charity Archives - Lazy Man and Money

The Great Baseball Card Regifting

September 5, 2017 by Kosmo 2 Comments

The follow is an article by staff writer, Kosmo

I began collecting baseball cards when I was a kid. One of the first cards I remember having was a 1985 Gary Gaetti card that a friend gave to me. I have no idea what happened to this card – I assume I traded it at some point, since I’m not a Twins fan. Another early card I had was a 1985 Ryne Sandberg card. Sandberg is my all-time favorite player. My cousin gave me this card. It’s well worn, but it’s still prominently displayed in one of my albums. I could replace it with a better copy for a few bucks, but I’ve kept this one to remember that it was a gift.

This is a Ryne Sandberg 1983 Fleer, not a 1985 Sandberg

I fondly remember collecting the 1993 Topps set. There were “black gold” special cards that year. I kept pulling cards that could be redeemed for sets of 11, 22, or 44 of the special cards. I didn’t really care for them, and traded them (at book value) to my friend Justin for unopened packs of cards. Many times those packs contained winners, which I would again trade to Justin. I ended up putting together two complete sets of the 1993 Topps set for a total investment of about $5. My godson (and nephew) was born in 1993, so I gave one set to his parents to give to him when he was older.

The inevitable market crash came – due in large part to the companies printing cards like they were the Weimar-era German mint. The market became flooded to the point where supply exceeded demand, and the cards of this era became just pieces of cardboard with pictures of players. Editor’s Note: The Economist has a great article on the baseball card bubble.

I still collect today, but in a different way than I did 25 years ago. I don’t try to put together complete sets. I pick up a few cards for the current players I like, and I buy occasional cards from decades past. I don’t buy too often, but when I do, it’s far more likely like I’ll buy a card from pre-1950 than from the current day.

Over the years, I’ve had a couple of people give me their entire collections. At some point, many people outgrow the hobby and simply need to storage space. Luckily, I’ve always been able to find the space.

In the cache of cards I got from a friend, I discovered that I had a complete Topps set from 1976. In the condition it’s in, it’s probably worth a couple hundred bucks.

Instead of selling the set, I decided to go a different route – I decided to give it away. I decided to give away a team set to a fan of each team. There were 24 baseball teams at the time (currently, there are 30). I switched allegiances from the Cubs to the Rockies in 1993, so I actually don’t have a team represented in the set. I’m going to keep the Cardinals set for my seven year old, and gave the Cubs set to the 10 year old across the street. The other 22 went (and are still going) to people I’ve gotten to know over the internet. Some of these are people I’ve interacted with for a decade or more and some I’ve only become acquainted with more recently. I’m going to cripple the Brewers set by taking the Hank Aaron card – because I don’t have any Aaron cards, and I want one – but all the other sets will be complete.

My out of pocket cost for this venture is about $3.60 per team. The boxes cost about 85 cents (including the shipping costs) in bulk, and it costs $2.76 for postage.

The Red Sox cards went to a personal finance blogger who walks dogs to make a few bucks and is a big fan of the New England Patriots. Editor’s Note: That guy sounds like a jerk ;-). What’s especially cool is that I was born in 1976..
The Expos set went to a prominent sports writer who is perhaps the best known Expos fan in the world. Those of you who are baseball fans may know who I’m talking about.
The Reds set – absolutely loaded with stars from the Big Red Machine of the 1970s – went to a pastor in Indiana.
A college baseball coach in New Jersey got the Oakland A’s set. His dad happened to be in town to help with a household move, and they spent some time reminiscing about guys like Vida Blue and Rollie Fingers.
A guy who advises congress on matters related to pensions was the recipient of the Phillies set. Although I never asked for anything in return, he sent me a hat for a local minor league team.

There are plenty more stories about where the cards went, but the key point is that they went somewhere where they were appreciated, instead of cluttering up my storage room. Sure, I could have cashed in and made a few bucks, but I was able to send gifts to a couple dozen people instead, at a fairly low out of pocket cost.

You might ask why I’m going this? Not only am I giving up the ability to sell the set, but I’m spending money to give it away. Well, I am getting something out of it. I’m getting some entertainment value out of the process. I enjoy seeing people receive their small gift and gush about how cool the cards of their favorite players are.

