Donor Information

Reducing Unwanted Telephone Solicitations and Junk Mail

To reduce the number of unwanted telephone and mail solicitations you receive, we offer the following tips:

To Reduce Telemarketing Calls

1. Register your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry.
   • Visit www.donotcall.gov or call 888-382-1222 to place your number on the registry.
   • Note: Charities are not subject to the National Do Not Call Registry.
     • If you ask a charitable organization to stop calling you, they should place your name on their internal "do not call list." Violators should be reported to the Federal Trade Commission.
     • Professional fundraisers are subject to the Federal Telemarketing Sales Rule that states that a paid solicitor must maintain a charity specific "do not call list." The caller can simply say, "thank you for calling, but please place me on your do not call list." This applies only to the particular charity that the paid solicitor is calling on behalf of. You may get calls from the same paid solicitor on behalf of other charities. If they continue to call you, they should also be reported to the Federal Trade Commission.
2. Register your phone number on the Wisconsin No Call List.
   • Visit nocall.wisconsin.gov/web/home.asp or call 1-866-966-2255.
   • Note: Charities are not subject to the Wisconsin No Call List.

To Reduce Unwanted Mail Solicitations

1. Contact the charitable organization that you received a solicitation from and ask them to remove you from their "donor list."
2. If the charitable organization utilizes a paid fundraiser, request that the fundraiser remove your name from the charitable organization's donor list.

To Reduce Junk Mail

1. Call the "Opt Out" hotline, 888-567-8688, for the four major credit reporting companies, Equifax, Trans Union, Innovis, and Experian. Consumer credit reporting companies are permitted to include your name on lists creditors and insurers use to make credit/insurance offers to you. Adding your name to the Opt Out list should reduce the number of credit card and insurance offers you receive because your name won't be included on the lists that the credit reporting companies provide to the creditors and insurers.
2. "Opt Out" of the mailing lists generated by companies you do business with. These companies may sell or trade your name and address unless you specifically request that your information be kept private. In some cases, when you order from a catalog or apply for a credit card, there will be a small box for you to check if you wish to "Opt Out" of its mailing distribution list.
3. "Opt Out" of receiving mail from many national companies by registering with Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) Mail Preference Service. DMA is the official mail preference service for the catalog and direct marketing community. Visit the DMA website at www.dmachoice.org for information on how to opt out, or call DMA customer service at 212-790-1500.
4. Avoid sweepstakes. Their intention is to collect names and addresses for the purpose of selling the list to marketers.