Too many donation requests from charities?

If you have donated to charitable organizations in the past you probably receive several donation requests in your mailbox every week.  Did you know some charities sell, share or rent your information with other charities?  It’s confusing and time consuming to keep up with the solicitations.  You wonder, didn’t I donate to this charity already?  When did I donate to that charity, this year, last year, never?

How do you keep track of all those requests and plan your giving?  Before you become more confused and frustrated,  take back control and organize your giving with the following steps.

1. Create a budget for your total annual contributions and revise this annually if needed.
2. Do you want to give monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually?
3. List the charities you want to support on a piece of paper or in a computer document (spread sheet or word doc.)  Now you know what organizations you want to support, when you want to support them and your budget.
4. When you collect your mail you can be confident and toss, shred or recycle solicitations from charities you do not support, charities you are not scheduled to support, or duplicate solicitations.  Don’t let fear prevent you from tossing.  You will receive another mailing or you may find the charity on-line when it’s time to donate.

Have you received solicitations from new charities and you want more information before giving?  Check them out at the website Charity navigator.