And you, reader, are also a part of this story. The Great Baseball Card Giveaway eventually turned into this article. I get paid by Lazy Man, who in turn gets paid whenever you use his links to buy things. So, in a way, you are helping to fund my giveaway. A couple dozen complete strangers thank you.

What Kosmo doesn’t know is that more than 5 years ago, when I lived in California, I found a small collection of around 100 cards for sale at a flea market. It was mostly hockey and football players who weren’t as heavily printed and collected as baseball cards. I probably would have skipped it, but I saw one particular card (pictured in this article) that I thought a friend would like. Like many things in my life, I put it aside and forgot about it. Maybe, he’ll get a surprise back in the mail.

Let’s Fight Autism Together!

July 6, 2017 by Lazy Man 1 Comment

Last week, I wrote about donating some money to help homeless women and children. Even though it was a small amount of money, it felt good.

Today, I’d like to ask you to join me in helping me raise some money for autism.

I know, you have all your charity money planned for. I’m the same way. This is the rare exception, where I’m changing my plans and allocating some more money.

The Story Behind the Cause

tired runner — Look at Lauren. Can’t you spare a little cash for charity?

Sometime in 2016, I got sued by Le-vel for my Thrive Review. My review was harsh, but Truth in Advertising’s were worse in my opinion the first one and the follow up. Anyway, Truth in Advertising has high-powered lawyers and I’m just your average private citizen.

When I spread the news about Le-Vel’s harassment, Lauren Sprouse reached out to me to help. It was amazing because I had tried to find a first amendment lawyer in Texas and everyone wanted tens of thousands up front. With her help and the firm she worked for MZF Law Firm, we were able to beat Le-Vel. The internet can now not only read my review, but hundreds of others in the comments.

Lauren reached out to me a couple of weeks ago. She’s planning to run the London Marathon as part of the Run for Autism team. This was around the time when London terrorist attacks were still fresh in everyone’s mind. And Boston Marathon terrorist attacks will always be on my mind. Finally, I first started writing about MLM in part because salespeople were making ridiculous unsubstantiated claims such as MonaVie cures autism. I had a long back and forth with a parent in those comments and his argument amounted to, “I have to try everything.” (That parent was one of the few people to come back to the blog and say how silly his argument was.)

It’s hard to not feel for people in that position. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I’m fortunate enough to not be in that position. MonaVie did a billion in sales and when the pyramid imploded was foreclosed upon for only $15 million. If only we could have aimed that billion dollars directly at autism. Surely that would do a lot of good, right?

The past is in the past. We probably can’t raise a billion dollars anyway. However, together we can do something small that may really help fight autism in a way that MonaVie couldn’t.

Lauren has set up a donation page here.

To encourage you to give whatever you can, I’ll match the first $250 that comes in. Just leave a comment here of how much you donated and your name. Trust me, giving will feel good.

Lucy’s Hearth + Rockstar Finance + Lazy Man = Love

June 28, 2017 by Lazy Man 7 Comments

Today’s going to be a quicker article. I wanted to let you know some good charity things that are going on with an online personal finance community, Rockstar Finance Forums.

I had caught a social media update (I think it was Facebook) from my friend J$ from Budgets Are Sexy who created the Rockstar website. They were looking to give away $20 to someone in every state. There was only one string attached, it had to be used to do something good. Unsurprisingly, my state, Rhode Island, was one of the few not represented. I joined the forums and asked how I can help them get to their goal.

In a few days I received a $20 Visa card in the mail with a letter about using it to do good.

Then a strange thing happened. This card became an albatross on my mind. I tried to think about the most good I could for $20. I didn’t want to do a normal charity because anyone can just type some credit card numbers into a computer. And since Adam Ruined Giving I’m more mindful about what to do with such gifts.

My son’s school was raising money to buy some Hippo Rollers, which are fortunately not about rolling hippos… though it’s fun to imagine they are. That would have been a perfect place to put the money to use. The only problem was that I wanted to give this money selflessly. I didn’t want it to be perceived that I’m trying to buy some kind of favor. Perhaps I was greatly over-thinking it, but it was also typing numbers into a computer. Between the two, I delayed just long enough for the campaign to finish, so it was no longer an option.

