Charitable donation in lieu of Christmas cards

As in previous years, I have made a charitable donation to the Western Operations of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia on behalf of CyberText Consulting, in lieu of sending out Christmas cards to clients or having a Christmas party (with myself).

The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) is an essential service for people living and working in areas outside the major metropolitan centers of Australia. It provides on-ground medical services and air ambulance transport.

Many of my clients are oil and gas, mining and resource companies whose employees live and work in some of Australia’s remotest places. The RFDS is a lifeline for them, and for all outback workers and travelers. While the RFDS gets some government funding, it relies a lot on donations and bequests to keep running.

More information:

• Royal Flying Doctor Service
• Donate to the RFDS

[Links last checked December 2013]

Charitable donation instead of Christmas cards

As in previous years, I have made a charitable donation to the Western Operations of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia on behalf of CyberText Consulting, in lieu of sending out Christmas cards to clients or having a Christmas party (with myself).

The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) is an essential service for people living and working in areas outside the major metropolitan centers. It provides on-ground medical services and air ambulance transport.

Many of my clients are oil and gas, mining and resource companies whose employees live and work in some of Australia’s remotest places. The RFDS is a lifeline for them, and for all outback workers and travelers. While the RFDS gets some government funding, it relies a lot on donations and bequests to keep running.

More information:

• Royal Flying Doctor Service
• Donate to the RFDS

[Links last checked December 2011]

Christmas cards for clients

On one of my technical writing lists today, there was discussion about Christmas gifts for clients and links to websites that deal with such things. Someone mentioned donating to charity, which is what I did for the first time last year. Here’s my contribution to the discussion:

Along the same lines, last Christmas I decided not to send out cards to my clients as I figured they’d be on display (maybe) for 2 weeks, no-one would do more than glance at them (at best) and then they would go in the trash or recycle bin. The amount I would’ve spent on Christmas cards and postage (not including the time to write them!) I gave as a donation to Perth Zoo. I emailed my clients wishing them all the best for the season and told them of the donation in lieu of cards. Some responded saying what a good idea it was. No-one complained about not getting a card!!

I’ve always thought corporate Christmas cards were a strange custom – and now I don’t do it. I’ll find a suitable organization to donate to again this year – preferably one where I can donate direct (like the zoo) as versus one that goes through fund raising agencies etc. to get donations.

That spurred me on to actually do something—so this year I’ve decided to donate to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, a VITAL service for rural and remote Australians.