Is there a way to stop the phone solicitors and mail requests for donations that happen everyday?

BTW, freqflyer, thanks for the tip about links. I'll bear that in mind while combing through these threads.
DH and I are caring for my sweet mother with vascular dementia, his sweet father with undiagnosed but obviously progressing Alzheimer's and his sweet mother with intact cognitive function but severe heart failure. All in their early 90s.
Let's just say that I can use all the help and information I can get!

FF, either don't answer, or pretend you don't speak English and keep repeating something, perhaps in some made up language. Jude had a great retort; I'll see if I can find it.

These telemarketers are trained to respond to pleas of poverty; they're like tanks, they just keep rolling right over any responses.

Other things people have done: talk like a baby and just keep gurgling and making baby noises, blow whistles, make strange noises, blow a boat horn, and my favorite, which I have yet to do, is play a submarine diving sound...loud, very loudly. But keep your ear protectors by the phone.

Sometime I just pick up the phone and put it on hold and leave it for a while, then eventually hang up.

You're too nice; I'm never polite to telemarketers!

Candy, the "do not call" registry is set up to prevent telemarketers. BUT charitable and political organizations are exempt from the rules! Still, you can go to the website and enter your Mom's phone. Ditto on the direct marketing association for unwanted mail. When My Mom was getting so much stuff, I began a personal campaign and sent each solicitor a letter asking to be removed from the mailing list and added to their "do not sell/share list".

If you aren't feeling uncomfortable with this idea, you might return to sender any solicitations and mark the outside of the envelope deceased or moved left no forwarding address.

Finally, you may want to reevaluate the credit card in your Mom's name. It sounds to me like an accident waiting to happen. Does she really need one or use it legitimately? If not, I would cancel the card. (Then she can give it to whatever solicitors call with out it hurting her!)

I have to block calls all the time which is especially bad right now with an election year looming. But when the caller ID says 'out of area' or 'unknown caller', those I can't block. Got to have an actual phone number. Put up a 'no soliciting' sign on your mother's door too. We have one, and it works most of the time. I swear there are people that come to the door that have no idea of what the word 'soliciting' means. Geez...

Candy, ditto on the credit card cancellation. My mom got in so much trouble she was spending all her time returning items. She keeps enough cash to buy day-to-day items plus a checkbook for larger items. If she wants to purchase something online she calls me, we talk it over and I look at it online, then I put it on my credit card. She sends me a check for the amount. It keeps her busy with her checkbook (which I actually keep balanced) and gives her an excuse to call and chat, plus I keep up with the invoice and everything.
As for solicitors, she has so few new people in her life, I try to get her to check the incoming phone number and not answer it if she doesn't know who it is. I tell her she can listen to the message (if they leave one) and she can call them back if she wants to. The door is something else - scary - and she insists on answering it. I feel like putting a sign on the door that says, "warning, communicable disease!" - or "QUARANTINE", but I guess that's a step too far.

With the mail issue, When they ask for money, they will alway enclose an envelope. Simiply return this with a note to remove from the mailing list or you can always get the point accross by tearing up their letter and then return it in their envelope. My father in law did this and the unwanted mail quit coming.

looloo, you were on the right track, but the website address you gave is incomplete. This is the correct link. strategicfundraising/dnc.asp.

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. :)

Well that's unfortunate, FreqFlyer. :( The way to get to there is to add the dot com between the word fundraising and the back slash.

Popping onto this thread again -- for the donation solications that come in the mail, read the fine print on the back, and see if there's a toll free number for the company the charity uses to make cold calls. Call them directly and ask to be removed from their database/added to their do-not-call list. The website I gave earlier was for one company, but there are others, so look through the mailings you get. It's early yet, but I think I'm making a dent in the phone calls and mailings. Good luck!

This is from Aging Care: just signed up both me and my mom tonight!


https://www.agingcare.com/articles/stop-junk-mail-174488.htm?cpage=0&post=1&cm=425592&z=1#425592