My mother receives about 10 letters a week requesting donations to various charitable organizations. Many of the requests include swag: pens, socks, dream catchers, and the like. If she uses these things, is she obligated to donate to the organization? —daughter
Absolutely not! Some charitable organizations include token gifts with their donation appeals to increase engagement with recipients and to create a soft obligation to reciprocate the gesture. These efforts have the opposite effect on me. If an organization that depends on charitable giving is spending its scarce resources to buy and ship trinkets to me, I’m not instilled with confidence that the organization will use my gift wisely. One way your mom could be charitable without sending money would be to donate some of the freebies to a thrift shop.
—Adapted from “Social Q’s” in The New York Times Magazine