Which? has done another of its (presumably annual) surveys into the level of the donation made by charity Christmas cards, and has found a big difference in the donations, depending on the cards you buy and where you shop.
On average, cards brought on the high street give just 13% to their designated charities, with some packs from Next and House Of Fraser donating as little as 6%.
On the positive side, WHSmith has a card that pays every single penny to the charity, so if you really want to send charity cards, those are definitely the ones to look out for.
Here’s a rundown of the best and worst donations, courtesy of Which?:
- WHSmith: 20% – 100%
- Asda: All at 50%
- Waterstones: 20% – 50%
- John Lewis: 10% – 25%
- Clintons: All at 21%
- Paperchase: 16% – 18%
- Debenhams: All at 17%
- Waitrose: All at 15%
- Morrisons: All at 13%
- Post Office: 10% – 13%
- House of Fraser and Next: 6% – 13%
- M&S, Tesco, Rymans, Sainsbury’s, Selfridges: All at 10%
It’s interesting that some of the retailers who you may expect to be more “ethical” and therefore guarantee bigger donations, such as M&S and Waitrose, are outdone by the likes of Clintons and WHSmith.
Of course, many charity shops will stock their own Christmas cards, so it’s worth shopping for them there if you want your spending to have a more direct benefit to the charity. You could always get some cheap Christmas presents whilst you’re there.
(I’ve just realised I’ve started talking about Christmas and we’re still in October. Consider my wrist slapped. I’ll try to hold off on the Christmas stories until December, although I’m guessing that will be difficult – Ed.)