Sierra Club

[1ADAM12]

Does anyone here donate to this organization? I just recieved a mailing from them. If I sign up I get a pretty cool gift and their newsletter or magazine not sure exactly what they send out.

Is it worth it? Are their publications worth reading?

Thanks,
Adam

 

[daxs]

I used to think that donating to the Sierra Club was a good thing. BUT, they sell your info to other organizations and you get inudated with junk mail which is not really environmentally sound. Don't beleive it if they say they do not sell. Everytime I have donated, I get catalog after catalog all from advertisers in their magazine. When I stopped donating the catalogs stopped. Joined again a of years later and the catalogs started up again.

 

[1ADAM12]

I used to think that donating to the Sierra Club was a good thing. BUT, they sell your info to other organizations and you get inudated with junk mail which is not really environmentally sound. Don't beleive it if they say they do not sell. Everytime I have donated, I get catalog after catalog all from advertisers in their magazine. When I stopped donating the catalogs stopped. Joined again a of years later and the catalogs started up again.

Interesting! There is a box to check so they dont send your information to other oganizations. MAybe I will try and check the box so my identity is not sold.

Thanks Carol!

Adam

 

[Chip]

They support some pretty extreme views/proposals/policies. There is plenty of info Googled. This thread could get political very quickly. All I'll say is you might want to do the research before sending a check.

 

[1ADAM12]

They support some pretty extreme views/proposals/policies. There is plenty of info Googled. This thread could get political very quickly. All I'll say is you might want to do the research before sending a check.

HAHAHAHAHAHA Please dont get political fellow friends. If it does I will close the thread or just delete it

 

[Quietman]

A good place to start when evaluating how any non-profit handles your donations is here Charity Navigator. The numbers in no way tell a complete story, but they are a good start. Keep in mind, that the data is generally 2 years old.

Organizations can also claim a large portion of their fundraising expenses as "program expenses" by including educational information in their mailings and calling it "public education in conjunction with fundraising".

There are a lot of worthy organizations out there, but also some that are definitely not.

 

[jniehof]

I am not a member of the Sierra club. They just sent me a "please join" packet that was something like 20 sheets, 6 on glossy paper. I tried to do my usual "rip in half and recycle it" and discovered there was a large plastic cling sticker in there. Other "green" organizations annoy me with the large volume of resources they consume to get my money, but that went a little further than normal.

The Sierra Club was also a big backer (original proposer? don't remember) of the push to get the Whites turned into a National Park, over the AMC's objections. They're pretty strongly anti-logging, one of the reasons for pushing for the NP designation. If you think having a Boston-based organization interfering in New Hampshire is bad, imagine a San Francisco-based one.

I'm sure they do many laudable things as well, but those have been my main points of contact with them.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

The Sierra Club was founded in 1892 by John Muir, and is the largest outdoor club in the US with over a million members.

I belong since membership is required for participation in some SC activities. It's a huge club - to give that some perspective, the LA Chapter has as many members as the AMC.

Like large organizations of any kind, there are some activities which are controversial to some constituents. Personally I have mixed feelings about their environmental programs - some I support, others I don't.

 

[Snowflea]

I think the Club's good deeds far outweigh the bad.

As for junk mail... when I'm feeling agitated, I stuff it all back into the postage-paid envelope and mail it back to them.

 

[RoySwkr]

I think the Club's good deeds far outweigh the bad.

In CA the Sierra Club is sort of like what the AMC is here - the major hiking club that also takes environmental positions

In New England, the Sierra Club is an extremist organization that as mentioned wants to ban all logging in all National Forests for example, and does little if any on-the-ground work

If you support some of their causes, I'd suggest donating to a group specific to those causes so the SC won't do their usual "All of our gazillion members support all our extremist policies" statement

If the gift is worth more than the initial payment, rip them off and get it

 

[Quietman]

If the gift is worth more than the initial payment, rip them off and get it

If this is their "free" rucksack for a $25 donation, you won't be ripping anyone off. The rucksack is small(15"x14"x8") and probably cost less than $5 from China. I'm not knocking the Sierra Club, as A lot of non-profits have offers like these to try to get that all important 1st gift. Times are tough for everyone.

Maybe I should suggest to the AMC that they might offer a free WMNF parking pass to new members from New England.

I will say that I am much more likely to donate to smaller local groups like the RMC, MSGTC, The Friends of the Wapack, and my Local Food Bank over larger groups like the AMC or Sierra Club.

 

[1ADAM12]

Thanks all for their input. It is the rucksack and it is with a 15 dollar donation. I don't like the idea of them "selling" my information to other organizations though. I get enough junk mail as it is

 

[Mike P.]

I have supported them in the past & have received a couple of the bags. They work okay going to the gym but are not real durable. Better than some other free ones.

Did not join this year. (will try & keep this safe Dave M.) my political view is that politics works best when both sides are well represented & the answer is in the middle. When the Congress & White House were both on the conservative side, I was a Sierra club member + a few others. Now that this is not the case, I'm not a member. I may have to join a property rights group or the NRA now....

 

[Pete_Hickey]

... BUT, they sell your info to other organizations and you get inudated with junk mail which is not really environmentally sound. Don't beleive it if they say they do not sell.....

Maybe they don't sell... maybe they GIVE.

Confirm. If you sign up, sign up with a middle initial that you never use. Any junk mail going to that name came from them.

 

[Snowflea]

Call me a softie, but I'll forever speak up for an organization that was instrumental in preventing the damming of Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, they couldn't do the same for Glen Canyon.

I'll stand by what I said before: IMO they do far more good than not good.

 

[griffin]

Maybe they don't sell... maybe they GIVE.

Many non-profits do rent or trade their lists. It's pretty common practice, and it would be pretty difficult for most to aquire new donors/supporters if they didn't.

However, if they do so, they should also give you a way to opting out of those trades, and make a good-faith effort to keep that information up-to-date. If you make a donation, or sign up for a newsletter, look for a check-box or the like where you can indicate that you don't want your name, etc. shared.

/fundraiser hat

As for SC, I would definitely check out their program work and their positions before donating, as I would with any non-profit. I can't imagine the newsletter so interesting or a gimme so useful it would make me fund a group that does things I oppose.

 

[daxs]

Maybe the Sierra Club gives their list out and maybe they sell the information It did not matter that I requested not to ahve my info released, I got lots of junk mail. Many glossy cataloges from the advertisers in their magazine full of high priced goods that I could not afford. The costs of producing and recycling those catalogues I am sure far outweighed the amount of money I gave to the Sierra club.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Many glossy cataloges from the advertisers in their magazine full of high priced goods that I could not afford. The costs of producing and recycling those catalogues I am sure far outweighed the amount of money I gave to the Sierra club.

Said cost was passed along to the purchasers of the goods contained on the pages therein. The SC didn't come out behind on the deal.

Tim

 

[daxs]

I know the SC has nothing to do with the production of the catalogues. I look at it this way; I was making a donation to an an organization that is supposed to help protect the environment and they turn around give/sell my address to companies that produced these catalogues. Producing the catalogues use trees, paper bleaching, dyes for the ink, fuel to transport the catalogues to my home, fuel to pick up the recyclables, cost to recycle. etc. It probably helps the environment more NOT to give...

 

[funkyfreddy]

Call me a softie, but I'll forever speak up for an organization that was instrumental in preventing the damming of Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, they couldn't do the same for Glen Canyon.

I'll stand by what I said before: IMO they do far more good than not good.

I agree..... they do more good than harm. Speaking of extremist organizations, lol - what a loaded label ..... what's Earth First up to nowadays?