Have you ever received small gifts in the mail from a charitable organization and thought, “What a waste of money.” Why are they spending their money on stuff like this instead of supporting their cause?” Or maybe the paper stock that the solicitation was on was super high quality which you knew expensive and you wondered why they would spend so much on their advertising when the money could go toward their cause? You don’t have to worry so much about that according to confessions of a fundraiser:

…don’t get too upset if you get multiple mailings, or if you think the brochure is too nice, or if you get a freebie you don’t want. Many administrative costs are actually donated and are not taking away from your gift. Don’t try to contact the organization to cut down your mailing solicitations or to set restrictions. The time it takes to for staff to set up and maintain special mailing instructions is more expensive than the paper and postage. If you don’t want it, throw it away!

Some other tips that you should think about when donating money to charity:

• Give only if you want to: You should not ever allow yourself to be pressured into giving to a charity if you really do not want to.
• Give only if you have the means: If you don’t have the money to give to charity, don’t feel bad about not being able to. While charities always are willing to accept money, only 10% of their budget comes from small individual donations.
• Make your gift count: You want to check with an organization such as charitywatch.org to make sure that your donation is going toward the cause you want and not toward administration costs.
• Send in your matching gift form: If your company offers gift matching, make sure to fill in your form and double the power of every charitable gift you make.
• Don’t forget to claim your deduction: Don’t forget to make a note of your donation and to get a receipt so that you are able to deduct it off your taxes when you itemize your tax return.

When you donate money, you are donating money that you worked hard to earn. You want to make sure that your donations go toward the causes that you want and that your money works as hard for somebody else as you would expect it to work for you.