Charitable donations at businesses

[luv2sparkle]

How do you feel about going to a grocery store or a fast food restaurant and having them ask you to donate to a charity?

It seems like every where I go now someone is asking for a donation to something. Some charities, I just flat don't want to donate to, because not enough of the money they collect helps the cause they are championing. But mostly, I don't know how much of what the store or business collects actually gets to the charity.

Tonight, I ran through the drive through of Panda Express for my kids. They wanted me to donate my change, and I replied 'no, thank you'.
Boy, did the girls tone change. When I got up to the window she almost threw my change at me and it spilled all over the pavement. She was very angry, it seemed to me. Do they get a percentage of every thing you donate? I didn't understand why she would be so angry.


What do you think?

 

[monarch64]

Sorry that happened to you! I don't think they get a percentage of donations, but I think they might get some sort of incentive (usually a gift card of minor value to someplace, maybe a Starbucks card or something) for meeting a certain quota of donations. No employee should be rude to you for not donating, though. That's ridiculous!

That said, I think hourly employees working those kinds of jobs are under a pretty intense amount of pressure by their managers to ask every single customer if they'd like to donate. The managers themselves are likely under pressure to raise funds. It all seems like kind of a racket, to me. I rarely donate my money that way. I prefer to research charitable organizations on my own and decide where to allocate donations.

I'm like you--I am starting to see this everywhere and really dislike being asked for additional money just having a quick bite or running errands. We stick to a pretty strict budget and I don't like having to make decisions based on feelings vs. available funds. I especially hate feeling guilted into donating. I appreciate a lot of these charitable organizations and what they do, but I prefer to choose, on my own time, to whom I would like to donate.

 

[luv2sparkle]

I think you hit the nail on the head, Monarch! It feels like a racket.

I love to be generous. I love to help people, it is pure joy to me. There are a few times when it seems not quite on the up and up. That is not a good thing. This kind of thing feels a bit like that to me.

Add to that, sensing resentment from employees because you didn't do what they wanted you to, makes me not want to go there again.

 

[monarch64]

I definitely empathize. I would not want to return to that restaurant, either, due to the treatment you received today. Is there a # on your receipt you can call to give feedback? I would hate for anyone to be terminated from their job over this sort of thing, but there is no excuse for an employee to treat you rudely/with anger. Just...unacceptable. Even if she was just having a terrible day, it isn't right for her to have acted out in that way. I really feel for you--there you were, just trying to get a meal and going about your business, and you had to deal with a brat. Maybe she needs a life lesson, though.

I also love giving, it's a very fulfilling thing to do. I hope you don't let this deter you from doing so in the future. It stinks that this happened, but don't let one bad apple ruin the barrel, ya know?

 

[luv2sparkle]

Thank you, Monarch. I wouldn't want to get the girl in trouble. She was young and I can take it. It was just surprising to me. Our local Von's does the same thing and I get the feeling the employees get some kind of incentive to ask. I just wondered if I was the only person that this practice irritates. I wonder if people like donating this way.

 

[monarch64]

Thank you, Monarch. I wouldn't want to get the girl in trouble. She was young and I can take it. It was just surprising to me. Our local Von's does the same thing and I get the feeling the employees get some kind of incentive to ask. I just wondered if I was the only person that this practice irritates. I wonder if people like donating this way.

Our Kroger's does it as well, and so do a lot of fast food restaurants where we live. I wonder if it's like when I worked sales in retail. Once or twice a year we would be asked to help with fundraisers for organizations like United Way or similar. The incentive was (and this is like 15 years ago, so I'm going off my personal way back machine here) if you got so many people to donate $1, you'd receive some sort of little perk like a free lunch at a local ff restaurant or something. Maybe the incentives are bigger now, don't know. Or, maybe these companies make it so imperative that employees are penalized if they don't get x amount of donations.

You know, just thinking about it and trying to put myself in this person's shoes, I wonder if this is a likely scenario: you're working a minimum wage job, you have to spend a lot of time and effort traveling to and from that job, then on top of what you're already asked to do at work, over and above your usual tasks, you are expected to ask every single customer to give more than they normally would for a meal that costs more than you might make per hour. That might piss me off too, if I was expected to "sell" something that wasn't on the menu and wasn't part of my job description in the first place. I'm just thinking aloud here, I'm with you on this put-out feeling overall. I am as curious as you are about why this young person was so offended and seemingly angry that you didn't spend an extra buck to donate.

I've never had negative feedback when I said "no" to donating...so I am really trying to understand why someone would get so angry about it. Do you think she was just having a rough day combined with a personality issue? Regardless, it still isn't right, the way you were treated. I'd still give feedback to the manager if you have the time.

Hugs!