To dislike the supermarket charity token thing?

[sniffle12]

I was asked today at the supermarket to place a token in a box as I left - to vote for my preferred charity project (presumably to receive some of the proceeds from the 5p bag tax?)

Is it just me who feels uncomfortable being asked to pick a charity (i.e. not to pick the others and therefore deny them funds they probably need just as much?) They were all for wildlife projects so it's not like it even comes down to what causes lie close to your heart. Would it be so unreasonable to just split the money evenly between them?

I ended up putting my token in the one that seemed to be the least popular just to even it out.

[FreshStart2017]

My DH came home with the token and asked me "what was I supposed to do with this?" .

[TinfoilHattie]

Also our local Waitrose tries to keep it three similar charities each month - this month is three cancer charities. Last month I think was three animal charities, so you're comparing like with like.

[Megatherium]

YABU. No-one forces you to take the token.

[Enidblyton1]

I always let my toddler post the tokens - her favourite part of coming shopping with me. Have noticed she tends to post them in the middle slot regardless...

[MapMyMum]

Surely whatever way they get their donations are decided by the prejudices of the public anyway... whether in a supermarket token system or by advertising and people either donate or dont donate according to their "prejudices"/opinions

[BenjaminLinus]

One of the options in a local supermarket was for a lawnmower for a bowls club - I chose another less specific option that benefitted more people.

[Royals1871]

As long as the company is donating to charity it doesn't bother me which one it is . It makes me laugh to watch people dithering for an age ovev which slot to chose - as if their one token will make a difference .

[Littledrummergirl]

Last time Tesco offered me tokens- how do they decide when to give them to you as I haven't found a pattern yet- the three good causes were all from play groups in the next town over which has its own Tesco. I was confused as to why they hadn't picked a charity local to them like the food bank they were collecting donations for.

[MidniteScribbler]

I like having choice. There are some charities that I refuse to support because of various reasons, and this way I don't have to feel that I'm supporting them.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I thought this was about the Boy Scouts 'helping' with packing.

I sent mine away and gave the Scout Leader a £1 in the bucket. The Scouts (though they meant well) were the opposite of help, Bless them

[RedStripeIassie]

I like it. My dd loves putting it in her chosen one (school, animals or local hospital). She always chooses the hospital and it's a good tantrum repellent.

[Enko]

I am one of the people who helps decide what charities are up against each other. We try our hardest to even it out as best possible. So for example if we have a "popular" charity (note the " " I dont mean it as a down put more as one people are familiar with) we tend to put them up against other popular charities. This way they sort of even out and the underdog (of smaller lesser known charities) roughly get the same amount of money.

We have had some quite crazy requests though like. Next time please dont put us up against a dog/children's charity. Or can you make sure we are not up against other sports activities.. The answer is no as we want to make it as fair as possible to all the charities. To us this means no big dog vs small dog. So we try to keep it as all big dogs and all small dogs.. I know this doesn't work the same way everywhere but where I work we do try.

[WyfOfBathe]

I suppose there are a lot of very worthwhile charities that people might not be as inclined to support.
But this is true of any fundraising, not just in supermarkets.

Like Enid's DD, mine just puts it in the middle slot. I wonder whether the middle charity is generally more likely to win.

[Oldraver]

DS's school was recently one of the nominated charities, not sure how much they have received yet. A few months ago it was the charity that looked after me when I was pg with both DS's. I admit the write, up while lovely did bring a lump to my throat..but alos makes you realise how lucky you are

[PickAChew]

I don;t get the problem. Waitrose change every month and others follow suit. Newcastle Waitrose, this month is cardiac rehab vs cats and something else I didn't even register. I chose the cardiac, DS1 choses randomly. DS2 just puts it in without the ability to read and comprehend.

In the end, someone benefits from that token. It doesn't overly matter who!

[doublesnap]

I keep the tokens until there is one that I support and then put them all in.

[PickAChew]

I'm like that 70 I really need to pack my own thx, but here's a pound for your offer and keenness!

[Salycinnamon11]

I used to be a community champion in Asda, the way it used to work was the winning charity would get a cheque for £100 and the other two would receive a cheque for £50 so a win win really

[DrAbbyYates]

You don't have to take a token.

[Asmoto]

Same as OP, I always drop mine in the one that has fewest tokens in. I have a vision of the 'losers' looking despondently at the box if it's noticeably emptier than the others, so I try to even things out.

[FoxesSitOnBoxes]

Local Waitrose once had the choice to help buy a v naice local village their own apple press so they could turn the apples in their orchards into cider.
Such a worthy cause

[blubberball]

I let my dc post them. It takes away the agony of choice from me.

[Bubbinsmakesthree]

Charities that depend on voluntary public donations are always competing against each other. They might not always be pitted against each other directly (although it's not uncommon - e.g. employers often give employees a vote on a chosen charity of the year). But people are always making a choice about when to reach in their pocket and when not to.

[steff13]

They do this at Whole Foods. It never really occurred to me to have an opinion on it. I take the token stick it in the box for the charity I like the best, then go on my way.

[AlmostAJillSandwich]

I go to both Tesco and asda at least twice a week, never been given a token to put in anything