That is amazing that you did all this together! And I have the same problem with all my charity mail. I just got a recyclable grocery bag, a selection of cards, pen and paper, and a dreamcatcher all in one from a charity I’ve never given to before. So much stuff….What a great lesson for Gage and us. Stacy FTW!
It’s been interesting to say the least. That’s a lot of stuff from one place! Look at them spend other people’s donations to send you free stuff, lol. BTW- I haven’t been able to comment on certain blogs, like yours, but I have visited. I’m sure it’s a problem on my end just haven’t had time to figure out what it is.