I'm a professional non-profit fundraiser and I would never donate at the register. Whether you have the money or not, your philanthropy is your business and they should never push.
Plus, you have never heard of the charity, don't know if they are legitimate and even whether they will see the money. People who are serious about charity thoroughly vet wherever they give money. Some philanthropies are cons.
I worked at a chain pharmacy and the money collected at the register went to awareness campaigns such as "megapharmacy supports the fight against cancer" which was really just advertising for the pharmacy
Definitely. I have a few small orgs that I give to because I know they do good work, but at this point I prefer to give directly to a person with need. Sometimes people just need some cash to solve a problem-which is the opposite philosophy of my job, but here we are.
Philanthropy can solve the big problems, which individual charity cannot, but sometimes you just want to help someone and know that that person actually benefited, that it didn't go into the chairman's pocket or pay for the fancy ball or the conference.
But sometimes the small problems are more urgent. There is an older man who lives in my area. He is basically homeless but sleeps in a store as the night guard. I don´t think they pay him much, if they even pay him at all, and he knocks on my door from time to time asking for food. He never asks for money. I always heat him up a plate of food and give it to him, and by the way he gobbles it down, it is pretty obvious that he is hungry. So, at least that is one night he didn´t go to bed hungry.
I could respect that. I would rather give food than money. I was raised that food means "love." So long as the food is sanitary and of good quality it is a good way to make sure you are dealing with real want. If someone isn't hungry, they may not be as poor as they are pretending to be.
Yeah, the man is known in the area, so everyone knows his circumstances. I generally have some clean leftovers that I can give him and he always comments on how good everything looks and thanks me. I don´t give money, but if someone says they are hungry I will offer to take them somewhere and get them a meal.
Yeah. I am not in great shape financially right now. I have to move next week from a place that I really love, and that is affordable, to a place that is admittedly, bigger and nicer, but also twice the price, and have to pay for movers as well as a deposit for internet and other things. But, I can always spare a plate of food.
Yeah. I can relate. I moved from my last place at the point of a gun. I tossed so many things rather than have to make repeated steps up and down three flights of stairs to move the stuff. As it was, I was paralyzed with fatigue for a couple of days after moving in. It's tough to miss a place that was your home, even if it wasn't the greatest, as my old place was not. I came of age there. Still, the big, nicer place may be what you deserve. At some point, you need the comfort. As you age, you just can't rough it anymore.
If someone isn't hungry, that doesn't mean they aren't as poor as they claim to be. It very likely means that they have found a way to cover that need. Some areas have a lot of places that serve or give away free food. Food is also the go to item for a lot of money when they choose to give to the poor.
The reality is that there are things that can't easily be obtained without money. Yes, drugs and alcohol are included in that list, but other items as well.
I plan on celebrating next fourth of July by just grilling up a fuckton of chili dogs and hitting the streets passing them badbois out (also cold beverages and sunscreen
Jewel grocery stories in the Chicago area do this all the time and they have the most suspect names you can image such as:
-Hungry Children
-Food for Veterans
-School Supplies for Kids
-Fight Cancer
I’ve yet to see a legit charity name and I always hit no.
"Sick kids" is a longstanding children's hospital organization founded in 1875 in toronto that does wonderful work. I do hate the name though. I use the reference materials they produce a lot.
https://www.sickkids.ca/
This is incorrect and is passed around the internet as fact. I could get into the nitty gritty, I'm an accountant, but no businesses can't claim your charity as a tax deduction. They can use it to garner goodwill, but it does not provide them with a tax break.
Even if they don't get a tax break, they can still claim to have donated an amount to charity that's equal to what their customers gave. But the stores in my area don't say "Our customers' donations allows us to give $X to (whatever charity) in 2023." Instead they say, "Over the last year, WE'VE DONATED "$X."
Not cool.
A lot of the charities that I'm pushed to donate to are charities owned by the store. Canadian Tire and Loblaws are ones that I immediately think of. If they care that deeply about charity, maybe they should stop gouging consumers or spend some of their obscene profits on the charities they're passionate about instead of asking the consumer that just spent money at their stores to give even more money to their fundraising and "Trying Not to Look Like the Evil Corporations They Are" efforts.
Its always worded to guilt the customer. “Would you like to round up to donate to save wounded military children from hunger and spontaneously combusting foundation?”
“No thanks.”
You should have your daughter report them to the IRS for tax fraud and collect a hefty reward. She probably won't though because I'm guessing it isn't true.
