LGBA corporate donations

[StewieGrifter]

Disclaimer: I dare not challenge this at work.

It has come to my attention that my employer relies on a third party to coordinate donations to charities.
Usually this 3rd party proposes all available charities but on the day of the decision of the charities commission, a colleague used one of our corporate social media networks to highlight that LGB Alliance was a hate group and should be removed from the list of possible charities to donate to.
One of our admins decided that was correct and instructed the 3rd party platform to make sure no donations could be made.

Any employee wanting to donate would see lgba as a charity but no donations would be possible. They would be asked to notify our employer of their wish to donate to this charity and then... I don't know what happens but nothing seems to happen after that. The employee will never know that lgba is considered a hate group or why or that they'll never be able to donate to it.

I guess I can donate to lgba without relying on salary sacrifice but it is the first time in my life I have to shut up about what I think. We do go on a lot at work about honesty and transparency and listening to others and healthy debate but here I am. And I don't know what to do about it.

I guess FOI requests won't work on any of the companies or platforms involved as they are all private entities. But can anyone think of any way other employees in corporations, especially mine, could find out what is going on?

This sounds concerning.

The third party agency is supposed to keep who donations are made to confidential - your employer is supposed to stay out of it. It seems very inappropriate for them to be preventing donations going to certain charities.

There's some more details about payroll giving here:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/charities-detailed-guidance-notes/chapter-4-payroll-giving

It might be worth contacting HMRC anonymously in the first instance:
www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/charities-and-community-amateur-sports-clubs-cascs
And then possibly the Charity Commission.

Also, perhaps it might be worth tipping off the LGBA directly if possible.

Thank you @YourSexNotGenderIsOnFire! I knew someone else out there would have better ideas on what could be done.

Tipping off lgb alliance seems like a simpler start. I can't quite see that the hmrc report will be anonymous. I'll look at it with fresh eyes in the morning.
I'm paranoid about losing my job. mortgage, kids...

I'm paranoid about losing my job if i stand up for same sex attraction... during pride month.

Who are all these people who are able to proclaim this hate group nonsense without having to back up a serious allegation like that? And why are firms failing to perform even cursory diligence and ask for evidence?

www.gov.uk/government/publications/charities-detailed-guidance-notes/chapter-4-payroll-giving

This sounds odd - if you are making donations through ‘payroll giving’ that is a personal donation before tax facilitated by your employer, not a corporate donation.

The agency must pass the money to the charity within a time limit and the charity must be recognised by HMRC. Neither your employer nor the agency should be restricting who can receive donations.

Has somebody claimed they are going to do something that isn’t possible?

I'm paranoid about losing my job if i stand up for same sex attraction... during pride month.

Complete madness eh?? You couldn't make it up!!

Stewie I've tried to PM you.

I would be very concerned. I might approach the person who made the decision to drop LGBA and say that I know lesbian and gay people who support the LGBA because Stonewall no longer represents them. I'd offer articles from the Telegraph and the Times questioning Stonewall's ethics and also Liz Truss's statement. I would say that I thought that removing any option to donate to the LGBA could be seen as directly homophobic and denying LGB colleagues, and supporters, from contributing to an organisation that is, in effect, what Stonewall would have been before it added the T and went bad. It would be good if you could find an LGB colleague to back you up.

I do think there was a cursory check. The original post signaling lgb alliance as a hate group linked to the charity commission's decision.
And the response from the admin came a few days later and cited lgb alliance came under the no religious or political charities ban.

So yeah there was a cursory check and they most likely asked the complainant for evidence in private but there is no mechanism for robust debate on this issue. Which makes it look like the decision is upheld by all as there are no challengers. I have to admit that had it not been for some robust debate on here I would also have never noticed the social media exchange and I would have scrolled happily by.

Oh sorry that was in response to @merrymouse. I'm getting the hang of this.

Ah no it was in response to @EmbarrassingAdmissions. No I don't have a handle on this. Slaps forehead.

@merrymouse I will check. I know we once had a ban on corporate donations to all sporting bodies but that was an actual corporate donation. The platform does seem to have the mechanism to exclude certain charities so it must be legal? It is an international platform so it could be legal in some countries and not others. But let me go and study a bit more.

And the response from the admin came a few days later and cited lgb alliance came under the no religious or political charities ban.

But is this payroll giving or something else?

If you are making personal donations the employer shouldn’t be deciding who receives the money.

If there’s a ban on political charities, you may be on a hiding to nothing. It may be that the comment (unfair as it was) triggered an examination of the situation and revealed a genuine error in the decision making when LGBA was included.

Are Stonewall on there, or any other obviously political charities on the opposite side of the fence?

@Shedbuilder if I was close to retirement I'd do all that but I need to be employed for the next 20 years (for... reasons. ) and I'm getting on in age which makes finding new roles difficult and my children are young. I don't want to say more about my situation. But I really cannot approach anyone at work.

@AnyOldPrion yes stonewall, mermaids, gun charities in the US both for and against gun control are on there... but I think you are right.

Well that’s wholly two faced then. Hope it will come back and bite them in the bum.

Good luck with pursuing this under a cloak of anonymity. I am heartened to see how far we have come and delighted to see posts above that demonstrate there are beginning to be pathways for women to object without jeopardising their careers.

Is Stonewall on their list? Could you raise an issue with that instead? On the basis that loads of organisations are now distancing themselves from Stonewall because there are concerns that they are misrepresenting the law. I know that wouldn't directly deal with the issue but it's still positive action.

@merrymouse I need to check what types of donations these are. It is pre-tax salary sacrifice but sometimes the company matches the donations done on this platform. Which would make it a partial corporate donation I guess. I can only check this tomorrow. I will report back. It would make more sense if they simply turned off the matched donation rather than this blanket ban on anyone being able to donate. But good point I will check what type of donations these actually are.

Oh I see. I can understand why a company would want to steer clear of religious and political donations. However I think if LGBA is political then so are Stonewall, Mermaids etc. To exclude one and not the others is a political decision, which presumably is what the company want to avoid.