Manager asks to volunteer for a charity they are connected to

[thezoz]

I work for a large employer and one of the priorities for 2019 for staff development was to encourage volunteering - everyone got a couple of extra days off, people are encouraged to share their charitable activities and stories on the intranet etc.
My manager organised a group volunteering opportunity for the team with a small charity. The choice was surprising for some people (not a pet / family / sports / health organisation, but rather supporting a very niche cause, not close to everyone's heart, and some even may say controversial). After some social media research, it turned out that the manager's close family member is involved in managing this charity (this was not disclosed to us), and it is very likely that another family member is a user of the charity's services.
AIBU to raise an official concern about this situation? I am all pro volunteering (and do volunteer and fundraise myself), but it does feel like we are just being used as free labour to someone else's benefit, and this does not sit right with me. Shouldn't there be a transparent selection process in such cases?

There are quite a few charities I have no time for and would refuse to volunteer for. I can see OP's point regardless of what this particular charity is, TBH - it sounds like the manager is using the coerced or at least rather strongly encouraged labour of staff to make the manager and the manager's family look good. I don't agree with employers pressuring staff to do charity work (or anything else not actually in their contract) either. Employers do not own staff and have no right to interfere in how staff spend their free time. It reminds me of that other thread where the OP was being harassed by email for not having donated to a charity - why the fuck should she?

Honestly, usually you are more trouble than you are worth

Yup!

We used to do team volunteing days like digging ponds, painting fences etc. As if we were really any use!

Got increasingly hard to organise them and now we have to do targeted projects that use out specific skills not just generic days out.

PP are right, I work for a charity, and volunteer days are really of minimal benefit anyway - we do them for our corporate partners, not because we need it.

I think workplace 'charity' should begin and fucking end with a collecting tin or two in reception that you can chuck some spare change in if you're so inclined. Because charity work/fundraising should be a personal choice, and not a matter of various virtue-signallers harassing either their colleagues or their underlings to hand over money, time or goods to a charity that they may not support (there are lots of good reasons to reject some charities or at least to prefer different ones to whatever the office nuisance has picked).

I also expected Mermaids! YANBU OP, it should be your choice, everyone has particular causes they feel more strongly about. Also your manager is in the wrong by not declaring their personal connection to this charity. Look around your local area and find another small charity who might need help - even an independent charity shop might need help sorting donations etc (we have a couple like this, one for local hospice and one for cancer respite - both excellent causes).

I used to manage a small local charity. We had lots of ‘offers’ for corporate team building days and I turned most of them down. They are disruptive, they are rarely able to do what you really need so you scrabble around for things for them to do. It always has to be on a weekday so it frequently disrupts the core service and to be honest, who wants twenty people slapping paint on their walls when the end result looks as though it was done by a group of chimpanzees? In addition it costs the charity money as they expect that lunch will be provided. Trust me when I say it certainly wasn’t an event that enhanced my promotion prospects. 🙄

People also don’t appreciate just how much support small local charities get from their staff members friends and families. I had a significant bank of f&f that I would call on for a variety of things. There was nothing even slightly corrupt in this. There was always soneone’s husband or partner putting up shelves or plumbing in a washing machine.

I think OPs manager’s relative was probably doing the manager a favour as it’s incredibly difficult to find charities willing to facilitate these events.

Presumably others could put forward alternative suggestions but reality is that a personal link often makes these things easier to set up. The organisation would need to meet certain criteria and have a project suitable for adhoc untrained volunteers or that would link to their skills ( ie. Training their regular volunteers or employees in an activity they could use with service users).

ReanimatedSGB

it sounds like the manager is using the coerced or at least rather strongly encouraged labour of staff to make the manager and the manager's family look good.

Could be, but suspect that the manager is more worried about the staff making him look bad. Probably thinking, "FFS, I had to call in favours to get us in here. Please don't embarrass me".

@AliceAforethought

Quite. And also the parents - my friend has just put several hundred thousands of pounds of her husband's 'severance payment' into the private school fees in trust where the school gives a fees discount as the money is worth more to them due to their charitable status.
I'm not sure I can think of any other reason private schools are charities - though I accept they do have to fulfil the requirements to gain charitable status.
And I would not expect my employer to think we needed to go and volunteer there! Despite them being a charity.

What AlexaAmbidextra said. Organising volunteers can be more hassle than it's worth, unless they have specific and relevant skills or turn up on a regular basis. To have a bunch of random people turn up for one day mid week can actually be a pain. An employer near DS's school donates money to the school charity for every volunteer day and pays for materials, so the PTA has a list of jobs that require minimal skill for them to do.

Oh, and one group who were very persistent and who I reluctantly said yes to told me they were happy to paint the walls in the client lounge but could paint only up to a certain height as they weren’t authorised to go up ladders. How very useful. Half painted walls. 😄

I've also worked and volunteered in the management teams of small charities and agree with those who say it's not easy to find these corporate volunteering opportunities because most of the time there is no benefit from it to the charity at all, quite the contrary. We don't accept volunteers for one off days anymore because we don't need them, we need people who want to commit for a day or more every single week.