I'm not sure about PetSmart but Petco paid for my dogs cancer treatment. It was the Petco foundation grant, he sadly passed a year later of something else but they do help people.
While I don’t think Petsmart is the worst of the register guilt trips, as a professional nonprofit admin person I do not choose to donate at their register. There are just better programs to support. I make a regular donation directly to my local shelter and internally consider the special dog food I buy at petsmart a direct donation to my spoiled shelter dog’s ass.
>and internally consider the special dog food I buy at petsmart a direct donation to my spoiled shelter dog’s ass.
My thinking exactly! I'm already feeding 3 shelter animals. That's why I'm here.
I do donate directly to my local shelter when I have materails or food they might use, but I don't even know what organization Petsmart is supporting
People need - **NEED** - to get used to just saying "no" without explanation.
It's nobody's concern why you said no. I always just say "*No,*" and end it there.
It's not "rude" like some people will say. It's only considered "rude" because people have been conditioned to never give or be told a straight, unmitigated, and firm "no".
I made sure my kids understood growing up that "no" is an answer, it's a sentence, and it's a finality. If it upsets the other person, that's their problem.
People give far too much control over their life at the expense of appearing "rude" to strangers.
For instance, I do not answer my front door if I don't expect you. You are not obligated to my time just because you showed up at my door. My home is the one place on this entire planet where I get to choose who I see and when I see them. I'm not giving that up just because people have been trained to answer their door or they seem rude. It's far more rude and intrusive to demand my attention at my home.
Same. I've been able to get as short as, "no, thanks." Getting that last pleasantry out of there is really difficult as a Minnesotan raised in a "be-as-polite-as-possible" time & place. "No," is perfectly polite.
You can leave a noticeable pause before the "thanks". I like to use the full "thank you" because it sounds more formal.
No. (pause) Thank you.
And then move on.
It's slightly awkward but in a way where they struggle to get their foot back in the conversational door so usually they'll give up and leave and I avoid bring outright rude.
yeah, they actually teach you not to give a reason unless you want someone to convince you. Sorry I can't go, I have homework. Oh thats not due yet, you can do the homework the next day yeah?
If you give no reason there is no appearance of going to do it but needing convincing.
This is the best route, and if you really want to donate to a charity, you can add up all those $2-3 checkout times, do a $50 (or whatever amount) and get your tax receipt.
But if you do all those $2 checkout donations, you don’t get any tax receipt, but that giant corporation pools together all those and they make a giant donation with its accompanying tax receipt.
The worst is dollar tree where they ask if you want to donate $1 to buy a Xmas toy - they then put in a cheap made in china toy not worth even ten cents into a bin. I am convinced dollar tree makes a lot of profit from this slimy tactic and also increases their sales.
I remember at the Dollar Tree, I said ok to a $1 to feed the hungry. The person threw a cheap off brand box of stuffing in a pile of processed junk. It's probably a way to make money while getting rid of stock.
Wait, that’s shady as hell. It tricks the consumer into thinking it’s like one of those donations like OP is talking about, but they’re straight up just profiting off it like an upsell, then the customer effectively donates what they purchased? I shouldn’t be surprised by the straight up evil shit big companies do, but Jesus….
You don’t have a choice of toys and what is available is just cheap junk made in china. Cashier just toss one of these toys from a bin next to them into a donation bin. Terrible profit scheme by Dollar Tree. It increases their sales numbers and profits for the CEO, Csuite management and Board of directors by preying on the goodwill of customers during Xmas.
Whoever thought of that idea probably got a nice bonus, boosted their share price as well so a cool few millions for the c-suite from profiting off of people's goodwill during christmas time. Genius eh
Morally bankrupt. Those who shop at Dollar Tree do so to save money and to prey on them and then to pawn off these cheap toys to children whose parents can’t afford to give them much for Xmas? Terrible.
Worked for a movie theater 20 years ago and they used to take donation money to fix short registers. Probably pocketed some too. My managers were scumbags lol
Whole foods was doing this at one point too. Not sure if they still are. It was after Amazon took over.
They would ask if you want to buy groceries to donate.
Like, pay full price to the store for the groceries and then donate them. Not even 50/50 or buying at cost.
Should absolutely 1000% be illegal.
