How To Donate Used Stamps To Elevate Money For Charity

Don’t bin your outdated stamps. Instead, recycle them. Proper right here’s learn the way to donate your used stamps to help elevate funds for the charity of your different.

Few households have been spared the impacts of the continued value of dwelling catastrophe. We’ve all seen our vitality funds and meals funds go up. And as a knock-on influence of this, charities have been hit exhausting. A majority of charities say their earnings has been hit by the cost-of-living catastrophe,

Must you aren’t able to donate cash to the charities closest to your coronary coronary heart, then there are nonetheless strategies to help. Donating gadgets you don’t need – and making certain to Current Assist your donations so that charities can declare an extra 25p for every £1 they elevate on the sale of your devices – is a technique. As is buying in charity shops for the belongings you need.

Nevertheless there’s one different, often forgotten means, to help out your favourite charities. That is donating your outdated stamps.

Many charities accept any used stamps. These stamps are then purchased by weight, and most charities earn spherical £20 per kilogramme of stamps. This makes it a easy means for charities to spice up money from one factor which may in every other case go straight into the recycling bin.

The run-up to Christmas is the right time to start out out gathering used stamps for charity. Many individuals will acquire Christmas taking part in playing cards from household and buddies, which often are inclined to have stamps on them, compared with funds. Proper right here’s all you wish to find out about how most interesting to avoid wasting plenty of your stamps, which charities accumulate them, and further.

Desk of Contents

What Stamps Do Charities Accept As Donations?

Charities that accumulate stamps want any form of postage stamp. Whether or not or not they’re new or used, first or second class, or smaller denominations. Charities moreover want stamps from worldwide worldwide places, commemorative stamps, first-day covers, presentation packs or albums. Principally, any sort of stamp is accepted.

In 2018, UK charities had been prompt by the Fundraising Regulator to stop gathering used stamps as donations. It’s as a result of points had been raised throughout the fraudulent use of postage stamps. Nonetheless, it seems that evidently the present introduction of barcodes on stamps helps combat fraudulent stamp use. Charities now seem able to accumulate used stamps as donations in confidence.

How To Donate Used Stamps For Charity

Sooner than you start saving your stamps, there are only a few key pointers to note:

• Pre-paid or pre-printed stamps aren’t accepted by charities. It is solely bodily stamps accepted, so there’s no wish to save plenty of every envelope that comes by the use of your door.
• There’s no should take away the stamp from the envelope, as attempting to peel the stamp off might rip the stamp. Instead, it’s most interesting to cut throughout the stamp, leaving roughly a centimetre of envelope or packaging spherical each stamp. The rest of the envelope can then be recycled.
• You shouldn’t ship the whole envelope to the charity – you merely wish to chop throughout the stamp to avoid wasting plenty of on postage expenses and the charity’s time.

Sending Your Stamps

In relation to sending off your stamps, don’t worry, stamps don’t should be fully sorted.

Some charities say that it helps in case you possibly can separate them into British and worldwide stamps (phrase that stamps from every the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man rely as worldwide stamps). Others do not require you to sort them sooner than sending them. Study with the charity you wish to assist sooner than posting them as to what their preferences are.

Lastly, when you ship your stamps to your charity, make sure you pay the correct postage in your parcel. If postage is underpaid, the charity has to pay a surcharge, which could usually be higher than the price of your stamps. This will likely negate your good work.

The Charities Amassing Stamps

Must you’ve started gathering, then listed beneath are merely among the many charities gathering stamps to spice up money to assist their vital work:

1. RNIB

The Royal Nationwide Institute For The Blind collects used stamps to assist its charity work. Proper right here’s how one can donate your stamps to help blind and partially sighted of us keep the life they want.

The charity offers smart and emotional assist to blind and partially sighted of us, their households and carers. It moreover raises consciousness of the experiences of blind and partially sighted of us and campaigns for change to make society additional accessible for all. 

2. Canine Companions

Canine Companions is a UK charity transforming the lives of people dwelling with disabilities by teaching assist canine. You can assist its important charity work by donating your used stamps. Listed beneath are the full particulars on the place to donate them.

3. Age UK

Age UK collects stamps to fund its work supporting older of us to steer rich and full lives. Proper right here is all the information on donating your stamps to Age UK .

4. In direction of Breast Most cancers

In direction of Breast Most cancers flip your outdated postage stamps into funds to assist breast most cancers evaluation. Proper right here’s the place to ship your stamps to In direction of Breast Most cancers to assist its charity work.

