There are so many nonprofits and charities out there that are worthy of our dollars. For most people, a random letter received in the mail from one you've never heard of probably isn't going to make it very far. Still, this is how an awful lot of small charities (and even not so small ones) operate.

In the mail today was a letter—although I hesitate to call it that, as my name is nowhere on it and it was only signed by cheesy cursive font—that was very generic. It was sent by a charity in my county that I hadn't realized existed. After reading this note, I now know it's here, but I don't know exactly what it does.

Getting past all of these issues, just the name of the charity signifies a cause that I think should be considered. I might like to send them a small amount of money, knowing very well that every bit counts, and I tend to be a sucker on the worthy-charity scale. My main worry about this correspondence is, they never ask me for money. There's no ask at all. There is an envelope with a mailing address on it, so that makes me think they sent this letter not as a friendly hello but as a solicitation. Why didn't the writer tell me what they needed from me? What's my money going toward? How, exactly, will I do well for this community through my charitable giving?

I know I've written this in a post before, but: Part of me feels so sorry for this group and wants to go volunteer to do its fund raising for them (as if I'm not doing enough pro bono work right now). Part of me thinks, my word, if you can't get a fund raising letter right, what are you doing with your (ahem, my) time and money?