Ever wonder how much things all add up to sometimes? Well the humble greeting card surely isn't making a huge dent in your pocket is it? Think again...
Hold on a second I hear you say, I only send a handful of birthday cards, then some thank you cards, and then of course I send everyone a Christmas card... wait, how much am I spending including stamps?
How much you're spending on cards:
Cost per card
First of all, what sort of cards do you typically buy?
£0.50 - cheap
£1.00 - standard
£2.00 - nicer
£3.00 - mid-range
£5.00 - fancier
£6.00 - getting into silly territory
+ More?! Do we have a problem?
The average amount spent on a greeting card is £1.68
Volume of cards
Now have a think and estimate how many cards you're sending in total e.g.:
150 cards @ £3.00 each = £450.00
Amazing how much it adds up to, right!
Postage costs
Now factor in how many you post e.g.:
50 Christmas Cards and 10 Birthday Cards via 1st Class per year @£0.85p per stamp = £51.00
What!!!? ON STAMPS ALONE. Yes, now breathe my dear.
1st Class stamp = £0.85p
2nd Class Stamp = £0.66p
Total donation calculated
Now combine the total cost of cards and stamps. e.g:
£450.00 on cards + £51.00 on stamps = £501.00 per annum.
Example demonstrating how easy it is to spend in excess of £500 on cards per year
Grab your calculator and have a go at the above. It's also worth considering that:
• A bit of cardboard costs multiple pounds
• A first class stamp now almost costs a quid
• Many cards get binned shortly after the occasion
Wow that's a lot per year, how much am I spending in my lifetime?
Times it by the years you started sending cards and up to the point in your life when you reckon you'll be too much into Cyber Eastenders 2040 with your feet up to bother popping out for cards that year going forward.
But I've always sent cards... what else can I do?
Don't worry we've got the perfect alternative for you to spend the exact same amount, but see that money go to incredible use and purpose and still mark the occasion...
You can achieve this by giving the cost of cards to charity and sending high-quality e-card designs instead!
The alternative – what you get with DontSendMeACard
1. High-quality e-cards creatively designed by charities
The artwork departments at the charities really have come up with some great stuff. Take a look at the galleries. We think these top the corny and stuffy designs you'll find on the high-street.
More and more people are sending ecards designed by charities rather than printed cards from the high-street
2. Receive a volume of e-cards to send
For single occasions where you would send just one card e.g. birthdays, you are assigned a volume of x5 e-cards to send.
For common occasions where you would send multiple cards at the same time e.g. Christmas, you are assigned a volume of x100 e-cards to send.
Your volumes don't expire and you can come back to use them up at any time.
3. Delivery reporting
Know that your online greeting cards have been received. You can view a delivery report of each of your e-card sends. It's kind of like having your own virtual courier service for your e-cards!
4. Carbon tracking
We tally up for you how much carbon you've saved. This equates to 140g of C02e (carbon equivalent) per paper card not sent. Every little helps and you can feel good about making a greener choice.
Times are changing
Personally I am always surprised when some of the most technically incompetent people I know all of a sudden have a device and have gotten to grips with the internet, email, apps and the works. I guess we're so far past Windows Vista where it was hard work to just turn on a computer.
The point being that we are communicating more and more electronically and sending a digital version of a greeting is more relevant these days.
With over 1200 charities on board the platform, actively being creative and designing birthday ecards and more for you to send and support them, is it time to start doing something a bit more current and different?
Only if it's for you of course
We respect the fact that greeting cards won't be going away. And that there are two distinct camps when it comes to our offering – those that agree with what we're doing and those that insist that physical cards must be sent.
Where do you sit?
If you'd like to give us a try you can send your first e-card. The minimum donation is £1 and 100% of what you give goes to charity bar any transaction fees. So there's really nothing to lose to give it a spin.
Once you've made your first donation you'll then be invited to access our user account system to access all the e-card features.
Or to find out more pop over to the main site and take a peek: www.DontSendMeACard.com
More innovation from us soon
After the success of 2020 our team are actively working on improvements and new features!! Watch this space as we take our platform to the next level. To all of those that have supported the project to date thank you.
Attribution: Electric Lightning Bolt Vector by goff.brian.
Posted by Alex Furness, April 2022
If you'd like to help spread the word about our initiative of the cost of cards helping charities, re-posting this content is a great way to do so. Thank you!
DSMAC (DontSendMeACard) turns the cost of cards into donations for charities that rely on giving. This is made possible with our innovative system that provides you with volumes of e-greetings that you can send in exchange for your donations in lieu of cards.
About UsCards are designed by our charity partners so the artwork that you can send is truly aligned to the causes that you care about.
