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Donating Philatelic Material

Great Britain Postage Stamp The decision to donate postage stamps and other philatelic material is a personal one. Yes, it's true, most philatelic items can be sold on eBay for something, but there are two considerations that compel me to donate stamps and other items from time to time.

The first consideration is purely practical - it takes a lot of time to prepare something for sale, describe it accurately, list it, collect the money for it, package it, ship it, etc. Sometimes, all the effort just doesn't seem worth it. With donations, on the other hand, you just pack the stuff up, ship it off, and you're done.

The second consideration is from the heart. You really do get a warm feeling from helping others, and if you have something that you don't want that someone else could derive joy from, why not make that happen?

For a long time, the only thing that prevented me from donating stamps was sheer laziness, in that I could never get around to researching the question of where donations should be sent. That situation has been at least partially rectified, in that I have now found two worthwhile charities that accept philatelic material. There are, no doubt, more than these two, but this information got me started on the right path, and I hope it will help you, too.

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The first charitable organization you may wish to consider is Boys Town, and their address is as follows:

Leon Myers Stamp Center
Box 1
Boys Town, NE 68010

This is the original Father Flanagan's Boys Home, and Boys Town accepts donations of philatelic collections and duplicates as well as coins and paper money. You can call Boys Town toll-free at 1-888-556-5123.

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The second charitable organization I'd like to mention is the Houston Philatelic Society, and specifically that organization's Beginner's Booth. You can send stamps and philatelic material to the Houston Philatelic Society (website at http://www.houstonstampclub.org/BeginnersBooth.html ), to

HPS Beginner’s Booth
c/o Jonathan Topper
8524 Highway 6 North, Suite 237
Houston, TX 77095

This group gives away stamps and philatelic material at stamp shows, which is a terrific way of interesting new collectors in the hobby.

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Finally, the American Philatelic Society accepts donations, and is an IRS-recognized 501(c)3 public charity, so donations are tax deductible for most U.S. tax payers.