Do you like having a donation made in your name for a present?

Odd thing is they are usually made by some one that has money and then they get credit for making a donation to some charity.
Then they give someone a card and say it is a gift.

If they want to donate that is fine.
I don't care if I get gifts anyhow, but I don't want to be a tax deduction for someone.
I do my OWN donating to causes that I like.

This has never seemed like a gift to me.

** The ONLY exception to this is for funeral donations.

I totally agree with you. I am my favorite charity.

Interesting topic. I have never really given it any thought, but, I don't think I would like that, unless I requested it. For instance, if I said "no, really, don't get me a gift. Please make a donation in my honor to .............." and say whatever charity. But, for someone to just do it on their own?? I don't think I would like that. It would feel like that charity took a gift from me.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I had a friend donate (from Heifer Project International aka heifer.org) "a flock of chicks" in my name to an impoverished area family a few years back. I was so touched! I chose to take it as the gifter had been inspired enough to send a gift to someone who needed it and was able to use me as a wonderful excuse. I have been donating flocks of geese or chicks to people who have too much of everything ever since. They ACT like they are happy with the gift.

But now that I read this point of view, who knows?

Oh well. I'm still sending it to a few people on my list this year....

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"The errors of faith are better than the best thoughts of unbelief." - Thomas Russell

I really dislike donations, ESPECIALLY the funeral type. Unless it was the deceased persons favorite charity or the family and they specifically requested that donations be made to a certain charity. I remember when my mom passed away I got a card saying that a donation had been made to such and such in my mom's name, and I was thinking first that the person was "cheap" because it didn't give an amount that was donated. I also thought that I would not have wanted to give a donation to that charity or there would have been other charity's that I would have rather seen a donation go to "how dare she donate something in my mom's name without asking first". And last I would have rather had a card or flowers or nothing at all, because a donation was not necessary or wanted. I know I probably an the only person that feels this strongly about this. If you want to make a donation, make a donation, don't do it because somebody dies. What if it is a charity I don't approve of? JMO

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I agree with Allininaugust....if the gifter asked me what charity I would like to support, that is the only donation in my name I would respect...

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"Well-Behaved Women SELDOM make history."Laurel Thatcher Ulrich


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Have the courage to be yourself.

Me too. I don't like donations and the one I got as a "gift" was to an organization I would never donate too. Then, the organization began mailing me information and/or requests for more money. I guess the "gifter" gave my mailing address to the organization and they thought that gave them permission to bother me. Then phone calls started (it's not that hard to find out that info w/name and address). The no call list helped at least the calls.

I think donations are tacky and could be seen as rude unless specifically asked for. I also don't like that someone else is "giving you a gift" but then taking it as a deduction on their taxes!

Oh yeah, I don't like the "gift of a star" either

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

I wouldn't mind it at all. I think Christmas is a time for giving, not getting. I would rather someone's money go to a worthy cause/research than go into buying me a gift I will hate or maybe use once and discard.. what a waste of money!

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'Vegetarian' is an old Native American word for bad hunter.

If its a charity I support I don't mind. However I really mind when its something I don't support!!!! So when my mom passed (it was very sudden and we were not perpared) we asked for donation to be made to us - several people made donations to the cat shelter she had beenw orking at and we were fine with that. BTW after paying the funerale expenses we donated the remaining to a couple charities that Mom supported.

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What a relief! I'm so glad that there are some other people of who think this way.

I'm pretty sure that the tax write off isn't that big an incentive to the gift giver, either. Think about it. If they donate $25.00 in my name, they're not "gaining" much in the savings department.

I guess they could have spent slightly less on something cluttery for me instead.

I just can't imagine ever being disappointed that something nice was done in my name.

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"The errors of faith are better than the best thoughts of unbelief." - Thomas Russell

I prefer the donations over funeral flowers when some one dies. But I think of it as a memorial, not a donation.
I mean it is not like a donation for a Christmas or Anniversary gift.

When our son died we selected the places and it was in the obituary. The ones that are given in those envelopes at the funeral home ARE given to the family and we had to send those donations on to the Church, Kidney or the Heart foundation,

Since this was our first time we were surprised when the funeral home gave them to us. We thought they sent the donations on.