Finally, I decided on a local charity, Lucy’s Hearth. Here’s their stated mission:

“Lucy’s Hearth is a 24-hour emergency and transitional shelter for mothers and their children who are homeless due to economic hardship, family crisis, divorce, eviction, and severe shortage of safe, affordable housing. The primary goal is to foster independence and help the residents gain the life skills necessary to prevent future chronic homelessness.”

Does that sound like a good enough charity to you? It did to me. Rather than typing credit card numbers into a keyboard, I went down to Lucy’s Hearth.

[Click image for larger version]

If that picture is a little confusing, it’s because I added $20 of my own cash from my wallet to match Rockstar Finance’s contribution. They forced me to take a donation receipt, but it’s small enough that I don’t think I’ll claim it.

I offered to go pick up some supplies for them. They said that they were already going out later that day and it would be just as easy for them to add it their shopping and get some extra things. I figured that they are better better experts at buying what they need than I am, so I handed the money over and thanked them for what they do. They thanked me for the donation and everyone got warm “fuzzies” for a bit.

I wonder if I technically failed in doing what the letter asked. It asked that I use it to bring “unexpected” joy. The people at Lucy’s Hearth receiving donations don’t consider it unexpected. However, the women and children they help probably find it unexpected. And I’m hoping that a place to stay with some warm clean sheets brings them joy.

Your Turn

How and where would you have used the gift card? Let me know in the comments.

The Season of Giving

December 19, 2016 by Kosmo 1 Comment

The last few years, we’ve added another tradition to our holiday season. A local agency that provides services to the poor has an “adopt a family” program during the Christmas season. You sign up, are assigned a specific family (anonymous) and buy Christmas gifts and other supplies (canned foods, toiletries, etc) for them. The family provides some ideas on possible gifts.

My wife and I both grew up in working class families, with parents who struggled to get by financially. We both became the first in our families to attend and graduate college and are both well-established in white-collar careers. We’ve jumped a couple rungs on the socioeconomic ladder and consider ourselves to be very fortunate. The downside is that our kids don’t have the same appreciation for the struggles many families face. We can try to tell them, but it doesn’t have the same impact as actually experiencing the struggles. When we’re at Target explaining that we’re buying paper towels and toilet paper for another family, I think it makes more of an impact that we are fortunate. We worry about things that funding retirement plans and 529s at a high enough level; other families struggle to cover the cost of basic household goods.

We took the kids to Target for the shopping spree. They are 9 and 6 are quite high-spirited (especially at stores), so it’s quite a challenge to keep them corralled. In addition to the paper goods mentioned above, we also bought several nice, fluffy towels. Then onto the fun stuff – toys.

My son and I were given the task of picking out about a dozen Hot Wheels cars for the family’s boy. My son tired of the activity after a bit, but I continued to methodically search through the cars. My wife asked me if there was a method to what I was doing. Definitely – I was looking for cars that I would have enjoyed as a kid – I had tons of Hot Wheels when I was younger.

As with most things, the dollars have a way of adding up. A couple of times, my wife asked if it was OK to spent a bit extra on a few items. My response is always the same – sure. Six months from now, we won’t remember that we spent twenty dollars more than we intended to – but the recipient family will remember the gift it bought.

We hit the toy aisle hard, purchasing several toys and a few board games for the family. We pushed two carts of goodies up to the register and checked out. We asked for gift receipts for everything, resulting in a cascade of paper flying out of the cash register (there’s no option to receive one all-encompassing gift receipt – we asked). The kids were a bit cranky by this point, but the mission was accomplished. Well, mostly accomplished. Everything still needed to be wrapped – and I’m the designated wrapper in the household.

Is it worth it? Absolutely. This year, the family we “adopted” gave us a thank you card (via the organization’s employee). The woman had become emotional when she saw all the gifts. Some of the presents would be going under their tree, while others would be delivered by Santa on Christmas. We helped keep the Santa magic alive for those kids this year. That’s priceless.

