To not want to be asked for charity donations every time I pay for something in a shop?

[pennyHD]

It’s happening everywhere; even at a self serve check out we’re asked if we want to ‘round up’ for charity.

Every single charity shop I go in now does it at the till. I’m always polite and say no, not today when they ask for more money, but a man who works in one of the shops I go in takes a no very personally and starts slamming the till around and shoves my receipt in my hand whilst glaring at me. He once shouted at me for not wanting to ‘help people’ when I said no.

I give a lot to charity but I want to donate when and how I choose to, and not be put on the spot.

And as for shops like Tesco asking for charity donations, they can fuck right off and donate out of their hefty profits.

Is it a tax thing? Do they get additional tax relief when they pass the money on? Or are they trying to suggest they’re socially responsible

I’d be very interested to know if the donations made when people press green on the card payment machine actually end up going to charity or lining the pockets of the company

They can certainly deduct any charitable donations from their corporation tax. So if they received £1m in donations, they would “save” £250,000

@IfYouPutASausageInItItsNotAViennetta Haha I love that idea. I always think it’s a piss take that shops with all their massive profits still expect customers to pay for items to fill the food bank trolleys rather than just donating it themselves

Yep too many stores have adopted this, at a time when most people are struggling financially. At first I felt mean pressing red, but now I don’t even think about it. Couldnt care less what the cashiers opinion is, I doubt they even think about it.

I realise I just automatically click no on those payment devices. As per pps, I’ll decide when and who to donate money to.

Rude man in charity shop needs to f* right off!
You’re BUYING an item that has been DONATED. That IS charity. Oxfam/other charity didn’t buy the item to sell to you - although with the prices they charge these days, you only get a small discount over buying new, anyway, in most cases…

Agreed.

It’s like emotional guilt tripping!

Indeed. At Morrison's, they already have bagged-up (opaque) food parcels with prices on them, for you to buy and then donate.

I don't know whether the prices represent the actual shelf prices, or whether they, say, put £10 of food in a bag and ask you to pay a 'contribution' of £3 for it for the FB?

It does occur to me that this would be a splendid way of shifting some near-date food, heavily dented tins or otherwise difficult-to-sell stock... all the while looking like big caring, charity-minded souls.

I wonder if we went in the same charity shop, as I had a similar experience except I pushed a bit harder, I asked if I didn't support charities why would I shop in one? I asked how many charities he supported and how he chose them? Then I pointed out he didn't know me and didn't know how many charities I support, then named my charities for that year, I think it's so wrong to put people under pressure to pay more

I think you should complain about the man in the charity shop. He's doing far more harm than good, I'd never go back.

I can't get worked up about being asked to click yes or no at checkout.

Hope so.
Surprised it was, tbh. Their CEO or whatever his title seems to be pretty well attuned to the circumstances of a lot of his customers.

Gosh I feel I've learned a lot reading this thread. I work for a large charity and I had no idea this pissed people off so much.

Some facts from someone who works for a charity:

• people are not donating monthly as much anymore. That seems to have stopped being something people are willing to do. this previously was what most people did and allowed charities a steady, plan-aheadable income.
• people aren't increasing their direct debits. When they started paying £10 a month 15 years ago, they still are paying that. The buying power of that money has decreased.
• the costs of running a charity/any organisation have become stratospheric in recent years with the increases in utilities/food/overheads/staff costs/NI increases
• the destruction of local and national government responsibilities in the last 20ish years has put lots of assumption/responsibility onto charities. in turn, local government used to pay charities to provide these services. This is no longer happening. Charities now have to raise these funds from the public
• Cost of living has hit people hard and the first thing to be cancelled is giving to charity
• as a % of people's income, people are giving SUBSTANTIALLY less than previous generations did. We are being less generous in supporting others.

All of this has hit charities hard. Many will shut down in the next 10 years. It doesn't mean they aren't needed, they just can't afford to run anymore. Asking for people to add on a £1 at the till is one new way they've been able to get income in. Many big corporates are offering to match the donations made at tills.

I really hope none of you ever need a charity to step in where the government won't. You will miss them when they are gone. and if you can't afford it, I'm not talking to you. I don't expect people to put themselves in hardship to donate. I'm merely spellling out the landscape for most charities.