So most likely it was chosen out of convenience rather than some wish for personal gain.

I'd feel coerced into it, if it was my manager suggesting it. And can totally see that helping economic migrants doesn't sit right with people.

A team litter pick, or something else that benefitted the local community would have felt more appropriate.

I do think it would be far better to fund raise for a day than volunteer. Less hassle for the charity.

I missed the thing about refugees. So the OP doesn’t support that. Well... on one hand that’s a very good reason to get to know these people. On the other hand I understand why she is annoyed to have to help for a cause she doesn’t believe in.

I get you know OP. It doesn't even sound like it has particularly charitable aims

I'm with you OP ,
I'm happy to support lots of charities . However there are a number of charities that are not within my personal beliefs and I would not want to support them

If I was in your position I would take the time to do something for the local charities that you personally believe in and make it clear that these were the ones that you support

I am not anti immigration or prejudiced, I am an immigrant myself.
It is not a refugee charity, rather a community / cultural centre. Not a country in a war zone or riddled by extreme poverty

Awww - now you've gone and spoiled it for the few who leap on any mention of immigration to start flinging accusations of racism

I've been involved in fundraising all my life - immigration charities included - and what jumps out for me here is a certain lack of disclosure, plus the feeling of coercion. The manager's personal involvement is certainly a plus in terms of understanding the needs, but possibly a minus because of the issues around self interest

IME, if you've not got complete clarity and a real willingness to be involved then you've got nothing, and while there are ways to encourage involvement I'm afraid that, for me, this just isn't it

You mentioned that you'd feel awkward choosing something else if "everyone else was going", but is this really likely to be the case? It sounds more like a situation where, if one was to look elsewhere, others may well do likewise - which would also have the benefit of more than one charity receiving help

Sorry - bold fail there on the header

if it were me, id be telling him , that you hope hes not offended but xyz charitynamehere charity/society is where id like to volunteer as cancer has touched members of my family/friends/neighbours etc etc so i have a personal interest in thanking them for the support they gave you, your relative, neighbour, postman, cousin's boyfriend's mother's neighbour's friend when you needed it, and feel because of your personal interest that you feel it would benefit them and you in a more meaningful way

if it were me, id be telling him , that you hope hes not offended but xyz charitynamehere charity/society is where id like to volunteer as cancer has touched members of my family/friends/neighbours etc etc so i have a personal interest in thanking them for the support they gave you, your relative, neighbour, postman, cousin's boyfriend's mother's neighbour's friend when you needed it, and feel because of your personal interest that you feel it would benefit them and you in a more meaningful way

If OP does do this in the future for such days then definitely check FIRST that xyz charity actually want you rocking up for a random one-off day, because you'll feel silly if you've made a big stand over this but they don't!

It’s all very well OP wanting to volunteer for a day at a charity of her choice but how is this going to benefit said charity? She presumably won’t know what she’s doing, someone will have to hold her hand and she’ll just be a bloody hindrance.

Most of these corporate charity activities tend to be self contained and done as groups, ie. clearing footpaths, ponds or canals, sorting donated clothing and books, decorating or putting up sheds or shelving, marshalling at an event, fundraising.

Wow. How quick people are prepared to call the OP racist, bigoted and anti immigration. Its shocking.

A manager asking/expecting staff to volunteer for a charity he is connected to - does have implications. If everyone does it then how does that reflect on you if you refuse. Do you feel comfortable refusing given it's stance on homosexuality/abortion etc., or do you have to make a 'sorry, I'm busy excuse'. Would you not be seen a team player or people person if you don't go etc? It's so much more than helping Maureen in accounts hand out teas and fairy cakes at the local fête.

My DH works with refugee under aged children age 14 to 18 in a Scandinavian country. During the height of refugee intake they were approached by a charity, offering support in a particular language. They felt may make the minors would feel more comfortable talking to someone familiar in their culture.

When a young man attempted suicide, it came out that he had gone to an 'advisor/counsellor' from the charity and said he thought he was gay but was worried that he would be shunned by his peers and the advisor told him to tell no one, to pray to be a real man and not to bring shame on his family.

It turned out the 'advisors' had very deep seated views that were not immediately evident. Far from supporting young people it had a strict religious agenda.

havingtochangeusernameagain

do you mind saying what you have against Battersea please? Have they done anything bad? I would love to know as I donate to them. I understand if you don't want to get involved in a side topic though.

So, if total strangers benefit from OP's charitable efforts it's ok, but if they are the people she knows then not? That alone isn't unreasonable, and the key here is that it is the manager (i.e. a person in a position of power) who choses the charity for her/his own reasons. Are there the cases you strongly support? Could you not go to one of those places?

I personally might not have anything against a particular social group/nationality but, if it must be charity thing, would want to do only what I feel passionate about. Equally, in the place of your manager, I'd examine these alternative options: 1) whether it can be allowed that everyone choses their own (difficulty mainly in getting a proof of a day spent there) or 2) discuss with the team which ones they prefer most and all go there if it must be that silly "team building" exercise.

Cos, if it were all left to me, I'd get the team to accompany women to abortion clinic past the protesters, or clean the cat cages!