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  • "But it's for charity"

    My company has apparently decided to partner with a well known charity and run a donation drive. Employees are NOT required to donate...

    BUT...

    We are being heavily "encouraged" to donate to the point where I feel like certain coworkers think I'm a douchebag for not wanting to donate.

    We constantly get memos and communications from corporate stressing the importance of the "fundraising initiative" and how they think it's just great that employees of [company x] are so willing to step up and help out those in need.

    There's one woman I work with who asks me nearly EVERY single day whether or not I've donated yet and when I tell her I have no intention to, she responds with the title of this post. I understand that completely.

    Not that it's any of her damn business anyway but for the record:

    I have no problem with charitable donations, but I don't care for the particular charity we're working with (I usually donate to smaller, local operations where it's easier to find out where my money is going).

    It turns out I'm one of the only people on my supervisor's team to have not donated anything yet and he doesn't seem too thrilled by that. I've made my intentions clear to him and plan to stand by it.

    It also happens that one of my recent time off requests was mysteriously denied with no reason given when they are almost always granted. This wasn't a weekend or holiday I was asking for either.

    I know some of you will say "suck it up and donate a few dollars" and I understand why you'd feel that way, but to me it's the principle of the thing. We were told that donating was NOT mandatory so I don't feel I should be borderline forced into a so-called "voluntary" action.
    "If we refund your money, give you a free replacement and shoot the manager, then will you be happy?" - sign seen in a restaurant

  • #2
    Go to HR and tell them that you are feeling a lot of pressure from both management and coworkers to donate to this charity and that you feel that it is breeding hostility. You may also want to mention that in the future that it may be best for all donations to be anonymous to avoid having this problem again.

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    • #3
      It's not anyone's business but your own (and the tax office's) whether you have donated, or to whom.

      Next time someone - anyone - asks you, just say that.

      Or you can tell them "yes, and there are many worthwhile charities. I'll donate to my choices, you donate to yours."

      Or .. I dunno. Something like that.
      Seshat's self-help guide:
      1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
      2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
      3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
      4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

      "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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      • #4
        I agree with you, you should not be forced to donate. I also agree with what Solumina said on this.

        Reminds me of when my daughter started the 2nd grade and on the school supplies list it said "A 15 $ donation is required" needless to say I did not make their "Donation", they kept hounding me about it and I told them that they can not require a donation, I will give them 15$ if they change to wording to "A 15$ fee is required."
        http://www.customerssuck.com/?m=20080203

        My destiny is not pretty, but it's what my cutie mark is telling me.

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        • #5
          NO employer can force you to donate your hard earned money to charity. Trying to force you to do so is against the law.

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          • #6
            I was in a similar position, once. I downloaded and printed out the report from a watchdog group on the charity showing they spent more money on overhead than on their charitable works. Every time someone bothered me in person they got a physical copy of the report. Via e-mail they got the attachment. I stopped being bothered.

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            • #7
              I think I know exactly which charity we are talking about here, and I will have to be dealing with them next month. >.<
              Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

              "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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              • #8
                Next time the subject is brought up say "I have told you my answer, the subject is closed" and if they keep bringing it go to HR if you can. Stop talking about it after that, if they keep bringing it up change the subject repeatedly. Just refuse to say anything more about it.
                The shipping company I worked at was a corp sponsor of a charity and my boss and two other employees treated me like crap for a week before I told them "I'm sorry I refuse to donate to that charity I do not feel that enough of the donations get through to the people they supposedly help". My boss told me I was "disgusting" and refused to speak to me for 3 days. One of the other ones yelled at me and the other lectured me until I made my position extremely clear.
                "The reason I do not donate to these charities is also in part because of exactly what you are doing to me now. I am not going to pay out to a company I have moral objections to especially as they use bullying tactics to collect money. The more you yell at me the more I refuse to be forced into donating." I also pointed out that I had taken UNPAID time off to help collect to a local charity for the last 5 years and how many actual hours had they ever volunteered for chairty? Guess what the answer was....none.
                Last edited by Dips; 09-27-2011, 11:17 AM. Reason: removed name of charity to keep this away from fratching
                I wasnt put on this earth to make you feel like a man ~ Mary Bertone

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                • #9
                  When I worked an outside job, I told them very firmly that I donated to charities of my own choice and that was my personal business and the matter is not up for discussion in the workplace. In fact, since the charity drive had nothing to do with my job, I wasn't willing to discuss it at all and they were not to mention it to me again.

                  That seemed to set the tone for them and they didn't bother me about it. You might try that.

                  Except when I worked for WOLO and literally chased the woman they'd sent to harass me out of master control with a bad tempered, indignant tirade. Although that worked, too. Didn't get bothered after that little episode, either.

