Please Find Attached Our Event Flyer!

We get a lot of donation requests. From schools, advocacy organizations, art centers, you name it. Almost all of the organizations very worthy ones and we like to help out as much as we can. We must have given away hundreds of things for auctions and door prizes over the years. But opening an email titled "donation request" this morning it struck me how impersonal the way of soliciting these donations has become over the years. Initially, it was almost always done like this: a customer of ours, who we knew, would ask us if we would consider donating to something that he/she was involved with. We would talk about it and find something for them. These were people we saw on a regular basis - they were patrons of our store. Over the last few years in particular, requests have become very official - form letters send often to lots of local businesses via email. The cause may be worthy, but we don't know the person asking for the donation. And I'm realizing that it makes me feel a little - used, somehow. I prefer the personal approach. Of course, I donate to national organizations and causes where I don't know the people involved personally. And of course, we do still get requests from customers we know. And I know everyone's busy and harried and trying to be efficient. But the flood of requests from people we don't know, somehow doesn't feel right. (A smiley face in an email is not the same as an actual smile!) In any case, when we say yes, at least they have to physically come in to the store to pick up the donation. Maybe some of them will stick around and become customers. We hope so.