To refuse to say how much I donated?

[ComeTheMoment]

Am on holiday in the West Country, and visited a tiny museum today. There was no entry fee, but there was a sign asking for voluntary donations to be put in a box, and also asking visitors to tell the curator how much we put in. The curator also directly asked me to tell her how much I was putting in so that she could keep a proper record of how much was being donated. I said I was happy to make a donation (and did so) but told the curator I was not going to say how much it was. It made me too uncomfortable, and seemed to me to be against the principle of ‘voluntary’, which I sort of associate with being private. WIBU?

I agree with you OP it’s really weird to put a box and then to ask for an amount. I would react the same as you. If they wanted to know how much money people donated the simplest way was to count them.

Surely with Sumup it would be very obvious what you were giving?

But it’s the curator writing down the amounts. So if it’s the curator who also has access to the money, that doesn’t work. They’ll just write down £20 less, and take it at the end, if so inclined.

It could be to protect whoever counts the money (provided that’s a different person) but that seems very very unfair because it’s a situation where people really might lie. They put in a few coins and say it was a fiver, or a fiver and say it was a tenner. So that person could easily be wrongly accused.

We have a very popular children’s museum near us that it’s technically ‘free’ but omg the pressure and lengths they go to extracting ‘voluntary contributions’ is deplorable. They should charge an entry fee if they are this set on it. You’re asked about 5 times for a voluntary contribution before you even get in and there’s big ‘suggested amounts’ signs everywhere along with transparent donation boxes so they can literally watch what you put in.

Now we can afford it and are happy to do it BUT I think it’s completely disgusting behaviour because so many struggling families will be researching free activities and places to go with their kids and this place looks totally free online, then they’ll rock up and get shamed, hounded and put in a generally really awkward position being asked for money they might not physically have.

At least charging an entry fee means people can chose whether they can afford to go or not.

I was with you, (as I don't think they should be asking if it's a voluntary amount,) until you said this. ^ You were there for 2 minutes? I can't imagine any visitor attraction being so 'tiny' that you'd see it all in 2 minutes.

And I think you didn't want to admit what you'd given as you know it was a stingy amount.

I was there for two minutes and I gave what that visit was worth to me. I’m not sure why my questioning their voluntary donation procedures means that I must be a liar/stingy. You obviously don’t visit many museums if you don’t believe that some really are tiny.

I have to agree...2 mins? Come on.

If they want to know exactly how much each individual puts in then why not just charge everyone the same! What a load of nonsense OP.

Did you chuck the change from your person i.e.coppers?

Purse*

Nearer 2p than £20 then...

Yep!

I've been to several tiny museums abroad where I've only spent a few minutes, often free or a few euros. A couple that were mostly just black and white photos and writing with a few artefacts. Not sure why people are calling the OP a liar!

Most museums run as charities; unfortunately, volunteers pinching funds from charities is not unheard of, so keeping a record of what should be in the box is not a bad idea.
Also, from the perspective of the people running the charity, an idea of how much is collected per visitor is a useful starting point for fundraising and then tracking whether different initiatives are increasing how much they raise.

Was the box locked so that maybe they only tally it up weekly or monthly and want a rough daily figure? Or there are different volunteer curators and they compete to see who gets the most donations? You're entitled to keep your donation secret I guess but not sure it would have bothered me.

If it was that rubbish you only spent 2 minutes there, I'm not sure why you gave any donation!

Popped a quid in the box, bye.

Don’t think it’s a big deal at all.

I don't see the point of that at all They can add the total at the end and keep a tally of how many people came through if they wanted to work out the average of what people give or just set a fixed amount. People could clearly lie as well and say they've given more than they did in which case the figures aren't going to add up at the end anyway .

But then they'd have to video record all the answers

It's a weird thing for them to ask! The OP is not being unreasonable.

I imagine a fair number of people lie about it so it doesn't help anyone.

I think I'd feel a bit weird about it as well tbh. Just pay an entrance fee, then everyone knows where they stand.

People will lie anyway so what's the point?

Similar to the perspex donation boxes in museums/cathedrals, volunteers and visitors can see how much people are putting in.

Whether it was 2 pence or £200 you gave, I think it's incredibly rude to ask when it's voluntary. Maybe they should ask for donations on the way out instead.

Yeah, that was my point!