I recently decided to stop supporting a well known organisation I've been supporting with quarterly payments since 1988.

I tend to over-react to emotional blackmail (my mother was an expert) & I've disliked their newsletter for a while ("little Mary aged 3 looked after her drug-addict mother ... with a cute picture posed by a model & suggested donations of $200, $300, or your preferred amount) & personalised letter with my name in every paragraph, & this issue finally flipped me from grit-teeth-&-send-my-preferred-amount-cos-they-are-a-good-cause to F@#K you. So they've lost around $400pa from me.

Instead I'm increasing my donation to a much smaller good cause, run by a woman I've known & admired for her work in the 10 or so years I've supported them.

And I never speak to anyone who rings me - as soon as I hear the voice saying I'm wazzaname from whatever organisation, I hang up.

sandra