Yes, that Which? report. It’s not just last year it was the same story, it’s every year it’s the same story and it’s always Harrods that comes out as the worst offender.

So why does nothing ever change? It’s because such a large commercial operation can stomach a little bit of bad publicity once every 12 months. There is little point in the charity sector complaining about the parlous levels of donations on Christmas cards, doing nothing for 11 months and two weeks, and then coming out with exactly the same complaints, year after year.

If we are going to change the way the high street retailers deal with charities we have to keep this issue on the agenda the year round. We are actively thinking of ways and means to do that, but it is almost certainly going to need some large-scale buy-in from the charity sector. Because what would be the point of another headline in November 2008 telling us that Harrods only gives four per cent of donations to charity. We know they do and have know it for the past 10 years.

The company I set up this year is called Studio51 (www.studio51.com) and we pass 51 per of the sale price of cards to charities. My credentials are that I ran the card company Paper Rose and am a former VP of the Greetings Card Association and I wanted to find a way of making it easy and risk-free for charities to sell Christmas cards and we now have over 300 signed to us, including Marie Curie and Tommy’s, as well as scores of local charities.

I agree that with the IoF’s recent campaign that the best way to buy charity cards is direct from a charity and all our marketing material has said that if people are going to buy cards this year, please get them from us or direct from a charity.

But selling direct is not the best option for all charities. For those with existing big merchandising operations and big economies of scale, slotting Christmas cards into the mix is relatively easy. For small charities, it’s a big step to enter the merchandising arena because they have to bear all the production and distribution costs themselves and many small charities I know of struggle to make a profit by selling cards themselves and many make a loss. The raison d’etre of Studio51 is to take all those costs on ourselves so that not a penny of those merchandising costs falls on our charities.

Buying cards direct is good guidance, but it shouldn’t be the considered as a rule that is set in stone and applicable in all circumstances.

That's in a similar vein to Sue Ryder Care's 'Lights of Love'. They have an online star sky too, althought the focus is more on celebration and remembrance, and not as wide as the mystar one - and it's a Christmas campaign rather than an all year round one, but of course all of the money goes to the charity, and not just 20%.  You can see it at:

http://lightsoflove.suerydercare.org/

That's in a similar vein to Sue Ryder Care's 'Lights of Love'. They have an online star sky too, althought the focus is more on celebration and remembrance, and not as wide as the mystar one - and it's a Christmas campaign rather than an all year round one, but of course all of the money goes to the charity, and not just 20%.

I’d like to follow up on the ‘New website for e-cards with donations to charity’….

True, they’re here to make money, but they’re not all that bad since they give back to charities…I’ve just seen another site, www.mystarforever.com, based on the same principle, which sells online message stars, pretty much like e-cards, for $4 or so, and give back for each star sold, $1 to the charity of your choice…

I still think it’s pretty cool, even if yes, they do make some kind of profit ;-)

www.nocardsthanks.com exists to enable users to tell their friends and family that they would rather not be given traditional greetings cards but that instead they would prefer an e-card from nocardsthanks.com and a donation to charity.

E-cards are £2.99 with £2 going straight to the users charity of choice.

Nocardsthanks.com also works with charities to provide their corporate partners with Christmas e-cards.

Nocardsthanks.com is putting it's money where it's mouth is too. This year we are providing corporate e-cards for BLISS, the premature baby charity, with 100% of the price going straight to the charity!

www.nocardsthanks.com has beautiful e-cards ranging from animations, to photography and orginal art from a local artist. It is not the run of the mill e-card site. The aim of the company is to provide and ethical and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional greetings cards.

Why not take a look?

Mr Davies.

There's no great mystery about this, it's business pure and simple (with the added benefit that some money is generated for charity).  

Don't shoot the messenger

Shops can't afford to lose money. Yes, a small fraction of the amount spent on the card goes to the charity. So a £1 card might give 5p, as an example.
But shops have to have large markups to cover their costs. And to cover against sales not being as good as expected.
Costs have to be paid - many costs are payable even if something doesn't sell. A profit of £60K one day may be a loss of £400K the next. Overall a business looks to make a good profit.

The most cost effective way of buying something is direct, cutting out the middleman (shops, warehouses and whatever).
How many people will buy cards in shops and how many from the companies direct?
Come to think of it, few charities will have the skill or space to produce the cards entirely in-house anyway, so always some money will go to other businesses.

Now if the charities started negotiating better contracts, thats a different issue.....

Postage, I'd expect Royal Mail (or whatever provider) to be consulted on cost of sending this much weight/size item. Not rocket science to then advertise the price of P&P easily enough.
Or even have a special offer, over £25 orders the cost being absorbed by the charity.
If it increases the number of over £25 orders, can gain more money than loses.

Yes, Anonymous, we have seen the Which? report. In fact, it's something we helped them write. Depressingly, too, little has changed since last year, and many big retailers continue to act like Scrooge, exploiting charities' good name to make money for themselves.

Adam, Intelligent Giving

I do see your point and the differentiation is important. But the principle still stands, they're not hiding the costs so you can make an informed decion about whether or not to but their products..... I just feel that nobody would create the same fuss about different catalogue companies charging different P&P rates for example, consumers would simply vote with their feet. At least if a charity is charging you over the odds you've got some reassurance that the 'profit' might go to some good purpose (or not, depending on your view)

Don't shoot the messenger

I think the concern here is over variation in postage and packaging costs, not over variation in Christmas card prices (which, as you say, is understandable).  If Royal Mail is being used, then postage prices should be fairly standard.

Marijke, Intelligent Giving

The costs are extremely variable.... Yes, just like any other product. I imagine that each charity's proposition is based on the particular market segment that it's trying to appeal to. I can't understand why people get so indignant about this, as long as the pricing is transparent then what's the problem? If you don't approve then don't buy the product, as long as nobody has misled you then the decision is in your own hands. 

Don't shoot the messenger

Did anyone see the report from Which? on high street stores and the pitiful amounts of money that get to charities from the sale of their"charity" Christmas cards? It is being widely reported in the media and seems almost identical to the report put out by IG last year. It appears that the situation has not changed much since then. Maybe this is something IG could look into further?

The P&P charges quoted here are what it would cost to send one pack of cards.  Often it costs the same whether you order 1 pack or 10 packs so it is definitely more cost-effective to buy in bulk if you are going to buy online. 

The costs are extremely variable and I'm not sure why.  Some of the sites charge exactly what Royal Mail would charge and the charge depends on the actual weight of the cards you order.  Others have fixed fees, which vary according to the amount of cards you order.

Marijke, Intelligent Giving

The p&p charge seems excessive - in some cases it is more than the cost of the cards. Also, why is the cost so variable?