Charity donation favor--how to let guests know?

IF we were to end up doing this still, the charities we'd choose would be the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the USO. But I definitely see why it's a good idea to just separate this from the wedding. Will discuss with FH tonight!

FWIW, I went to a wedding once, an older couple, wealthy, not a first marriage for either. Their home is beautiful, they travel often, they truly needed nothing. Word of mouth was no gifts, but many people still gave them gifts, mostly cash. They donated it all to a local charity. They didn't make a big deal out of it, but it was mentioned in their toast to their guests. At the time, I was pretty touched by the gesture.

Don't put it anywhere. Just donate, as often as you can, but don't advertise the fact. Partly because there are almost no charities that people universally support, either because of the actual cause or because of the way their money is managed.

No one needs favors anyway. And no one will wonder about them.

The best orchestration that I've seen of this was several years ago. The couple put dog bowls on the bar, tipped the bartenders personally, and all the 'tips' in the dog bowls went to their local rescue. They let a few people know, but it really spread virally and through word of mouth.

Another 'favor' that I really loved was a wrapped cookie for each guest, made by a bakery that employs at risk kids. It's pretty well known in our area, so I'm sure some guests 'got' it, but it wasn't announced.

Charity is lovely, it makes us all feel great to give, but it should be kept quiet. And there are so many ways to do that! Repeat Roses, for flower donations after the fact, Table to Table and Second Harvest for leftover food, many sheltered workshops that make wedding products. I know you'll find a way, and kudos for opening the discussion.

There's no charity that everyone is going to agree on. m's example is a great one. My husband is military and would likely disagree with the USO donation (he's definitely in the minority, obviously). But it clearly wouldn't be a favor to him to donate to a charity like that when there are other charities he would support first.

I think it's best to not even mention it. It's fine if you would rather donate that money than give favors but I think it's in really poor taste to tell people you donated. People won't even miss the favors!

I love this idea-- so much money is wasted on favors that aren't taken or aren't appreciated. Much better to donate that. I'd say either a note in the program (if you're doing those) or a note on the tables. It's not my money-- I don't care if my hosts support something I wouldn't.

I'm not a fan of mixing charities with weddings. If you would rather give to charity than spend the money on wedding items like favors, then just donate the money. Why announce it?

Some people prefer to give money only to charities they hold dear. I find it presumptuous to be told what to do with my gift to you. If you would not like to receive gifts then allow the people to gift you with cash and then select a charity you hold dear. Let them know what you did with that gift in the thank you card, at that point it's your money to do with as you will.

Since favors are not required, I am always perplexed by the "we are making a donation in lieu of favors and we want our guests to know why there aren't favors on the tables". I think choosing to donate to a charity is a lovely idea, but it has nothing to do with favors and your guests don't need to know about it.

@Celia, what bakery?! That's amazing!

I showed this thread to FH and he went "Oh that makes sense, okay no favors then". Lol thank goodness he's so easygoing!

Yay! Mr. RATR listening to the WW ladies

I love Celia´s ideas!

@Jersey Jen lol he thinks it's weird I'm so connected with "those people on that site" but even he has to admit, it's super helpful!

Haha, yeah FH thinks it's weird when I talk about WW scenarios/recommendations.

@M. I HATE Peta ..... you are not alone.

Oh yeah @m I forgot to mention that--PETA sucks and I hate them

I personally didn't want to do the wedding favour thing because half the time their left on the table. IMO I think it's a waste of money and if people don't take them your stuck with a bunch of favours at the end of the night...

People have asked me what we were planning on doing for favours and I've told them we're planning on making a donation to the Canadian Cancer Society since his family and my family has been affected by it. Everyone I've spoken to about it likes the idea and understand why we would want to do that. Maybe check out the charities website they may offer something to you in leu of your donation. Canadian Cancer Society provides gift cards, place cards, bookmarks, celebration boxes, as well as, reception certificates.

That being said FH aunt really wanted to do the wedding favour for us so I agreed and will attach a tag that I will get from the Canadian Cancer Society.

I typically see people put little signs on each table. You could also do just one sign on the guest book table as that's often where favors are put.

I'm on the fence about this however Pinterest actually had this really cute idea.

Do you really think they actually donate?