What I hate about donation times

[jjc927]

This happened to me earlier today. SDL will stand for Stupid Donation Lady, and me will be well... me.

Me: Would you like to donate a dollar to (charity name)?
SDL: No, I wouldn't, and I think it's terrible that they do this. I know they want you to ask, but it's still terrible.
Me: Well, all you have to do is say no.
SDL: I know, but you did not have to ask me, so I can say whatever I want. (ugh... )

I ignored her after this and just gave her receipt and sent her on her way. I went on break shortly after, and I thought this would be a great response to her last statement (of course if I could say it without risk of reprimand): Well, you are trying to force your beliefs on me, so that allows me to ask you to donate.

Seriously though, if you don't want to donate, just say no! It's not necessary to give a long reason or get into an argument (I had a woman a couple of years ago who said how dare you ask me! What charities I donate to is my business! and then have not 1 but 2 managers come over and yell at them for having us do this). It's people like this that make me just want to pretend the donation slips aren't there and not ask anyone.

[fireheart]

I had one lady tell me around the time of the Victorian Bushfires that "Red Cross/Store I Work For" keep it to themselves. FFS lady....

We actually donated around $8000 worth of goods, including food and toiletries and even managed to pull several trucks from the warehouse to deliver it all.

[dawnfire]

I had one lady tell me around the time of the Victorian Bushfires that "Red Cross/Store I Work For" keep it to themselves. FFS lady....

We actually donated around $8000 worth of goods, including food and toiletries and even managed to pull several trucks from the warehouse to deliver it all.

As a Victorian bushfire survivor I thank you and all who donated.

[RxBoy]

When I was a cashier, the store I worked at ran a campaign once a year to raise money for food banks. We were required to ask each customer if they would like to donate. To ensure that we were doing it, several secret shoppers were sent in throughout the day. I was amazed at how often people made this big long excuses about whey they didn't want to donate $1 to help. I felt like screaming at these people.

If you don't want to, just say no. I personally didn't care one way or the other and I'm certainly not going to lecture someone or treat them rudely for not donating. Why do they feel the need to explain their reasons with some lengthy babbling? I was lucky though, I never had anyone go off on me for asking.

[bainsidhe]

On the other hand, I've had a few cashiers try to guilt trip me into donating. Hey, I've had to ask the questions and I agree that a simple "no" is perfectly acceptable. Yet there's always someone who won't accept that as my final answer.

[SourRobot]

On the other hand, I've had a few cashiers try to guilt trip me into donating. Hey, I've had to ask the questions and I agree that a simple "no" is perfectly acceptable. Yet there's always someone who won't accept that as my final answer.

Same. I donate sometimes. One time I politely refused and for the rest of the transaction the cashier kept shaking her head and giving me dirty looks.

I also don't like people who want something for donating. Every now and then we have some charity thing going on where the customer gets a coupon for donating to a charity. They'll see the coupon, they want it, then when I tell them that they have to make a donation (it usually costs no more than $1.50) they'll change their minds. Fine, but then some people just don't get it and ask, "Can't I just get the coupon for free?"

[Jay 2K Winger]

Worse than the people who gripe at you about asking for donations, or the people who claim the donations are just kept by the business/organization, are the people who say something terrible about the people the donations are meant for.

Like the Skeevy Creep I ran into at the movie theater. When we asked if he'd like to donate money to help children with cystic fibrosis, he replied, "No, they're all dead anyway."

Oooh, we wanted to hit him with a brick for that.

[MrsEclipse]

Jeeze.

Okay, here's my take:
I usually don't donate if I'm not familiar with the charity or the drive, because in the past I've found out that a lot of organizations that sponsor things I'm willing to donate for, end up spending far too much of it on overhead, or don't actually do the things they say they will. ("We're going to send this train full of malaria vaccines to Africa! Right after we finish building this here space elevator for some reason...")