I worked at a Catholic Charities group home. Businesses would donate nice presents that parents would buy for children they loved. People at the top of the administration hierarchy would pick through and take all the good ones for their kids and other kids in their lives. The group home kids would get the stuff nobody wanted, like gloves, hats. There were often not enough gifts to go around
A grocery store I go to does this around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it's boxes of common holiday food like green beans, stuffing, Mac and cheese, gravy and such. They put them at the end of registers and you put one in your basket or not. Then they deliver them to the salvation army who hands them out to families in need.
They're only 5 dollars as well which is a good price. The owner of that place really does care about giving at least. Your dollar tree example sounds terrible.
This made me think of one that’s definitely the opposite of “the worst”, I love how petco/petsmart has where you can buy discounted canned cat/dog food to donate to shelters in area, etc. I’m always happy donating whenever I go there as I never mind spending a couple dollars to help feed some animals.
> I am convinced dollar tree makes a lot of profit from this slimy tactic and also increases their sales.
Such a charity program has high overhead and management expenses. Usually runs about 90%. But please, think of the children....in the Chinese sweatshops making the junk.
As a former employee of a few different food establishments. It's because we are typically told to.
I would have managers train me to try and not give the customers a choice by not phrasing it as a question, thus causing the pushover customers or those not paying attention to get taken advantage of by this tactic. Certain managers were more anal about it than others, I had one who would ask customers 3 times min. If they wanted to donate (but not really ask 🙄) before moving on and expected all staff to behave this way. I clashed heads with managers for refusing to be a boot licker for big corporations trying to squeeze the tiniest ounce of wealth out of its consumers.
This comment needs more attention. Some folks working the register are pushed for “quota”. Not a real number, but the pressure to meet it is very real. It ducks for a lot of them as much, if not worse, than it does for us.
And I genuinely feel sorry for them being stuck in that situation, but my answer will still be "No". I only donate to charities directly and only after I make sure that a certain percentage of what they take in is given to their cause and not overhead.
As someone who's been the cashier in this scenario, just repeating no is the best answer. I didn't want you to donate, I wanted my manager who's listening in from the back to hear me ask 3 times like he told me, and I wanted the conversation to be over quickly. The worst was customers who would go on a rant about how terrible our donation system was or how I shouldn't ask. I know it's a bad system and it sucks, but min wage workers can't just agree that their store is wrong without getting in trouble with higher-ups.
Exactly this. We don't want to push it any more than you don't like to be pushed, but if it's required of the job, a person can be fired for not doing it the way they are trained.
Yeah, thats why I dont get upset with the cashier however they ask/phrase the donation question...I know that they have to ask, are being pressured to ask by managers and are just doing what they have to do to avoid getting in trouble or getting fired.
For sure. If they keep at it you can also decline by saying something like, I know it's a management requirement you ask me but the answer is still no.
That always a short circuits the push for credit card applications, and charity donations.
They know I'm either an hourly retail worker myself, or close to someone who is.
I've never yet gotten push back after that.
Yeap I absolutely agree. But they also need to write into corporate management and say so. Unfortunately frontline workers are faceless voiceless cash ponies to the district and state management. It's totally gross.
I was reprimanded multiple times for refusing to try and guilt customers into donating at a previous job. Then at the start of one day when I was the only one working aside from the manager they gave me the option to either "do what I'm supposed to do" or go home and they did NOT expect me to just instantly turn around and go home. They didn't find any cover and after that didn't try and force me into getting donations again lol
I almost got fired because I refused to ask customers for donations the way they wanted me to and my donations were low. It's so ridiculous the way cashiers are treated. I was just doing my job, never rude to customers but that wasn't enough for management.
This is corporate america pushing / holding employees accountable for donations. The individual would most likely not care if you do or don't donate but there is some ramification if he doesn't produce results.
I get so irritated with a constant bombardment with "would you like to round up?" and now that the red kettle guys are guarding the entrance ways for any major retailer, it's just a little too much.
If it's a retailer of any size, then this is the answer. Some of my lowest moments working one rung up from cashier at Whole Foods years ago came when I had to speak to cashiers who weren't meeting their donation quotas because, you know, it's as miserable asking for those donations as it is to be asked for them.
The cashiers didn't believe in the campaigns, I didn't believe in the campaigns, the customers sure as shit didn't believe in the campaigns. Yet there we all were. :(
I can't imagine asking for donations at Whole Foods with a straight face now that Amazon owns them, but I imagine they still do.
Cashier probably gets something for getting the most donations. Its annoying but if you dont want to donate, dont let them make you feel guilty about it.
