The worst charity Christmas cards 2013

Before you buy your charity Christmas cards this year, make sure you know how much money will go to the charity behind them.

Charity Christmas cards are a popular way to contribute money to a good cause. But many high street shops are guilty of passing on very little money to charity and instead using the scheme to promote their own sales.

This year Asda has been identified as having the least generous cards by the Charities Advisory Trust, as it only gives a stingy 6.6% away to charity. What's more it is one of the most expensive cards on offer at 60p per card, winning it the 'Scrooge Award'.

Debenhams wasn’t far behind as its NSPCC cards only give 8.3%. It received the title last year for passing on 8.33% of the price of the card to the chosen charity.

Other retailers have also scaled back, with several shops, such as John Lewis, Cards Galore, Boots and Ryman, selling cards which only pay the charities in question a measly 10%.

Matters are complicated somewhat when shops sell a range of different charity cards, all of which contribute different amounts. For example Debenhams also sells cards for BBC Children in Need and the charity receives 20% of the price of the card.

WHSmith was given the Curate's Egg Award this year, which is for a retailer that is 'good in parts'. In other words, some cards donate a big amount, and others less so. At WHSmith its Children in Need cards hand over 70% to the charity, but it’s also selling two cards which only pay the chosen charities a measly 8.3%.

Decline in cards

There is a smaller selection of charity Christmas cards on sale this year, meaning less choice for shoppers and less money for charity. Of the shops selling charity cards 93% have reduced the size of their charity range. The number of cards on the shelves was down by an average of 40%.

John Lewis, for example, has reduced the number of cards on offer by 36%, with 171 designs this year. At Cards Galore there was a drop of 74% to 28, while at Selfridges the fall was 55% to 46 designs.

The only shop to increase the number of charity cards on sale was WHSmith ,which extended its relatively small range to 18, up 200% from six last year.

How much do the charities really get?

The whole process of giving to charity through Christmas cards is complex. Tesco, for example, doesn’t list an individual price per card, but instead donates £275,000 to Diabetes UK.

The Charities Advisory Trust says that although this is generous, it is advertising the fact rather than increasing the amount of money raised for the charity.  

As there is no minimum standard for marketing items claiming to be for charity, shops are free to promote this and have the freedom to pay whatever they want to the charity.

Therefore the only real way to find out how much you're giving to a charity is to check the small print on the back of the card.

Alternative ways to give money to charity

Buying directly from your chosen charity, either through an online or high street shop, is the best way to make sure it gets all of your money. Production costs will obviously be accounted for, but this is a fail safe way to make sure your money isn't being swallowed up by another shop.

The Charities Advisory Trust’s own network, Card Aid, gives between 40% and 60% of the card price to the named good cause. It lets you either design your own card linked to a specific charity or pick from existing pre-made versions.

You could also skip giving cards altogether, and give a donation via the normal route or donate money to your charity and send out a Christmas e-card.

Do you give charity Christmas cards? Does it matter to you how much the charity is given from each card? Let me know in the comment box below.

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