Point One: If you ask me if I want to donate, and I'm not sure about the setup, I'll say no and that will be the end of it. I'm so glad that the people on the board are this kind of cashier. Now, if only more customers could rational like we are... [/smugness]

Of course, there's also
Point Two: If the cashier guilt-trips me, I'll tell them exactly why I'm hesitant, including my strained and dramatic relationship with various organizations, and my training in non-profit org accounting from my non-profit org accountant father if it comes to that. I don't play games when it comes to charity.

And, as the cashier:
"SDL: I know, but you did not have to ask me, so I can say whatever I want."
"Okay. Have a nice day." And then get her the hell away from my till. This isn't about donations, this is about her being rude. Grr! So rude!

Part of me wants to say, "Sorry you feel that way," as in, I'm sorry that this standard question is causing you so much distress. I mean, jeez. I wouldn't say anything to the cashier even if she was collecting to the "Set Every Puppy on Fire" campaign.

Standard disclaimer, none of this is meant to imply anything about any specific organization or kind of organization. The direction of this post is towards the lady who donates, and the concept of donating at cash registers.

[jjc927]

Worse than the people who gripe at you about asking for donations, or the people who claim the donations are just kept by the business/organization, are the people who say something terrible about the people the donations are meant for.

Like the Skeevy Creep I ran into at the movie theater. When we asked if he'd like to donate money to help children with cystic fibrosis, he replied, "No, they're all dead anyway."

Had things like this also. Once when we did donations for breast cancer a man refused to donate saying that they need to find a charity that is for men also (my manager commented after he left that what he said was stupid and that approx. 20% of breast cancer victims are men). And once we had this depression charity and the person said no giving the reasoning that those people should just get over it depression is not a real condition.

And MrsEclipse, you are completely on the money. I don't care either way if you say yes or no and I would never force anyone to say yes, leaving it at that once the no is given. But a long winded reasoning like the one I described is just rude.

[Saphire089]

One time, I had this lady who was complaining about the prices from the minute I started ringing her out. She kept complaining that our store was more expensive than some other one, and I wanted to yell at her "why not shop at the other store?!" The only reason I didn't ask her if she wanted to donate any money, was because I thought she might bite my head off if I asked her for more money.

[EricKei]

I had one lady tell me around the time of the Victorian Bushfires that "Red Cross/Store I Work For" keep it to themselves. FFS lady....

When I can donate, I prefer it to be in usable goods whenever possible, rather than cash. Here in the US of A, there have been some major disasters over the last, say, decade or so, where a certain major charity got a lot of flack for accepting donation which were ostensibly "100% for diaster aid", but using half of the money or better for internal uses such as overhead -- granted, they NEED to pay their people and the bills (doing major charity work ain't cheap!) , but it would help if they modify their wording in those situations...

[jjc927]

One time, I had this lady who was complaining about the prices from the minute I started ringing her out. She kept complaining that our store was more expensive than some other one, and I wanted to yell at her "why not shop at the other store?!" The only reason I didn't ask her if she wanted to donate any money, was because I thought she might bite my head off if I asked her for more money.

This is always so annoying too! I don't get why people would shop in a store they obviously have less preference for than another. And yeah, I usually won't ask if there's a situation like this, or if we're busy, or if there was something going on that made the person be there for a long time waiting.

[TheComputerError]

Me: Would you like to donate a dollar to (charity name)?
SDL: No, I wouldn't, and I think it's terrible that they do this. I know they want you to ask, but it's still terrible.
Me: Well, all you have to do is say no.
SDL: I know, but you did not have to ask me, so I can say whatever I want.

"Actually, ma'am, I have to ask as it is store policy right now. Failure to ask you if you wanted to donate could result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment. I apologize if my asking you to help your fellow human beings offended you in any way, but please keep in mind that I asked you for a reason. So, in the future, if you take offense to being asked for a voluntary donation to a charitable organization, I'd ask that you keep it to yourself. Now, I ask again: Would you like to donate a dollar to (charity name)?"

[jjc927]

Oh that would have been perfect to say!!