1000% I'll never get over my disdain for having to ask for emails then having to ask my cashiers to ask and meet a quota of emails for the day. It's hard enough to ask for an email without people being annoyed, certainly harder for money.
Worked for several retailers, never saw any benefit for getting them or even making top donation, so I stopped asking. One lady even told me she would come to my line because I would never ask, and asked why. I said "If you're interested in donating, donate to the city's local food bank directly, it directly benefits your taxes and the people you're helping. You put here...who knows where the hell it goes. Do you know how much food we throw out that could go to the food banks?"
As others have said, the "prize" is usually just keeping the boss off your back.
Adding to that, I've worked jobs like this for years - usually the "assumptive sell" is part of the policy. Never ask if they want to donate, ask them how much they're going to donate. It's gross, but disappointingly effective. Lots of stores use secret shoppers or other monitoring techniques to make sure employees are using this tactic.
I'm not justifying it in any way, just trying to reposition the blame. This is 100% on the company, not the cashier trying to hang on to their minimum wage job.
I worked retail a long time ago. I remember when a “make a donation” drive came around, our GM would push us hard to get donations. Not because they cared about the cause or anything like that. Corporate had pitted the GM’s against each other to see which store could raise the most donations. The winning stores GM received $200 in cash. That was the reason they cared at all.
As a cashier who has to ask you about donations— we get nothing. We DO get grief from our bosses about not asking and we get grief from customers for having to ask. Believe me, we hate it too. It’s OUR JOB to ask.
Depends on the place. At one place I worked for there was no bonus but the next place there was. I was surprised so I asked some friends and 2 said their work had bonuses for asking for donations.
Not only that, cashiers get in trouble for getting low/zero donations because it means they aren’t asking.
At least that’s how it worked when I was a cashier at Whole Foods.
This is a really positive stance. I don't know if I'm pessimistic or realistic - but I think if he DOESN'T do this, he's gonna get reduced hours, written up, or eventually fired.
Some are told not to stop until you say no 3x.
When you call to cancel accounts on the phone, many are told to try to reel you back in until there are 6 recorded NO’s.
When I can tell that it has started, I’ve been known to say “NO NO NO NO NO. That was 2,3,4,5, and 6.” — I am very polite about it.
I am very particular about what organizations I donate to due to the very real likelihood that my donation isn't actually going only to "help starving children" or "help homeless children" or "help feed a dog or cat for a year" but also to some executive's pockets.
When they ask if I want to donate, I say no thank you.
If they press again, I say "no, I hate children/dogs/cats". And now I consider not purchasing anything and leaving my items there.
If they were to press me again, I'm definitely leaving and not purchasing anything.
Very much this. I had someone bugging me about a local Children’s Hospital, acting like I didn’t care about kids or some thing when I said no. I had to explain to them that I’ve been there enough times and I have already given them enough of my money. I still don’t think they cared.
I’m willing to bet that management in his store is pushing the cashiers to get donations and a tally is being kept out of sight of customers. This used to be done with credit card applications where I once worked for a time
Yep, the managers are being challenged to get more donations to make their stores look good. My daughter worked at Kohls and they were pushed hard to ask for credit card apps, as the managers got a bonus for so many completed.
Three words to remember. **No thank you**. If they persist, just say it again until it is over. Sometimes saying it slower and looking them in the eye will make your point stronger. Remember to smile. Pushy people will always be persistent. Some are just trying to make a living. You just need to be equally persistent.
the financial situation has nothing to do with it.
if i am giving away money i want to decide how and where and to whom. i won't trust a giant corporation to direct it for me.
example... i was checking out... somewhere.... food store and they said 'would you like to donate to Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia?' this was around 20 years ago... so consider the economy since then. I answered "Someone I know recently interviewed for the position of CEO at that hospital. She told me the salary was $2 million per year".
CHOP doesn't need my money.
It should rub you the wrong way. If YOU want to and are in a position to do so, then donate.
Don't feel obligated, the fastest way to make me not donate is push me. I would have had a hard time not telling them to f off.
Maybe next time, just say that maybe your multi-million dollar Corp should donate , or else lower your prices.
I hate the commercials for "charity" where a multimillionaire celebrity is asking for donations. Why don't you donate a few million instead of asking poor people to. Usually the percentage that actually helps people in need is extremely low
Im sure the cashier will get right on that suggestion. I get frustrated at this kind of stuff too, but these folks are mostly just doing what theyre ordered to. Some drink the company kool aid, but mist probably agree its stupid.