5. The Greyhound Perception

The Greyhound Perception was primarily based in 1975, and since then have found over 100,000 loving properties for retired racing greyhounds. Yearly, the charity rehomes roughly 3,500 retired racing greyhounds and helps an entire bunch additional. Proper right here is the place to ship your stamps to assist this work.

6. Ehlers-Danlos Help UK

Ehlers-Danlos Help UK is the one UK charity to assist anybody touched by the Ehlers-Danlos syndromes –  group of 13 explicit individual genetic circumstances, all of which affect the physique’s connective tissue. The charity collects stamps to assist its work – proper right here’s the place to donate them.

7. Kidney Care UK

Kidney Care UK is the principle kidney affected individual assist charity providing suggestion, assist and financial assist to a whole lot yearly. Proper right here’s learn the way to donate your stamps to Kidney Care UK.

8. The Lullaby Perception

The Lullaby Perception has so far raised a whole lot of kilos from its supporters gathering used stamps to assist its work in decreasing the number of Sudden Toddler Dying Syndrome (SIDS) deaths and supporting bereaved households affected by SIDS. Proper right here’s the place to ship your stamps.

9. Amnesty Worldwide UK

Amnesty Worldwide UK collects used stamps to assist its charity work supporting human rights everywhere in the world. Listed beneath are the whole particulars on the place to ship your stamps.

10. Reaching The Unreached

Reaching The Unreached (RTU) is a UK-based charity that works to empower primarily probably the most marginalised and disadvantaged of us, significantly youngsters and their households, in rural South India. Proper right here’s the place to ship your stamps to RTU.

11. Omega

Omega is a registered UK charity dedicated to decreasing social isolation and loneliness, by offering telephone and pen pal befriending schemes. Proper right here’s the place to ship your stamps to Omega.

12. Macmillan Most cancers Help

Macmillan Most cancers Help accepts donations of stamps to help assist its work in supporting of us dwelling with most cancers. Proper right here’s how one can donate your stamps to Macmillan.

13. The Bone Most cancers Evaluation Perception

The Bone Most cancers Evaluation Perception is a charity that gives hope to of us affected by foremost bone most cancers. It could probably ship you a free pre-envelope to you probably can ship them your stamps, and all proceeds go within the route of its work doing evaluation and offering knowledge, consciousness and assist to those affected by this form of most cancers.

14. The Alzheimer’s Society

Lastly, the Alzheimer’s Society accumulate used stamps to help elevate vital funds to assist all people dwelling with dementia. Listed beneath are all the donation particulars.

What Happens To Donated Stamps?

I’ve had just some questions throughout the suggestions about what happens to the stamps as quickly as they’re despatched to a charity, so I assumed I’d change this put up with an notion into what happens subsequent.

When charities acquire your outdated stamps, they then wait until they’ve a big sufficient batch, sooner than selling the large batches of used postage stamps to stamp sellers. Stamp sellers then divide these into smaller parts to advertise stamp collectors – often packaging them into 1kg unsorted tons, much like at SD Collectables.

These unsorted bundles are participating to stamp collectors because of each bundle might comprise collectable commemorative stamps, worldwide stamps, and outdated stamps from of us cleaning out cupboards or drawers.

Even widespread stamps with imperfections – along with 1st and 2nd class stamps – are thrilling to stamp collectors. It’s as a result of any fault on even a typical stamp much like a 1st class or 2nd class stamp much like too many or too few perforations, or printing errors might make that stamp unusual, and value additional.

The stamp collectors then get the enjoyment of sorting by the use of the bundle (very like how metal detectorists spend hours searching by the use of a topic!), with the thrill of in all probability discovering unusual stamps for his or her assortment.

Totally different sellers sort and grade the stamps they buy from charities, selling any unusual or helpful ones in glorious state of affairs to collectors – each individually or in tons based totally on a theme. These might very nicely be worldwide stamps or commemorative stamps. They often promote the rest of the used stamps significantly for crafting capabilities.

The Bottom Line

Donating your outdated stamps is an easy resolution to assist your favourite charities. Each charity can elevate spherical £20 per kilogramme of stamps they acquire, so it actually is money for almost nothing.

So let’s start gathering, and assist your favourite charity. Philately will get you in all places, in the end! Sorry, couldn’t help myself there!

And searching for additional strategies to assist your favourite charities? Have you learnt you probably can recycle printer cartridges for charity? Check out the hyperlink for all you wish to know.