[Editor’s Thoughts: We gave a few toys through a campaign that at my son’s day care. They didn’t ask for something as extensive as this. The requested toys didn’t include Hot Wheels though. If it did, I may have been in a pickle if I used Kosmo’s methodology. I’m not sure if the General Lee is available nowadays. Also, I wouldn’t want to get something with a Confederate flag on it.]

Is Donating My Car a Scam?

December 18, 2015 by Lazy Man 1 Comment

Happy Consumer Protection Friday. (If I keep writing it perhaps others will join in and make it a real thing.)

Typically, I cover MLM scams because I find it interesting how they confuse victims into thinking they are legitimate business opportunities. This week I’m switching it up. I’m going to look into car donation charities. You’ve probably heard those annoying, earworm, jingles sung by kids on the radio (yes Kars4Kids I’m looking at you… and please make an attempt to learn to spell).

Are they good charities or should you put your money elsewhere? Let’s find out.

To start, I should mention that I normally wouldn’t have thought about car donation companies being scams. I’ve gotten rid of one car in the last 15+ years and it was a sale as a private party. I don’t remember how I moved the cars before that.

Car donation scams cross my radar when this LA Times headline piqued my interest: California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris sues to shut down 2 car donation charities.

It’s not very often that I hear about Attorneys General suing companies. It is less often that those companies are charities. The article was full of information that I didn’t know. This was perhaps the gem: “…car donation organizations give a much smaller portion of the donations they receive to charity than similar sorts of fundraising campaigns, spending nearly two-thirds on salaries for their own employees and other administrative costs.”

So if you donate a car worth $9,000, you are really only giving $3,000 to the people who need it.

Is that really a scam? I say that a scam is in the eye of the beholder and my opinion of a scam is not necessarily going to be yours. That said my opinion allows for a very broad definition.

These car charities definitely fit my opinion of a scam. Why? Simply because it isn’t what a consumer (or in this case the charity gifter) would expect. It feels to me that the organization exists to create well-paying jobs for the people who work at the organization… and maybe give away some money to help others in need in order to sleep well at night. Aside from the salaries at the charity, there are also high advertising costs (the radio airtime on those jingles isn’t free) to bring in the money for the jobs and the recipients of the charity. Finally, I presume that the cars often need to be fixed up before being passed on to the recipient.

So then I went to look for more articles. I found this one on Kars 4 Kids, which said:

“According to [Doug White, professor at Columbia University], many car-donation-based charities that operate under this simple model ‘hoodwink’ the public, losing a large portion of the money raised from the sale to the middlemen who recycle the car or sell it on behalf of the charity. Kars 4 Kids is one of the few that does most of the work in house and thus avoids many of these losses.”

I’d definitely call “hookwink” the same as “scam”, wouldn’t you? However, it at least sounds like Kars for Kids might be a good charity because it doesn’t use the middleman, right?

Not so fast.

NBC’s New York affiliate found:

“Financial statements for two nonprofits associated with Kars 4 Kids show the charity lost more than $5 million on real estate investments in 2010. In the same time frame, Kars 4 Kids spent about $6 million on programs for children.”

That makes it sound like it’s “Kars 4 Real Estate Investments” doesn’t it? There’s also this:

“In 2009, attorneys general in Pennsylvania and Oregon forced Oorah to pay $130,000 in fines for failing to disclose the religious purpose in ads.”

You didn’t realize that Kars 4 Kids (which gives its money to Oorah and Joy of Our Youth) is a religious organization. I didn’t either. It’s fine to donate to religious organizations, but maybe people would donate to a religion of their own faith… if the jingle actually disclosed it.

Fortunately, it looks like I’m not the only one to cover this. It seems like BankRate has a consumer warning. About.com is very blunt: “The ads that you see everywhere that offer to help you make a car donation to charity are almost always rip-offs.”

So how do you avoid these car donation scams? I’d personally just avoid donating cars and money to them. If you have a car that is working condition, perhaps you can sell it for cash. Then donate the cash to a reputable charity that you’ve researched and vetted. This way, you know where your money is going.

P.S.

Years ago I created a car site with a friend’s help. I had forgotten about it until this article. It turns out that How to Donate a Car is one of the most popular articles. Now I have to go back and see if the author I hired was accurate.

The Story Behind the Cause

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