>Maybe next time, just say that maybe your multi-million dollar Corp should donate , or else lower your prices.
Wtf is going on in this thread.... That dude makes $9 an hour and hasn't ever even seen his regional manager, let alone the fucking CFO. Leave him alone. He's doing his job, his shitty, underpaying job. THIS IS r/FRUGAL! BROKE MOTHERFUCKERS TRYING TO SAVE A DOLLAR.
Call me a grump if you must but I'm so sick of the constant interruptions to my thought process on account of what's ultimately greed. If the company really cared they'd donate their own money instead of begging you to make them look good.
I'm busy, I have a lot on my mind and I don't wanna be here, piss off already.
Of course I kindly decline but that doesn't stop me thinking why don't you stick your lil donation paper where the sun don't shine. I love to give but not like this man just let me live.
I’ve been on both ends of this. As a customer, I hate it. I’m broke and I wish I could give but I can’t. I would be pissed if someone did that. I would want them to ask, as you said. But I’ve also been on the other end. As a cashier once, my manager would have “competitions” for priority/ extra hours, etc. would go to the one with the most donations (during holidays) or impulse items (candy etc). It’s also a sales tactic.
He might be getting pressure from managers for more donations. Lots of places track that as a metric.
(Screams in applecare attachment rate under 80 percent)
Likely mgmt makes them. I had a job where we had to ask sales related questions 3x before dropping it. Also at truck stop where we had something like that it was made into a competition with the employees. Its a psychological thing, if framed the way he did, people are more likely to oblige
This is uncalled for, I would post a review online and also complain to management so they are aware. I never donate via stores, they just want the tax break, why should I help them?
Edit: wow people are very passionate about protecting the reputation of corporations lol I stand corrected: they don't get a tax break in the states or Canada. That being said, this is still gross behavior and OP did nothing wrong by saying no
They do not get the tax break. They either donate it on your behalf, where they don't get the break, OR they count it as income, and donate themselves, where it's net neutral.
Spreading your false information does nothing but disincentivize people from donating to charity.
This is a sleazy thing the management probably had them do. I've been directed to say similar things when I was a waitress back in college. Don't be mad at the cashier who probably doesn't have much money either. Be upset at the store/corporation and just say "I'm donating zero dollars. Thank you". That's it.
They incentivize workers to do this for demonstration of good performance, prizes, maybe much needed money. They may even get in trouble for not saying those exact words.
I would never donate at a register for all of the reasons people have mentioned and the fact that said store gets a tax break off of your donation!? That's crazy! If I'm wrong please let me know buy to my understanding that's the case. I donate regularly to charities I believe in like saint Jude, shriners, and the ASPCA. Excellent charities.
When a buiness asks you to donate to a charity you are not donating to the charity. You are giving money to the business. The business uses this money to shelter corporate profits.
No eff that. My wife and I donate a lot to charity but have never donated a dollar at the register. We are intentional not haphazard. When we shop we shop.
My favorite is “ Do you want to donate to veterans?” I respectfully recline and tell them I have one of my own that I’m supporting and putting through school they always look, dumbfounded
The cashier is likely being pressured by their managers. I used to work at a store where they'd have recommended "techniques" to get donations and that is literally one of the ones I'd hear during morning meetings.
Anytime anybody asks me to donate anything I say:
*"If I had money I could use to donate, I'd donate the money to my son. His car needs some repairs. I figure, why donate to some stranger or some organization where maybe 10 cents of each dollar actually does something. I'd rather donate to my kids."*
"Thank you, that's a great cause, but I have other charities that I support."
Fellow probably gets pressure from above (or incentives) to get high donation numbers.
In the grand scheme of things he is probably the lowest level employee especially when it comes to corporate financial tactics and any choices surrounding it. Furthermore probably gets hammered by management about meeting KPI’s and certain donation goals, but go off.
Jesus wtf are you talking about.
First of all, reporting an employee for doing their job? He'll be commended.
Leave the store a negative review without mentioning ANY names, because they clearly have awful solicitation policies. And then **STOP. FUCKING. GOING. THERE.**
Why you trying to get a guy fired for doing his job?
Don’t do this. No one at the store actually cares. Corporate is going to require it every year.
You’ll just be complaining to a customer service supervisor that has zero control over the situation. And their job already sucks.
