If you're just going to donate the money to charity anyway, why can't you send me a script for free?
A.
When I started out, like many nubile, young playwrights, I gladly printed and posted copies of scripts at my own expense to anyone who requested them.But as some of the plays became more popular, I started receiving a lot of specialized requests from people who wanted me to fax them scripts at certain times of day, or FedEx it to them so they could have it by class on Friday, or be sure to include written permission so they could perform the script in public or produce additional copies if necessary. There was even one person who wanted me to "please just send copies of any scripts you think I might like."
Eventually it became apparent that a few of my well-meaning fans simply didn't understand that there was a real human being on the other end of their email who had to run down to the post office or over to the copy center in the middle of the night to facilitate their various requests.
So I began charging $10 per script, which was only slightly more than it cost to print and ship the copies, but it served to weed out the people who weren't serious about wanting to read a script. (I mean, you've got to be serious if you're willing to spend 10 bucks on something, right? That's, like, a whole meal.)
But once the frivolous requests had tapered off, and everybody seemed to be cooperating with the new $10 system, I realized that I didn't really want the 10 dollars anyway. (I mean, if I wanted money, I probably wouldn't have become a playwright, right?)
So now when I receive a check for script copies, I donate the full amount to one of the charitable organizations mentioned on the charity page. Basically, the scripts are still being printed at my expense, but now you're helping a good cause, and I'm not running myself ragged trying to fax things to places at times.