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                  • #10
                    I agree with others here. Next time someone asks if you have donated, tell them that what charities you donate to is a personal matter, and you will not discuss it further. After that, keep a log of who and when you are asked/confronted, and what was said, along with any other occurances you think are relevant, and take that to HR.

                    I am very picky what charities I donate to. Just because a charity is reputable and well-known does not mean they are the most efficient at getting the most percentage of donations to the actual cause. Many well-known, well-intentioned charities spend a huge percentage of donations on operating expenses and fund raising itself. Also, just because a charity raises money for a good cause does not mean I agree with other policies/beliefs that charity may have. It is also entirely up to an individual to decide what charity they think should take priority for their limited amount of donations (i.e. cancer vs heart disease).

                    I think anyone who pushed me too far would also be told that I have already donated to the charity of MY choice, if it's that important to them that my name be on a donation to THEIR charity, then feel free to donate to it in my name (caps for emphathis).

                    Madness takes it's toll....
                    Please have exact change ready.

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                    • #11
                      One job I worked, we got pamphlets from a charity in our mailboxes for their yearly drive.

                      I don't donate to that charity, not since a particularly nasty scandal in Maryland where one of their execs was basically using donations as his personal piggy bank. I also don't donate to employer charities to help their public image, or help their tax situation.

                      I ignored it, as I had on any other job where I'd gotten one of these.

                      My supervisor asked me about it, and when was I going to turn it in?

                      Me: I'm not, not that it's any of your business. I don't donate to that charity.
                      Sup: But they do all these wonderful things!
                      Me: So they say. I donate to the charities of my own choosing. I find these employer sponsored drives offensive. I don't want to talk about this any more.

                      A week later.

                      Sup: Pan, you still haven't turned in your form.
                      Me: I told you I wasn't going to.
                      Sup: Well, I need you to.
                      Me: You need me to? You do understand it is illegal for an employer to pressure me to donate to any charity?
                      Sup: *hastily backtracking* No, no no! I meant, you need to turn in the form. The hospital is keeping track of the forms. I am required to get everyone to turn one in, whether they donate or not.
                      Me: This sounds fishy.
                      Sup: it's just a form, Pan. Just put $0 on it and give it back to me.
                      Me: I threw it away, since I'm not donating.
                      Sup: I'll get you another one.

                      So she gets me another one. I took it, wrote my name, and in large letters:

                      I will not EVER donate to [name redacted]. You are breaking the law by pushing this form on me repeatedly. Do not harass me again or I will file a formal complaint with the Labor Board.

                      Me: Here you go.
                      Sup:

                      Yeah, that didn't go over well. But it felt good
                      Last edited by Dips; 09-27-2011, 11:20 AM. Reason: removed name of charity to keep this from fratching
                      They say that God only gives us what we can handle. Apparently, God thinks I'm a bad ass.

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                      • #12
                        Quoth Panacea View Post
                        One job I worked, we got pamphlets from the a charity in our mailboxes for their yearly drive.

                        I don't donate to the that charity, not since a particularly nasty scandal in Maryland where one of their execs was basically using donations as his personal piggy bank. I also don't donate to employer charities to help their public image, or help their tax situation.
                        Yeah, after that scandal, I stopped donating to that particular charity as well.

                        Fortunately, my managers at the wholesale club completely understood and didn't harass me about it. The following year, when other charities were on offer, I donated a whole dollar (to assuage my own modest guilt) and that was the end of it.
                        Last edited by Dips; 09-27-2011, 11:21 AM. Reason: fixed quoted post
                        PWNADE(TM) - Serve up a glass today! | PWNZER - An act of pwnage so awesome, it's like the victim got hit by a tank.

                        There are only Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse because I choose to walk!

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                        • #13
                          It's the Mil-Spec "100% Volunteer" syndrome.

                          Unlike orificers, craparat dickwicks don't loose all possibilty of promotion when their troops perform at less than 110% of reality.
                          I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
                          Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
                          Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

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                          • #14
                            I'm told I can donate as little as 50 cents to the work-sponsored charity, yet I look at the stack of brochures that sit in our lunchroom (which hang around and are ultimately thrown away) and I wonder how much was just wasted in printing costs. I tend to donate food to the local pantry, I know they can use it.
                            A lion however, will only devour your corpse, whereas an SC is not sated until they have destroyed your soul. (Quote per infinitemonkies)

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                            • #15
                              As someone who works for a charity, I agree that it is upto the employee and ONLY the employee, to decide which charity to give to or not give to.
                              We have employee donation drives at work each year but we are not pressured.
                              "All I've ever learned from love was how to shoot somebody who out-drew ya"

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