Penny, you will know how much was given then.

I never pick a place to donate that is not the familys choice. I have given money directly to the family When I knew they were in need of it.

No, I don't like it, for a few reasons. First, it's not a gift to me at all. It's nice and all but it's not a gift, so don't pretend it is.

Second, if you want me to give to charity, give me the money to donate to the cause I care about, not the one you care about. For example, I imagine my friend Paula, who is extremely pro-life, wouldn't be happy if I made a donation in her name to Planned Parenthood.

Third, now the charity is going to harrass me. Gee, thanks. A few years ago, a co-worker made a donation to cover about 20 of us to a local youth home and I've gotten solicitions in the mail from that group ever since. Not appreciated.

A "donation gift" amounts to a two-fer for the giver -- they cross a gift off their list and they get a tax donation for it. Somehow that doesn't really seem like the spirit of the holiday to me.

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Reading is Fundamental.

I've never had anyone make a gift in my name, but as long as the money wasn't given to something controversial, I can't imagine being angry about such a gesture. I wouldn't think of it as a gift *to* me, but rather a gift given with the intent of giving a gesture of respect or honor towards me for some reason.

For instance, one of my "BFF's" from college runs an adoption agency. People frequently donate to the agency in honor of people they love, and it never occurred to me that the names in the newsletter of those individuals might offend them. More often than not, those individuals have some personal experience related to the agency - they themselves were adoptees, they received a child through the agency, they have a relative on the board, etc.

My mother does a lot of historic preservation work, and it's very common for people to make donations to the agency she runs in the name of someone associated with some historic landmark she helped save. If Darryl's first job was at the old courthouse as a janitor and he always spoke fondly of the time he spent there and the lessons he learned, and mom's agency helped keep the place from being torn down and turned it into a facility that could have a new use, Darryl's friends might make a donation in his name to her agency for his 80th birthday. That's the sort of thing I see happen over and over and over.

Unless I knew someone had a fondness for the entity to which I was donating, I wouldn't make such a donation... but if I found out someone had, in a genuine spirit of charity and/or appreciation for me made such a gift, I can't imagine being anything but touched.

I distinguish between the two like you do. Memorials are in a class by themselves.

The Gift of Recognition (charitable donations made in your name to be given to you as a gift) is alright in my book because it serves to remind me how blessed I am.
The giver recognized that I had everything I could possibly need and knew my heart's desire to help others. The whole tax deductible part doesn't enter into the equation when I gift or receive gifting of this nature.

X

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Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

I've never had this done but I would be unhappy if someone donated in my name to a charity I did not support because that shows that the person doing the donating knows nothing about me and was just making a donation to cross a name off a list.

I'd also be unhappy if the charity that recieved the donation in my name started hounding me, ESPECIALLY if it was a charity I would not support.

But if someone made a donation to a charity I like I would have no problem with it. I'd be happy if a friend donated a flock of chicks in my name, I supprt Heifer Project International.

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I second this wholeheartedly. I will add that I probably did not think this way when I was much younger though, but it fits now.

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I also agree and would be dearly touched if a donation was made in my name . Peace. Catherine

A guy in college once had a redwood tree planted in my name, and I thought that was the most romantic thing (at the time). I think things like that are kinda cute...

But, donations made in my name always make me think about Sienfeld, when George made up the Human Fund!

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I'm the kind of woman when my feet hit the floor in each morning, the devil says "Oh crap, she's up."

Honestly, if a donation is tax deductible, I tend to give more. It's a 'win-win' situation in my book. The charity gets more money and I get a bigger tax deduction.

I wouldn't do it for everyone on my shopping list, but there are some who have everything they need and really appreciate a donation made instead of me spending on something they don't need.

I would be honored if someone gave money in my name (as long as they didn't give out my address and phone number so the charity kept bugging me). Most places you can give money in honor or memory of someone and not have to provide contact information for that person.

Same here. If they don't ask me first, it's really just a gift from them to their charity and I don't want them using me as a middleman.