Sending a Pound for Charity Quizzes :- Advice

[gen2]

This week I received a request with SAE in a flimsy envelope that was missing the bottom-left corner. There was no money or cheque.

Maybe the pound was torn out by an untrustworthy postal worker, but more than likely it got caught in the machinery used to frank or sort the letters.

If you MUST send pound coins, then please tape them to a piece of card or better still tape it into a circular hole cut in even thicker card.

This applies to all quizzes, not just my one.
http://www.theanswerb...s/Question954531.html
Thank you all.

[boxtops]

Good point gen2 - the pound is so obvious in the envelope otherwise. For charity quizzes, could you accept say 3 first class stamps instead? the charity could use the stamps and they wouldn't be awkward in the envelope. I found that a pound coin, too, makes a letter too big to go through the standard letter slot at the PO so has to be sent Large Letter rate.

[gen2]

Boxtops, Regarding stamps, it will depend on the charity whether they have a need for stamps and smaller ones may not use in a year as many stamps as might be submitted if every entrant sent stamps. Large charities probably use franking machines.

Quite often, the fundraising is done ON BEHALF OF a charity (eg, the Rainbow Quizzes) and then all submissions have to be banked.

[Everhelpful]

In my experience it will have been "lost" at the Post Office Sorting Depot.!!!!

[smouse]

And if you send £1 coin it is officially too thick for a first class stamp and so are 50p pieces

[gen2]

I beg to differ smouse.
Max thickness allowed for normal post is 5mm
Thickness of £1 coin is 3.15mm

[smouse]

not if its inside card and with a quiz and a SAE. I presume you have so far been lucky enough not to have had to pay the extra when someone sends it that way so good luck to you
I was only trying to save setters extra expense so differ if you must

[hellywelly4]

I was advised some time ago by a person who worked at the local P.O. that on no account should I send cash through the post - for example in birthday cards - as there is a machine that can detect the metal strip in notes through the envelope. I always send a cheque now instead of notes or £1 coins. It does worry me when setters ask for coins. It's such a shame, but there are untrustworthy folk out there........

[Alibobs]

Gen , I think you may be referring to me here.......out of interest I would like to point out that the coin in question was inserted into a piece of card just as you described.......and the envelope was a standard Office World multipack envelope,perhaps not the best quality in the world but not what I would describe as particularly flimsy.
I usually "round up" donations to quizzes when paying by cheque, to make it more than the cost of processing the cheque but this has become very expensive, particularly with the cost of postage added. The winners here appear to be the banks and the Post Office not necessarily the charities. Personally I would prefer to transfer money electronically and receive the quiz by e mail. Faster and cheaper all round, and if you charged £1.50 a go it would be cheaper for the punter but the charity would gain

I