Would you like to round up to £1? No I fucking wouldnt.

I have often noticed the cashier lean over and press the red ‘no’ button without asking the customer. Makes things simpler for everyone.

If you feel tight about it, that is your own personal problem. It takes less than three seconds to press no.

And this is exactly how this all works and the people who do it justify it.

It isn't a case of passively and gratefully accepting any donations that people may freely decide to give; it's actually all about forcing a snap decision when they know people are busy and often stressed, with the excuse that "oh, you only have to press No" alongside the clear implication that anybody who doesn't give is automatically 'tight'.

Especially considering the arrogance whereby a great many just ask for money '"for charity" and don't even deign to tell you which charity they want your money for.

Whilst of course it isn't compulsory, the very obvious expectation is that you should just shut up and give them the money they ask for by default.

The lying from the chuggers is also endemic. They always ask if you can 'spare a minute', when they know full well that it will be more like 10 or 15 minutes if you show any weakness.

The forced pleasantries to make it sound like they care about you as a person and not simply as financial prey.

The spiel about which charity it is, all of the great work they do and how desperately they need YOUR money - with the implied 'don't be a bad person by backing out now' as they close the deal.

The emotional haggling over a monthly amount, so they make sure they sign you up for the maximum possible.

Completing and signing their direct debit form - bearing in mind that many people won't know their account number and sort code without having to check by scrabbling around for their purse.

The gift aid question - often oddly designed to make you feel like you're personally failing the charity if you don't earn enough to pay tax - and then another form, of course.

It's absolutely nothing like the old holding a bucket at the side of the street that people can often toss a few spare coins into if they wish without even breaking their stride.

My nationwide flex account does that too.

They're usually not, though - they're specifically trained not to be.

I mean, yes, you can point-blank ignore them as they speak directly to you, but they rely on people not wanting to appear rude or socially awkward.

Why should folk feel they have to stare at the ground and rush out of the shop hurriedly, without making eye-contact with anybody - even just to wish a friendly-looking stranger a good morning or make a passing comment on the weather? It's a normal human thing to do and difficult and unpleasant to feel restricted from doing by people wanting money from you.

I get that many people don't use cash nowadays, so they're much less able to put money in a collecting tin on the counter.

Thus, just as people bow usually pay by card when they buy things in shops, the non-cash equivalent for the charities would be to have a separate small clearly-labelled contactless sum-up card reader on the counter or nearby.

No need to force people to decline before they can pay for their shopping. No need to badger them. No need to trick customers into giving by mistake - especially with just a green button on a card terminal, which many people - particularly those with cognitive issues or poor eyesight, in a rush or distracted by small children - will assume is just a 'confirm transaction' button and not a 'charge me a bit more' button. No need to involve the assistants after all.

The decline in the use of cash is clearly just an excuse. It's an obvious ploy to use pestering, confusion and social shaming in order to get people's money.

I don't like it either. It requires a snap decision, and from experience, some of the most generous/kindest people are those with the least.

I'm concerned that the more financially vulnerable would think they should don it because it's the decent thing to do, when they really can't afford it.

It suspect the main driver is board-level virtue signalling by the supermarkets. 'Aren't we great, we've increased charitable giving by X%.

When the reality is the supermarkets wield so much ecomonic power now that if they want to effect societal change they totally can out of their own profits, without putting responsibility onto Anne whose just donated 40p she cant afford cause she's on Pension Credit.

Fair point - although the one in our local Asda has a big Asda-branded sign around it saying something like "Let's work together to help the hungry".

Even if it's nothing to do with them, they get the good PR from apparently having arranged it, or at least hosting it. "We're a caring supermarket... who boost our profits by specifically encouraging people to buy from us to give to the needy".

It’s is so useful. I use a revolut account to do it but i believe there are apps that you can link to your bank account to do it, i think it’s called Plum. Same idea it takes the round up amount you set and puts it in a separate account, it doesn’t seem like much but it all adds up and if you don’t touch it for a year it’s amazing how much is in there at the end.

I hate this sanctimony. I give homeless people money so they can buy whatever is going to make them feel better. If that’s a drink or a fix so be it. Helping people doesn’t need to be accompanied by a side dish of self righteousness and judgement.

Sadly you are just hastening their death if you give money.
Give to a homelessness charity or buy them food.
People with an addiction are incapable of making good choices

You are missing something yes. The poster is not asking for their name to be highlighted but is pointing out the Company requesting his/her money is potentially taking credit for that said donation when it has not been made by them.

My bank account rounds up my purchases to my savings account. I’m my own charity!

I don’t know where the money is going. Does it even get to the charity without the company taking admin fees off.

I know charities are losing out because nobody has cash anymore so when people were getting rid of copper coins, they all add up to £££

What a great idea! Do you mind sharing the name of the app?

I agree with you OP. I hate feeling bullied into doing something- I’ll decide when and if I want to give to a charity!

Didn’t see anything of the sort in the States I was traveling in.

This has been a thing for years. It has definitely been a thing at Papa John’s when ordering pizza near me so when it showed up in stores wasn’t that surprising.

Just press the red button to say no and move on.

If you feel tight about it, that is your own personal problem. It takes less than three seconds to press no.

I don’t do it because I have a setting in my account that takes the round up amount to the nearest £1 and puts it in a separate account for me, I save it throughout the year and that’s most of Christmas paid for without me even thinking about it. So yes those odd 20p’s make a difference to me.

my most hated thing at the moment is companies like Scottish power and charities putting confident 20 something males on their stands who beeline for women and flirt to get them to stop and talk. I had one on Saturday, “lovely lady with the lovely smile!” Oh bugger off I’m nearly old enough to be your mum. But I do worry about the women who are lacking confidence who will fall for this tactic regularly.

I’d be interested to know who the Company/Organisation was.
My personal bugbear is Royal National Lifeboat Association who repeatedly keep pestering my elderly parents to increase their monthly contribution from their pensions. Shame on you RNLI

Yes, irritates me too OP. This week it was Asda and Superdrug and others who were wanting money at the till. I donate to the charities of my own choosing and have regular DDs set up for that purpose. I also do ad hoc donations as and when.

Another irritant is the street hustlers. Yes, I know they have a job to do, but they don't accept a simple polite 'no'. One of the charities I support had a street stall recently and caught me as I walked past. I explained politely that I already donate monthly and the guy tried a hard sell to get me to take on an additional expense for a monthly lottery. I'm already maxed out with my charity spending and didn't feel comfortable having pressure applied to give even more.

I hate it! All the people saying 'it's only 20p, you can afford it' - no! I am a low paid NHS employee - I can't afford it!

Chuggers - one stopped me at the weekend saying 'you can afford to give £5 a month to 'insert random charity'. I just said, I can't actually and walked off.

It is so interesting that on almost every page there is a person saying they stayed in a Ronald McDonald house and what a difference it made.

If you had asked me before reading this thread what major national charity has made a practical difference to so many people’s lives, I would never have guessed this one.

I usually donate only to small local charities where they are close to the people they are helping and most of the money is spent on providing that practical help, not on huge rents, CEOs and chuggers. But I will round up for Ronald McDonald in future.

I'm not convinced that's how the food bank baskets work. In my town the local food bank (run by a local charity) has asked the supermarket if they can place a basket and information about what items they need by the tills and the shop lets them. The shop itself isn't promoting the charity, but giving them some space to gather donations.