Fund raising, we all hate it...

[bean]

Every December, my store starts trying to take donations for the local food bank. We don't charge any processing fees or anything - 100% of everything entered into the food bank donation PLU goes to the food bank, we eat the card processing fees. They have enough bulk discounts set up with distributors that $1 can provide 4 meals, on average.

We also have a contest to see who can raise the most, and trying to push cashiers to raise more money... for every $75 I raise, I get a $10 store gift card. Not bad at all, though I would do it without the gift cards, I really believe in helping the food bank out, and I've volunteered there several times in the past. It's an amazing organization.

I've raised over $500 in the 3 days since it started. I'm #1 so far, and last year I think I finished #3 or #4 overall, out of nearly 50 cashiers. We have cashiers who haven't even gotten a single $1 since we opened up the PLU on Wednesday.

The first hour we were collecting, I had 5 people tell me "Oh I did that last time I was here". I actually asked one customer if they were sure, they said yes, and I mentioned "Weird, I guess we started taking donations accidentally last week, since we just started today". Oops, called them out. They just blushed and left.

The median donation is $1. But I've had everything from literally 1 penny to $70 so far. I only wish I was kidding about the penny.

I've been hitting up employees of course. Most are cool with it, they'll give a buck or two. I've donated $5 myself, in increments of $1/ea, but only when the cashier asks. I've even gotten a few bucks out of store management, and several more out of other cashiers, several have specifically told me they wanted to donate, but they weren't going to do it until someone actually asked. Everyone is fair game for me during this time of year, I ask EVERYONE (except for the 12 year old buying a snack, I don't expect them to know what a food bank is). I'm especially obnoxious with coworkers about it. Not REAL pushy, just more of a "Have we hit you up for the food bank yet? No? Okay, how much do you want me to add on?". If it's a customer I see every day, I just say "Have we hit you up for the food bank yet?". If yes, "Cool, thanks". If no, "Would you like me to?". If they say no, I just say cool, I won't ask you again. If they say yes, I go into the regular spiel.

One employee told me today "I don't believe in that shit. Don't ask me again". He's a part of upper management. One of the company core values is helping local communities.

Another employee told me "I'm glad you didn't ask me for that bullshit". The reason I didn't is... I asked him the day before and he just said "No thanks".

Last year, I had a customer YELL "Fuck the poor kids, let them starve!" and start laughing.... alone. He quieted down once he realized every eye in the store was on him and staring at him slack jawed.

Yeah, I admit, I'm after the gift cards - I've already earned over $60 in gift cards in 3 shifts alone, but I'd still be going after donations just as hard without the incentives. We do a lot of fund raisers at the register, but a lot of them I can't honestly get behind. This one I can.

"Ma'am, your total today is xx.xx. Would you be interested in helping [local food bank] feed the poor tonight?". A "yes, how much does it cost?" or "no thanks" is all I want to hear. Not "NO FUCKING WAY". Not "Fuck the poor". Not "I HATE YOU FOR ASKING, WHERE'S THE MANAGER?", not "I did that 3 weeks ago here", not "[random excuse here]". Just say yes or no. That's all I ask.

If they say "Sure, how much?", asking me how much it costs,, I tell them "Well, most people do $1-$2. $1 will feed 4 people a good meal. I can enter any amount from a penny up to $1,000.00, it's really up to you, I can just round it up to the next dollar if you like". I have a few people take me up on rounding it up to the nearest dollar, but most of those usually add a few bucks on top of that.

So SC's... a simple yes or no will suffice. Please don't tell me about how your great aunt was stoned to death by the food bank 100 years ago and how much you hate people making under $200,000 a year while you're waltzing out with your $50+ bottle of wine and wearing a fur coat, while climbing into a brand new Bugatti. I don't want an explanation about why you won't donate, in fact an explanation beyond "Sorry, I can't afford to" is probably going to make me look down at you. Especially if you just dropped $500 on wine in my line (this has happened). And you get the stink eye if you tell me you can't donate because you just bought <insert lavish expensive item here>, if you can afford a brand new fur coat, Porsche, massage happy ending, a pound of weed, etc, I REALLY don't want to know (especially since that item probably cost more than my income over 3-5 years). Just say "No", or "No thanks".

[Seshat]

It always makes me feel bad when I can't afford to donate to something like that - usually it's at such times when I'm on the verge of needing their help myself.

That's why I tend to do the stammering justifying-why-I-can't thing.

[bean]

I honestly CAN'T afford it. In fact, my checking account had $1 when I got to work today. However, I abused my check card and charged a $100 store gift card to it today. I don't get paid for another week, and I'd rather take a single $35 overdraft fee on it just so I can eat. I do have direct deposit, so the bank knows they're going to get their money... yeah, not the best way to do it, but I'm supporting 2 people on 11.45/hour and just paid rent.

If you can't afford to donate, just tell them no. If you feel like you have to go into detail, just say you're laid off recently or something (someone told me this today and I immediately shut up). I normally don't bother our regulars aside from a simple "Hey have we hassled you about the food bank drive yet?". Even still, one of my regulars dropped $2 and change (to round it up to $40 from $37.something) today.

