This time of year, the combination of the general good will that tends to come over even Scrooge-ish folks like FD, combined with the thought that one’s tax deductions could use a boost, leads to thoughts of charitable giving.<\/p>\n
And, no surprise, it is also the time one’s mail begins to consist of half catalogs and half pleas for donations. \u00a0FD gets lots of donation requests; Mr. FD gets even more (he is more generous). \u00a0FD is not at all moved by the junk that arrives in some of those envelopes. \u00a0The address labels get shredded immediately — FD has an internal capital in her name, so most of these don’t spell the name correctly. \u00a0(On the rare occasions that a group has managed to spell FD’s name correctly, they do get a modest donation). \u00a0The cards and memo pads go into the Goodwill bag. Other times, a group will send a calendar. \u00a0A good friend sends FD a calendar from the Nebraskans for Peace<\/a> group (Cat Lovers Against the Bomb) every year, so those calendars aren’t really welcomed. \u00a0They, too, end up in the Goodwill bag, unless they can be turned into attractive envelopes. \u00a0FD has a small collection of envelope templates, and About.com has a page<\/a> with links to on-line offerings.<\/p>\n