Luckily at my local petrol station they automatically push no before handing you the card reader

@SunSparkleyou seem to think that none of us on this thread support charities. As I mentioned in my OP, I support charities a lot. I buy all of my clothes in charity shops and spend a substantial amount in them. I donate a large sum once a year to two local charities. I have in the past also volunteered at a food bank.

its not a case of me not supporting a charity, its that I resent being asked by massive corporations that probably don’t even pass on the donations and who have annual profits in the billions.

I also resent being asked in a charity shop when 1) I’ve just spend a substantial amount in that shop and 2) the person serving me gets arsy and rude if I say no.

Also why should I round up my payment in national charity’s shops when their CEOs earn hundreds of thousands of pounds per year? Surely cutting their earnings would help to make up some of the shortfall that charities face?

Thanks for the explanation here. I have worked in the charity sector for the last 30 years and funding is always a concern.

However, the passive aggressive "I really hope none of you ever need a charity to step in where the government won't" comment just put my back up.

I do think that people give to charities, and I appreciate they want to do that in their own way. I also didn't realise that being asked for an optional donation, that oftentimes you can decline on a touchpad without an interaction with a staff member, was so annoying to people, particularly when it's just rounding up to th nearest pound. Many people have that feature activated on their bank accounts to help them save. Perhaps it's a generational thing.

Dominoes do it on online checkout for Teenage Cancer Trust and it helps raise millions for that charity. Having worked there, I cannot tell you how transformational that money and partnership has been for the work they do.

Alongside the donate at checkout, charities develop meaningful relationships with these companies to get them to do staff fundraising, gift products, gift staff time. There is absolutely no way they could take your money at the till and it not go to the charity. There is a huge audit trail for things like this.

I've worked on a big supermarket partnership before and they also encourage the top earning staff to donate their bonuses each year (and often they do) but that's not advertised publicly.

The way we give is changing (you made that clear in your post saying you prefer to give two large sums each year) but this isn't predicatable income for charities so they are having to evolve and try new things. I just didn't realise it vexed people so much. I just thought thaat people would say no if they felt it wasn't something they wanted to do.

… and then when you leave the shop you have to dodge the charity workers at the foyer and the beggar sitting in the floor.

We have them in the entrance to our medical group practice now. I think that’s disgraceful.

That was a crappy thing of me to say and poorly phrased. I suppose I mean, oftentimes when something awful happens in someones life, the advice is get in touch with a charity that can help. But we're facing the very real reality that those charities won't be here in the next 5-10 years. I suppose I'm fresh from going through yet another round of redundancies and having to pause/stop services and I know the financial situation of the charity I work for and many other charities are looking untenable to survive. people don't work for charities if they don't care about the work they do and the idea of some of the big, medium and small charities shutting and not being able to do what they do for people, is a very real possibility.

I don't care about losing my job - I will find another one. I worry what happens when these organisations have to shut, oftentimes at short notice and what that means.

I apologise if I upset you.

It's good of you to explain your side of the charities, and where the money goes, as I explained I do support charities, and will continue too, however some of the tactics charities use are not fair, my mum won a large amount of money and donated a good proportion to charity, she then had letter after letter from different charities asking for money, after she died in one day we had 15 letters from different charities asking for donations, we were told that charities sell on names of people who donates to them,is that right that charities do that?

Alongside the donate at checkout, charities develop meaningful relationships with these companies to get them to do staff fundraising, gift products, gift staff time.

But surely if they're considering donations from customers as a vital link in the fundraising chain, they - the charities and the shops - could at least show a little respect by giving their name and some basic info about what they do; rather than just hiding behind the anonymous "It's for charity" and still expecting people to dig deep.

I find it beyond irritating and would never opt to donate via the supermarket or whichever shop is asking, but from a business perspective (for both the charity and the supermarket) it does make total sense as @SunSparkleoutlined so in a way I don’t blame them for doing it.

What I absolutely cannot get onboard with is restaurants that add an ‘optional’ £1 donation to the bill and then you need to ask them to remove it, if you even remember to do so. Outrageous behaviour and makes me not want to return to those restaurants.

@SunSparklewhats your thoughts on CEOs of charities earning vast salaries? This sort of thing is one of the reasons why I would never round up my payment in a national charity shop.

Also in terms of the ‘hope you never need to rely on a charity’ comment, I’ve never needed to use a charity but a few people that I know have tried to (different ones) and the services have been totally gatekept and they got no help whatsoever.