[Crime Scene Scarf]

I'm a university student, so I'm broke at the moment. All I've eaten in the past week is soup, and pasta, because I can't afford things that are more expensive. I'm saving money from my food budget to pay for a textbook I need.

At the supermarket, they were doing one of these drives for some kind of little kid activity thing. They were in uniforms, and I figure it's a version of boy scouts, or something. I got asked if I wanted to donate, and I said no thank you, since at this point, I am saving my pennies for giant bags of pasta.

This woman rolled her eyes and tutted at me! I was polite in refusing, and to be honest, I could have been ruder, as I don't like little kids, and I felt like asking her why the hell she thought hitting the store up for money was going to be a good idea when the majority of people are from either the university, or the middle/high school.

[Saydrah]

Oh Bean I feel your pain. I feel it so much I actually logged in instead of lurking for once. We used to do this at my Petco (back in Ye Olde Dark Ages when I worked there) for a local animal shelter. There was one guy who delighted in mouthing off every time he was asked for a donation. After everyone in the store finally learned to recognize him and just not ask him, he started needling cashiers into asking him so he could exercise his mighty wit.

What was the witticism he was so eager to unleash, you ask?

"THOSE HOMELESS PETS ARE JUST LAZY! THEY SHOULD GET A JOB OR AT LEAST HOLD A CARDBOARD SIGN LIKE REGULAR FOLKS! HA HA HA HA HA!"

Then he would leave the store cackling at his brilliance, leaving the other customers so stumped that most of them donated a little extra to make it clear that they were NOT with that guy.

[jackfaire]

(except for the 12 year old buying a snack, I don't expect them to know what a food bank is).

I knew what one was when I was 8 but then my family was having to use them .

[fireheart]

When we were doing donations for the Red Cross earlier this year over the Victorian Bushfires, I had one lady tell me that "they keep it to themselves."

I didn't know if she meant the Red Cross or not.

As for me, I'll try and donate a little bit to certain charities every year, and my parents and I have done the wishing tree since I was little. (my sister's company does the wishing tree every year, where people take a tag with the child's gender and age and buy a toy of sorts.)

[LillFilly]

A local radio station where I am did a 28 hour on-the-air stretch to raise money for charity. They set-out to beat last-year's goal of $65,000, and beat it by $20,000 after the director of the local KFCs presented them with a check for the $ that all their locations in the surrounding towns had collected over the year. It made one of the radio personalities cry!

I don't see a huge deal with asking for donations at the check-out. It's a buck, and a yes/no answer. An extra couple of seconds. Geeze! Although I agree the people asking have to understand that even that may be out of the budget for people that are saving every penny; so they should respect that personal choice. People don't not donate because they don't care.

[trailerparkmedic]

One employee told me today "I don't believe in that shit. Don't ask me again". He's a part of upper management. One of the company core values is helping local communities.

This makes me

From what you've said in previous posts, I'm guessing you work in a Market of the Central variety. Down where I live, the normal stores are all over the place, including one with a gas station next to my job. After Ike blew through, they didn't just send trucks down to reopen stores, they sent people from Dallas, so that local people wouldn't have to go back to work immediately. Just a couple of days after the storm, the gas station was open. I had to wait in line for over an hour but the gas station attendant (who was running around like a mad man, directing traffic) was still very patient. I talked to him for a minute, and he was one of the guys who had come from Dallas. He'd been working a long shift in the heat but was still so nice, and the fact that he had come all the way from Dallas to help me get back to my apartment made me cry. Seems like your coworker could learn a lot about your company values from that employee.

Though, if you work for the Foods that are not in pieces, I don't have any inspiring stories for that store to shame your coworker.

[Ghengis51]

People that think food banks are just for the poor are idiots. Earlier this year we had a major issue in this state because the budget didn't get passed. Because of it, 66,000 state employess weren't getting paid until it went through. The food banks allowed people employeed with the state to stop by and pick food every two weeks (I think it was enough to feed a family of 4 for a week). They really came through and helped out in a time of need.

[Andara Bledin]

If I have it, I'll give some money. If I don't, I just say, "not this time, thanks," and leave it at that.

I'm saving money from my food budget to pay for a textbook I need.

I have no idea where you are, but have you looked into getting a grant for your book(s)? I was poor enough (as were my parents) that the state paid me to go to school. Then again, my cousin's father was rich, but they hadn't spoken for half a decade, but he still couldn't get any financial aid because of it.

^-.-^

[SummerI]

I see you're in my area. One Grocery store with the intials TT is always asking for donations. Gets old after awhile but I'm in there daily because of Starbucks. FTR, I do donate everytime I get my coffee because the chicks who work the kiosk get abused by sucky customers constantly.

[Crime Scene Scarf]

If I have it, I'll give some money. If I don't, I just say, "not this time, thanks," and leave it at that.

I have no idea where you are, but have you looked into getting a grant for your book(s)? I was poor enough (as were my parents) that the state paid me to go to school. Then again, my cousin's father was rich, but they hadn't spoken for half a decade, but he still couldn't get any financial aid because of it.

^-.-^

I have all the grant I can get. My parents make just over the amount that would get me a grant. So they can't completely support me, but the government thinks I can. It's not a big deal, and it teaches me to budget.