How Can I Donate to Charity Without Getting Harrassed By Them Later?

Dear Lifehacker,

I like to donate money to charities when I can, but it seems like this just opens the door for them to bombard me with junk mail and spam. Is there anything I can do to make donations but not be harassed by charities for the rest of my life?

Signed,

Damned Donor

Dear Damned,

You know the saying, "No good deed goes unpunished"? Making a donation can feel like you've doomed yourself to solicitation hell. Everyone who's ever given money to a cause has probably gotten those address label "gifts" in the mail, phone calls from charity telemarketers, and constant email newsletters—all with pleas for more donations.

Charitable organizations may seem overly aggressive when it comes to marketing, but without contributions, most of them wouldn't survive, so we can probably cut them a little more slack than we might otherwise. That said, you don't have to just put up with the emails and letters if they really bother you. Here are the steps you can take to minimize the solicitations.

Choose the Right Charities

Not all charities are as spammy as others. Before you hand over your credit card information or send that check, look up the organization's privacy policy. Or, better yet, use Charity Navigator, which evaluates charities' privacy policies. For any charity, you can quickly see which ones clearly state they do not: a) sell or share your personal information or b) send donor mailings on behalf of other organizations. Likewise, the Charity Navigator legend tells you if a charity doesn't have this clear privacy policy or requires you to opt-out of mailing lists and information sharing.

If the organization requires you to opt-out, be sure to check for a box or button that allows you to do so when you make the donation.

Get Off of Phone and Mailing Lists

Common advice for getting rid of junk mail and telemarketers might also work when dealing with an overload of charity mail and phone calls. With charities, though, you might need to take additional steps.

Charity Navigator, for example, says that when you tell the Direct Marketing Association you don't want to receive unsolicited mail, you should specify both commercial and charitable organizations. Otherwise, the DMA will just put you on the for-profit list only.

To ask a charity directly to stop sending you mail, write "Take me off your mailing list" on the reply card and send it back the charity. BBB Consumer Education advises:

If you write to a charity to request that it not mail to you, be sure to send the return card that came with the appeal, so that the charity can readily identify you. If you write to eliminate duplicate appeals (those with slight variations in your name or address), send all the labels, with their variations. A charity's appeal envelope on which you've written delete my name� or return to sender� and put in the mailbox will not reach the charity unless you add postage, since the nonprofit mailing rates that charities use won't pay for returns.

Also, as we've noted before:

You should register on the national do not call list if you haven't already. It's illegal for a company to keep calling you if you're on this list and you have verbally asked them not to call you at least once. Unfortunately, it is not illegal for non-profits. But most non-profits run seasonal campaigns, so at least your lead will be put to rest for three to 11 months.

Even when dealing with a non-profit, you should ask for a manager and tell them you've repeatedly requested to be placed on the do not call list. Keep in mind that a prior caller may not have done their job and removed you, and this new, innocent caller is getting all the blame. The manager needs to to deal with these kind of customer issues so the callers can keep dialing.

By the way, if a non-profit calls asking you to donate and you feel tempted to do so, don't. The telemarketers making the calls pocket almost two-thirds of that money. Your money will go farther towards the cause if you donate directly to the charity.

Split Your Donation Money Between Fewer Charities

Instead of giving small amounts to several charities, donate more to select organizations. This not only helps more of your donation go towards the cause (rather than being eaten up by transaction costs), it could also keep your information from being sold or shared.

Donations of $25 or less, Charity Navigator says, barely cover the charity's marketing costs, so many organizations sell donor names to other charities. It might seem unfair, but charities are more likely to protect the privacy of more generous donors.

Use a Donation App to Donate Anonymously

Perhaps the easiest way to do the good deed of donating without getting punished with spam is to donate anonymously.

Google's One Today app for Android and iOS lets you donate to various non-profit projects, just one dollar at a time—and your personal information isn't shared with the charities.

That information does get passed to Network for Good, but only to process the One Today donation. Network for Good also allows you to donate to charities anonymously on their web site, and will only provide your contact information to the charities you support with your permission.

There might not be a 100% foolproof way to never get another charity solicitation, but the tips above should help slow the deluge.

Love,

Lifehacker

Photos by HowardLake, HM Revenue & Customs .