Well, the title pretty much says it all. I’d like to fling a few dollars at the Presidential candidate of my choice. I * do not * want to then be the recipient of hundreds of letters begging for more money for that party for the rest of my natural life. I have little to any faith that if I include a note saying “Don’t put me on any mailing lists.” that my request would actually be honored, even if they noticed it.
Can I send a cashier’s check? Is it even legal to donate anonymously?
I have the same question, but substitute PBS or any charity.
I’d like to support PBS or charity X, but don’t want to get weekly calls (charities are exempt from do not call regulations) and junk mail as the OP says, for the rest of my life.
I’m guessing donating anonymously is easier (suppose I could just mail cash) than to a campain. (where there may be laws against it)
Brian
p.s. I don’t care that my donation wouldn’t be tax deductable if I do it anonymously.
Since you’re near Boston, they probably have a campaign headquarters there. Why not give them a call and ask?
You know, there are a lot of good causes I would like to help out, but don’t because your name gets sold/you get pestered forever/they annoy the hell out of people. What gives?
If I could save your life by pulling you to safety, but I knew I’d be put on a mailling list forever, I’d probably save you, but I’d be really po’d about it. I have this sinking feeling that this is the most effective method, but it sure stops me from donating again…
You should really stop worrying about it. You’re doomed to wind up on the list anyway.
I’m one of this board’s resident conservatives. I’m a proud Republican, and have sent the Bush campaign some small donations. I’m on our county Republican committee, was previously on the Republican committee of the county we lived in before we moved, and my wife and I were delegates at the last Virginia state Republican convention.
I did, however, cast a vote in the Democratic presidential primary this year, as I was free to do because of Virginia’s open primary law. Because of this, John Kerry has been begging me for money ever since. The last letter even included a lovely picture of him and Edwards, personalized with my name. I’m trying to find a voodoo priest in my neighborhood to do something appropriate with this graven image.
Just give the money, and throw the damn junk mail away.
That I would donate for 
IANAL but I’m nearly certain that it’s illegal to donate anonymously. I’m also nearly certain that it’s illegal to donate through a third party, if you were thinking of doing that.
FWIW I’ve been generous to a certain presidential candidate and, while I have heard from them since, it really hasn’t been overwhelming or even annoying. And they did send me a big stack of bumper stickers!
It may be illegal to donate anonymously, but I bet if you bought a money order at the Post Office, and filled it out saying your name was “Generous Voter, 123 Main Street, Boston, MA” that A) they would be able to cash it and B) at worst Mr. Voter is going to get the junk mail and not you.
If it had an obviously phony name like “Generous Voter” then they shouldn’t cash it. I suppose if you used a believable sounding name and address it might work. But then again, it may be illegal or at least unwise for them to cash something as untraceable as a money order. I think the FEC can peruse the donation lists and randomly try to verify donations. It would not be good to have been found to have accepted money from a phoney name.
In fact a political opponent could, if they wanted to, make a series of relatively small donations like this to a campaign and then anonymously complain to the FEC. I don’t know if the FEC would follow up on this kind of complaint or not.
If your really believe in your candidate then you should step right up and proudly and openly make your donation.
You could always check off the block(s) on your income tax return. It would be a few dollars, but it would not go to “your” candidate specifically.
I maintain some mailing lists for a local political party units, and we certainly do pay attention to such notes. (We have to put you on a list, since we are legally required to report the source of donations. But we do mark it do-not-mail so we don’t send more mail to you.) It’s very expensive to send out such mailings, and obviously, we don’t want to waste money sending them to someone who doesn’t want them!
Yes, but the amount depends on your state law. Here in Minnesota, we can accept up to $20 per person as anonymous cash donations. More than that has to be sent to the Campaign Finance Board, who (I think) redistributes it among all candidates based on the percentages in the tax-checkoffs.
Note: this is all based on my knowledge of state law; it may differ for national presidential campaigns.