'In lieu of a gift a donation has been made in your name to the ________ charity'

[Blackjack200]

Does this piss anyone else off?

I find it obnoxious and terribly presumptuous, and maybe even disingenuous. I got two or three of these for Christmas. I don't want for anything, my lot in life is good, and if you want to just send me a card wishing me a happy holiday, merry christmas, or whatever greeting your coked up Fox News anchor wants you to use, I'm more than happy that you thought of me and took the time to send me a card.

But don't give me some arrogant, self serving note insisting that you actually got me a gift as well, but because you know my values so well (or, more likely, know that your values are better than mine), you realized that I was only going to donate the gift to your favorite charity, and went ahead and made the check out directly to the Jenny McCarthy Vaccine Education Fund, skipping the middle man entirely.

You want the money to go to charity? Fine. Give me a choice. Give me a menu. I have no problem with that. Just don't complain when I donate it to embryonic stem cell research.

You want the money to go to a charity of your choice? Fine. Just send me a card and leave any mention of your crack pot cause out of it.

 

[Elbryn]

at least it's in your name, so you can claim the tax deduction.. could be worse i suppose

 

[PieIsAwesome]

lol those are funny.

"For your birthday I got you a dinner for me and my family in your name! Its like you took us out to dinner, but you didn't have to pay!"

 

[Blackjack200]

at least it's in your name, so you can claim the tax deduction.. could be worse i suppose

I thought about that, but the IRS would probably just count the gift as income and the donation as deductible. In any case, I've never even been told how much has been given. It's possible (likely) that they just gave a single gift to the charity and sent out lots of cards. That's why I put disingenuous in the OP.

 

[Born2bwire]

Next year, give them cards saying you donated to a charity that is the polar opposite of what they chose for you. They donate to a pro-life organization, donate to a family planning center. They should get the hint soon.

 

[PottedMeat]

 

[sactoking]

I thought about that, but the IRS would probably just count the gift as income and the donation as deductible. In any case, I've never even been told how much has been given. It's possible (likely) that they just gave a single gift to the charity and sent out lots of cards. That's why I put disingenuous in the OP.

Gifts are taxable to the giver and not the recipient.

 

[Kelvrick]

Gifts are taxable to the giver and not the recipient.

Unless they give you more than 12k, I don't think the IRS cares.

 

[waggy]

Next year, give them cards saying you donated to a charity that is the polar opposite of what they chose for you. They donate to a pro-life organization, donate to a family planning center. They should get the hint soon.

/this!

they give you one made out to Peta get them Omaha steaks!

 

[zanemoseley]

Yeah, last I checked you have to have a serious amount of deductions to make itemizing your deductions worthwhile. Otherwise you end up taking your standard deduction anyway.

 

[HAL9000]

Ricky Gervais agrees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcqinGqHQCg

 

[Newbian]

Win. :thumbsup:

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Can't believe it took 5 posts to mention the Human Fund. You guys are slacking.

 

[slayer202]

clearly you are a very kind and generous person.

I saw someone receive one of those this year and they were very happy about it. Near tears in fact. of course it was something they cared about. not sure why anyone would donate on behalf of you for some issue you care nothing about...

 

[silverpig]

lol those are funny.

"For your birthday I got you a dinner for me and my family in your name! Its like you took us out to dinner, but you didn't have to pay!"

I might do this next year and even include a picture of my wife and I out at dinner somewhere

 

[Anubis]

my aunt apparently sponsored or donated to some alpaca fund last year, first thing i asked her when i saw her was "so do i get a sweater?"

she didnt think it was as funny as i did

 

[Fenixgoon]

actually for my parents we make a donation in their name each Christmas and they're very appreciative of it.

 

[Blackjack200]

actually for my parents we make a donation in their name each Christmas and they're very appreciative of it.

Yeah, I still thank the people that do this. I might think they're rude idiots but it wouldn't do much good to tell them that.

 

[AreaCode707]

If you want to make a donation to somewhere, give someone a microlending credit through KIVA. The money goes somewhere good, the recipient gets to pick out the recipient themselves, and maybe you get someone hooked on microlending to areas in need.

 

[lxskllr]

I'd be thrilled to get a membership in the FSF for Xmas. That would make a fine gift for anyone.

 

[Xstatic1]

for the most part i agree with u, OP.

if they're older, cut 'em some slack....they're just do-gooders. if they're ur age, maybe u can casually mention which charity u'd like it to go to next time.

 

[GotIssues]

I'd rather that people donate to something they care about in my name than take a guess at what to get me.

1) I don't need or want anything. This would prevent me from having to deal with useless crap taking up space in my house.
2) It makes them feel good
3) They are (presumably) giving to a worthy cause, thus making the world a (very) slightly better place.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Human Fund

 

[Qrilock]

I actually appreciate when people do this. I don't want anything for Christmas anymore, I have everything I want and way more than I need. I finally got sick of people asking over and over, I tell them to donate whatever they would spend on me to a charity, preferably one that is not polarized (Ex: pro-life/pro-choice) This year my family got together and made a donation to Bikers Against Child Abuse. Made me plenty happy. I think more people should do this

 

[Blackjack200]

See, but I'm for child abuse.