To refuse to support charity in work?

[emphetic]

I work for a big international company. It’s very keen on getting its name publicised for supporting charitable ventures.

It has partnered with a particular big name charity. This also means that the company cannot and will not allow staff to fundraise for other charitable causes. Any charity has to be for the benefit of this special partner charity.

There’s constant fund raising in work. £25 a strip raffle tickets. £5 a slice of cake for charity. Sponsored walk 100km in a month etc. There’s always pressure to donate.

AIBU to refuse to support the charity through work? In my personal view, there are far better charities to support and it’s better for money to be split up rather than hoarded by one big charity. Historically the charity have been quite shitty to people from my religion so I don’t want to support them when there are many alternatives.

I also take issue with “my money” being claimed by the firm as “firm donation”.

No one should be pressured to donate. I personally would start saying no.

Absolutely refuse to support them, and if your managers ask I would tell them why.
I hate this pressure at work…. And it seems it’s all to make the company look good rather than really caring about the charity… why not support a local charity helping the local community.

YANBU. I would say sorry, can't this time, but good luck with the fundraising!

It's also a terrible way to fundraise as people will quickly get sick of it.

Workplaces doing this is really fucking annoying.

Companies get massive tax relief on charitable donations. These bonuses go into the pockets of the noard and shareholders
Tell them to take a long walk off a short pier

That’s a really awful thing to do to its employees. Nobody knows someone else’s financial situation so being asked to donate & putting employees in the spot is so unfair. Even if it’s the best charity in the world.

So you work for them all week, then they pressure you to give your wages back to a cause you don’t wish to….. yeah that would be a no from me. I do understand how difficult it is being put on the spot though!

Do you have any influence over the chosen charity?
Twice I've worked somewhere where for fairly similar reasons I've not wished to donate to the charity. Once I was able to spread awareness of some shady practices happening by sharing links with reports, and articles/investigations on to management

The second there was no way I could change it so I wouldn't donate. I would simply tell people either "ah it's just not my chosen charity" or give more indepth "I did some reading and I'd prefer to give else where" "after the xyz scandal" type things

I face it every year when people want me to fill a shoe box for a dodgy charity!

Yanbu. If it's not a free choice then it's not fair and I would be refusing to participate even if it was a charity I like.

The idea of my personal donations being parcelled up into my employer's corporate charitable PR exercise is also offensive.

Just say "no thanks I do my charitable giving outside of the workplace" every single time. Using the same phrase helps get the message across eventually.

I don't blame employers who want to restrict workplace fundraising as some offices can have a cacophony of dozens of different peoples fundraising efforts for every possible charity but taking over and imposing a single charity like this is not on.

Urgh...you can see the photo op already as your company hands over a giant cheque at the end of the year to the charity in question!

If your company is well known/high profile, there will almost certainly be a sponsorship agreement or contract in place which affirms what either side will do as part of the deal. As an employee you could ask to see what the agreement is (though I doubt you'll be told!) But it's likely there's pressure to give because there is an agreement in place.

My employer supports a number of local charities each year but they allow the employees to vote on the preferred 'main' charity. We often end up picking a small charity like a hospice or one that works with children and the money we raise really makes a difference. Because we all had a say in voting them in, it feels like a joy to give rather than coercion.

Hate that as well. My old workplace (under 20 staff) used to do this as well for the MD's personal pet project. Then once a year he would get his face photographed in the local paper handing over one of those large cheques to the charity. Pissed me off mightily because he was earning loads and showing off in his maserati while a good third of the staff were earning so little they needed working tax credits to top them up.

I don't particularly buy in to my company's charity partner - they're not terrible but there are other causes I would rather support. I go with the approach of quietly ignoring online requests for donations/sponsorship and saying a polite 'no thanks' to bucket shakers and raffle ticket sellers.

The requests that annoy me are along the lines of 'sponsoring' someone to climb Mount Everest/other 'bucket list' travel and activities. Yes, the actual donations go to the charity rather than paying for the activity, but there's still a significant amount being spent on the activity itself, which is fine if it's someone's private pursuit or holiday, but dressing it up as an act of altruism is just nonsense.

I wouldn't give in this situation even if I did actually support the charity.

I wouldn't give in those amounts unless it was a charity close to my heart. Quite honestly, £25 for raffle tickets is excessive in the present economic climate, especially just to make your Boss look good

This but I would say

'no thanks I do my charitable giving anonymously outside of the workplace'

Does the company that you work for donate the same amount to the charity that is raised by the employees, because this should be occurring.

Secondly, you should be able to set up "Give as you earn" to your own favourite charities, where th the tax is added onto your donation free & monthly.

No company can force people to donate

My church loves the shoebox Christmas appeal - but not with the original organisation - for very good reasons. Other organisations do them.

Polite refusal, perhaps adding that you choose which charities you support and this is not one of them.

Our company choose a charity each year and we do a bit of fundraising all year then a big drive in December. No one is obliged to donate but we can’t then set up fundraising for other charities. Is yours the same?

YANBU at all. I would say "The problem is that I already give quite a lot to charity, and to be honest this isn't a charity I choose to support". It may make other people think twice about the (stupid) system in place here.

Well said!
There have been many Corporate efforts to raise funds for a range of so-called "charities" of rather questionable causes and governance and, generally speaking, the decisions to adopt these causes have been taken without consultation with the workforce.

Giving to charity is entirely voluntary in ALL circumstances. And especially so at work. So no, you absolutely should not be pressurised to do so.

If you're pulled up on it, simply say "I have limited money to give to charity, and I prioritise (x charity) which is meaningful to me."

Absolutely agree with you.

I go to work to earn money that enables me and my family to live.

I have no wish to pay an extra 'tax' decided by my company to make them look generous, when they are anything but.

If companies want to be charitable they should start with helping their staff out first - not exploiting them further.

It is hard to say no, but once it has been established that it is always a 'no' then people do stop asking you. Yes some people will think you're a miserable sod but I know that's not the reality and don't need external validation.

I work for a charity and the difference that company support like this makes is unbelievable. It really does go a long way especially to local charities and its massively appreciated.

That being said, I'd never expect any staff to be put under pressure to donate. Our current charity partner is fab but they tend to do a lot of fundraising that also involves their customers so its not falling just on the staff to put their hands in their pockets, but they do things in the wider community and their staff do the set up and participate which is amazing even if they're not directly donating individually- they're still creating the opportunity to generate funds.

If I were you, I'd take the initiative, I'd suggest you start to focus on local charities who would really massively feel the difference from your support and who will actually engage with your business on a personal level. I'd get a number of those local charities to present what they do and then let staff vote for who they want to support. I'd also be proactive in thinking of lots of ways staff can be involved in creating a forum for giving without necessarily having to come up with the cash themselves and suggest getting a group of staff together who can manage that and make sure you are on it.

There's so much scope for what you can do that doesn't just involve funds, for example if you work with an employability charity you could offer work tours or work experience for vulnerable young people or interview tips and prep. You could also engage with them as to how your business can be more informed and offer a more accessible service. A more personalised approach would give you lots of opportunity for this and it means you're coming with ideas and opportunities for growth and development rather than it being seen as criticism which makes you look good!

If this international company wants to support a charity then let them dip into their pockets and do so. Using the employees to polish up their image is immoral. You are not obliged to have anything to do with this. Just say: "I have charities I support."