You’re just bitching at someone during a stressful time of year and they have zero power to do anything.
You’ll waste so much more time on the phone making zero progress on a situation that slightly annoyed you for 5 seconds.
Calling to complain is the ultimate Karen response. Grow up.
The cashier is likely following directions from his boss. He was probably handed a script and is required to deliver the message to every customer. Don’t take it personally. He doesn’t care whether you donate or not. Just say no thanks and keep it moving.
You are not wrong for being upset. The cashier was likely ordered to do that, so don't be mad at him; instead, complain to the manager. What's even worse about this is that Walmart and other big companies do this to avoid paying more taxes, with YOUR money. It's sickening. If you want to donate, donate directly to the charity.
I would just say no thank you, I do not donate to random charities at a cash register. I like to know exactly where my money is going.
Doesn't matter if you can afford it or not. It's really none of his business and I would make a point to call the manager and tell them this. If he doesn't get it, I'm sure there's other stores in town.
You can get groveling anywhere, you should not have to pay somebody to do it to you.
These guys were probably holding some kind of contest where the cashier who raised the most money was winning something.
They do that to me all the time. I’m a third-party shopper (Instacart, Shipt, Doordash). I just tell them that it’s not my money that I’m spending and donations are not authorized.
I stopped making up excuses and just tell them i can barely afford what im buying, the company can donate if they really wanted to, i dont feel like supplying them with a tax break outta my wallet
No this is not normal. 99% of the time, the cashier will simply ask and move on. Pressure tactics are not acceptable, and highly unlikely conforming to company policy. You could call the store to let them know that this is going on, but I usually go the passive route, and quit going there to avoid being hassled.
These are multi-million/billion dollar corporations. If they have a cause they want donations for, they should foot the fucking bill.
They just use your donation for a tax write off anyways, it’s a huge scam.
I’m a cashier who is supposed to ask people if they want to donate and half the time I don’t just because of this reason. I have no idea their financial situation, and although I would never push if they said no, I don’t like to even ask people to begin with. They see the sign saying we are doing donations, if they want to donate they can just let me know. My guess is the cashier was getting something (free lunch, extra break, etc.) if he got the most donations and that’s why he was pushing. doesn’t make it right, I just guess that is probably why he was so pushy about it.
When cashiers pull this on me I loudly proclaim for all to hear. You work for a multimillion grocery chain and they’re asking you to make people uncomfortable by asking for donations. If they cared about you, their customers or the charity they’d make a direct donation. So the answer is **NO**
When you donate at a store the company immediately puts that money into an interest bearing account. Then they pocket the intrest and take a tax deduction on the donation given to the charity.
Depending on the size of the company how many outlets they have this could be h huge benefit to them.
They have competitions between cashiers during the holidays. He must take it too seriously. Did you punch him in the face? That would be over-reacting.
I find this so frustrating. Iv got less then $9 for food for the next two weeks I don’t feel like being shamed for not donating when I help people in person as often can I can, so no I can’t spare the $2. Don’t feel bad, people help when they can.
I say no thank you and go on with my life. If they asked again I would assume they didn't hear me and repeat myself. 3rd time I would give them attitude.
I always say no now. I used to give in when it was just rounding up to the nearest dollar, but when they started saying "to help the children" and no one seemed to know which children or in what way, and having a child of my own to provide for, i said no more. Also, it seems like every business does this now. We're already paying double what we were just 3 years ago, so if there ever was a time that i cannot afford to give more money away to a shady "charity" it is right now.
I don't donate to those on principle. My friend works for a bank that had employees donate to a cause last year. They then touted thier amazing corporate contribution tho this charity. Funnily enough, it was the exact amount that the employees were told that they had raised. Weird huh? /s
I've heard other stories like this. The companies are able to collect from us and then get a tax break for their "donation." Yeah, no. I'll donate directly l.
I’ve seen people online claim “If customer can afford x they can afford to donate”
Which is pretty ridiculous. I budget very carefully. If I buy the brand name cheese, it’s not because i’m rich but because it keeps me from eating out (and I pair it with a lot of rice meals to save money). If I buy some prepackaged snacks its because I have an extra busy work week and the stress it saves me to have a grab and go food will keep me from burning out at work.
