To not want to give to charities at the checkout or on the street.

[WeCanOnlyDoOurBest]

At a shop today I was asked by the store assistant at the point of paying with my card if I wanted to donate to charity. This has happened numerous times in other shops/stores as it flags up on the card machine, and I have the option to tap yes or no. However on this occasion it was pointed out to me, she was looking right at me waiting for an answer and watching if I tapped yes or no. It didn’t say which charity it was on the card machine and I declined. She gave a slight shake of her head and I left feeling really uncomfortable.
I also hate it when I get stopped in the street, I find some of them use a very pushy ‘salesman’ technique and try to make me feel like the worst person when I refuse to handover my bank details for a regular monthly donation. The last one asked me, ‘don’t you even care?’
I do give to certain charities, and I’m happy to donate food into the donation box in Sainsbury’s, Tesco etc, I’ve also raised money for cancer research by way of being sponsored on a walk.
What concerns me about giving to charities is how much of our funding and donations go into helping that particular cause? And how much is the big chief being paid out of our donations? For example Simon Cooke, the chief executive of Marie Stopes International earns an annual salary of £430,000.
I see begging adverts on TV… help the donkeys, help the cats, the polar bears, the tigers etc etc. We’re asked to donate to war torn countries, and I see the poor little babies and children half starved in terrible conditions and the mother holding the child is looking far from underfed!
AIBU to only want to give to certain charities? I feel in my heart I would rather help the people and good causes in my own country, because frankly times are hard for a lot of families given the rising cost of living, even for those who are working really hard.
I guess it comes down to me thinking ‘Charity begins at home’, and asking myself the question ‘does the funding go into the right pot that helps the cause?’

The ones in the street are salesmen. They're not volunteers. They get paid a percentage of their takings. In fact most legit charities no longer use 'chuggers' so they are more likely shady CICs.

The ones at the checkout if it's through a retailer must be legit. But I wouldn't be donating. I simply do not have a shred of disposable income.

If I was a multimillionaire I'd still have to refuse some of them else I'd be broke by next week!

I think it's actually a legal requirement when fundraising for a charity to display the name and registered charity number. And supermarkets will know this. Maybe it fell off that particular check out or something.

It's still underhand to me. Why should people hold up the queue to research a request for a donation in an obviously inconvenient setting (assuming they have a smartphone which many elderly people don't) or otherwise have to press a button to decline?

Why can they not simply have a separate screen that tells you what the charity is and then asks you to donate if you'd like to, without making you unable to complete your transaction without responding?

TBH now it's so common I don't feel bad about hitting no. I would imagine the assistant is used to people not donating and wouldn't think much of it.

Anyone work in a shop and want to tell us what proportion of people hit yes? I can't imagine it's that high.

@DalzielOrNoDalzielAndDontPascoe I didn't mean Google it then and there while you're at the till paying 😂
Just if you are curious and want to know more just look it up later.
If you don't want to - you don't have to.
Oh and the staff really won't care if you say "no".

Yup, that's their deliberate MO in being there and soliciting donations in that way.

Never mind if you don't want to give to that particular charity or you simply don't have any spare money, the 'solution' is to just hand over your cash anyway.

True charitable giving is made out if an active choice; not because you're deliberately made to feel awkward if you don't.

If approached in the street, I usually say something like,

"Oh no thanks, I'm saving to buy a penguin for the South Atlantic. They're running out of icebergs, you know. A penguin only costs £4 a month. I don't know why everyone doesn't do it. You can give it a name and everything. I'm going to call mine Feathers McGraw - unless that name has already been taken."

And then I move swiftly on...

No. Corporations do this so they can use customers' donations as a tax write off.

Not all cashiers are 'spotty youths', as you put it. Plenty of them are older people and ones who do take a personal interest in actively soliciting the donations - whether it's a cause that they support themselves, they get brownie points for raising the money (if it's monitored by each individual till) or they just see it as 'the decent thing to do'.

You're right that many others won't care.

Charities need to attract attention, gain recognition, raise funds, try to retain those donors and see if they can give regularly. It's the way charities have always worked.

What else would you do? Have a charity and sit back and wait for people to find you and give to you?

If you don't have money, don't give. If you don't want to give, then don't. Lots of people find it puts a spring in their step. And you seem to be talking about volunteers having a stall with a fundraising bucket, stick 20p in if you can afford it, walk past or smile and say 'no thanks' or 'not today's if you cant.

I don't see why it needs to be agonised over.

That's good to hear - I wish they all would, though.

A bright and breezy, ‘No, thank you’, should suffice.

It's just part of life....
They need to do this to get money.
If they don't put themselves out there they won't get.

Maybe so but Tesco made a profit of 2.9 billion last year so they could definitely do more than the average shopper

I was also targeted by a hospice coming out from a blood test at hospital .

That annoyed me probably because i am quite unwelll and they had no idea my reason for visit at hospital

Yep. Plus they get the kudos and publicity of saying 'We donated to XYZ charity this year!' when it was the customers who actually donated.

I have a low income, but have budgeted for several causes close to my heart that I support with Direct Debits. Plus I don't want to be bounced into supporting charities that I may have idealogical objections to, and you don't have time to check that on the spot.

You can deduct charitable donations made by the corporation. I don't think you can deduct tax for donations made by the public in your premises.

Most big supermarkets and corporates will have a fund charities can apply to, with funding from the company. Ad hoc fundraising is them donating space and time to give charities the opportunity. Eg if you feature a charity in a supermarket magazine, millions of people will see it.

That sounds so funny, great kids 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🥰

Ah OK, fair enough. I still think it might be common decency for them to tell you themselves, if they're hoping to engage you - and if they aren't, why even bother?

Brilliant ! 😁

What else would you do? Have a charity and sit back and wait for people to find you and give to you?

Not at all: there's no problem with them raising awareness and giving you a bucket/card terminal/easy method to give. It's just wrong imho to intrude in somebody's transaction or to approach them in an enclosed space and force people to say No.

What a thing to get worked up about.

Who cares what other people think about you. Give or don't give, and go about your day.

Many charities (particularly small, local ones) are struggling the same way as everyone else. They took a massive hit during Covid and are struggling to raise money. They don't have the same amount of marketing clout behind them as the likes of MacMillan or BHF so it's harder for them to reach people.

If people want to volunteer to sit in a freezing supermarket vestibule to raise money for something they care about, good on them. Nobody is judging you for not throwing some money in their bucket.

I think it's great charities have found a way to raise money in a digital world. Nobody is forced to give. Having the "round up" option is a brilliant idea. I do it (unless it's for one of the big charities). What's 30p to me? But it adds up for them. I used to do it with my loose change, stick it in a charity box, or into a jar at home to donate.

Not sure why someone giving a slight nod of the head would bother you. If you are happy with your decision, just smile and move on. If you are so incensed about it, raise it with her or her supervisor.

I enjoy the ones who try to guilt you. I like to play with them and see how quickly I can make them leave the conversation.

'Don't you care about kids in wheelchairs?'
Nope, not at all. You know who does? Our lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Let me tell you a bit about him...

'Don't you like animals?'
Shhh! Not so loud. You know it's illegal don't you?

You really think the mothers in those tragic circumstances are deliberately staving their babies? Sorry, is that what you mean because I can't quite get my head round your thinking.