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 also imagine a fair few people are deeply offended that they ask and refuse to say. Some would also leave very negative online reviews for the place because of this practice and tell their friends not to go.

They maybe think it would be vulgar to just have their assistant hold out their hand for money on the door and then count each donation immediately - but that's effectively what they're doing anyway. In fact, what they're doing is even more vulgar, as with a box, they give the illusion of anonymity and then make it clear that they're trying to catch you out.

As PP said, if they want to make sure they get a certain amount from each visitor, they need to charge a set entrance fee.

I presume the obsession with 'donations' rather than charging set entrance fees is so that they can pursue people for Gift Aid that way - but then they're also taking the risk of people giving less than they wanted.

A bit like with tipping in restaurants - where they expect a certain amount extra from you, but for some reason don't care to actually tell you upfront what the cost is, and prefer you to have to guess.

It was inappropriate imo.
She should have a trustworthy member of staff to count the cash later.
Next time, don't donate.

I don’t understand the problem. I swear some people on here are difficult for the sake of it.