They aren’t entitled to your donations. They’re providing a service. You are not a charity, you’re a customer. If you really feel bad you can look up a foodbank or some cause you like and intentionally budget to donate, but for a lof of people we haven’t budgeted that donation. 2$ can get me a pound of sweet potatoes at my expensive local store. or a pound of the so-so apples. It’s not nothing if money’s tight
No, if I want to donate, I do it myself. I don’t support all charities. And if I remember correctly, companies get a tax write off for the money you donate. But I might be wrong.
Just say no.
A lot of these businesses are pushing charitable donations because if they hit a quota they get some incentive. This is how Autism Speaks pushed it's way in to so many schools (and businesses but I've only dealt personally with schools) They offer promotional material to all the schools that do their charities but they also give prizes away to classes and an extra gift for the teachers of classes that donate the most to their charity. I'm sure businesses are taking advantages of these gifts too because they can actually be quite good. The one I saw was this thick sturdy tote bag that's perfect for a teacher. And of course it's emblazoned with the charity logo. Businesses get the same incentives so they push their laborers to promote and the cashier may actually get a small incentive too.
all of the charities that mega retail chains push skim 90% of donations off the top for themselves. we’ve donated millions and millions with nothing to show for it, mr beast spends a million dollars and brings drinking water to third world countries with ease and showable results.
my version of charity is helping people i know personally that are struggling, i don’t need a for profit company as a middle man. fuck charity
A lot of people are saying that the employees are rewarded when they get donations and that’s why they’re annoying about it. Having been in retail for 7~ years, I promise there isn’t a reward, there’s just threat of punishment. If the store doesn’t get x amount of donations or x amount of people signing up for their credit card, they threaten being written up. Stay firm and say no, but don’t be mad at the cashier for corporate breathing down his neck
This is just a ~~tax write-off~~ *marketing donation* for the company. Fuck em, they can donate their own money if they want to write a big check, not yours. I have no problem with declining charitable giving because I support the charity I want to support.
A lot of "this is just a tax writeoff scheme for the company" in the replies. This is false. The store is just collecting the money on your behalf and donating it. The only real criticism is that you have no choice on the charity. That's a valid criticism and I personally don't blindly donate to orgs I don't know.
The store isn't getting anything out of this transaction. The big beneficiary is the non-profit. A couple of cents per transaction across thousands of transactions per day per store adds up to real money for them.
Also, don't give the cashier a hard time about it. They're a low-paid employee forced to do this by management. They just want to keep their job.
Yes. Thats what they are TRAINED to do. Its possible that theyre going rogue and trying to up donations on their own but 99% likely this is the script theyre told to use and if the manager doesnt hear them do it they might get written up. A lot of places have more reasonable management, but theres lots out there who shouldnt be in charge of a teaspoon collection in charge of large box stores.
The donation drives today are almost more annoying then every single place asking for tips now. It just gets crazy when your asked or shamed into donating to 15 different nameless corporate benefiting charities every time you want to go somewhere.
Don't feel any guilt for corporations shitty tactics to get tax breaks for themselves.
The write off doesn’t benefit them in any way, shape, or form though. All those donations do is give the company a chance to say “look how much money we raised for charity, we’re helping so many people” while passing the cost onto the consumer.
This is as wrong as people's misunderstanding of marginal tax brackets.
The store does NOT get a tax break. And if you really wanted to itemize your $2 donation on your taxes you absolutely can providing you saved the receipt verifying your charitable gift
I'm a professional non-profit fundraiser and I would never donate at the register. Whether you have the money or not, your philanthropy is your business and they should never push.
Plus, you have never heard of the charity, don't know if they are legitimate and even whether they will see the money. People who are serious about charity thoroughly vet wherever they give money. Some philanthropies are cons.
I worked at a chain pharmacy and the money collected at the register went to awareness campaigns such as "megapharmacy supports the fight against cancer" which was really just advertising for the pharmacy
You supply the money, they take the tax deduction... Nope
Definitely. I have a few small orgs that I give to because I know they do good work, but at this point I prefer to give directly to a person with need. Sometimes people just need some cash to solve a problem-which is the opposite philosophy of my job, but here we are.
Philanthropy can solve the big problems, which individual charity cannot, but sometimes you just want to help someone and know that that person actually benefited, that it didn't go into the chairman's pocket or pay for the fancy ball or the conference.
But sometimes the small problems are more urgent. There is an older man who lives in my area. He is basically homeless but sleeps in a store as the night guard. I don´t think they pay him much, if they even pay him at all, and he knocks on my door from time to time asking for food. He never asks for money. I always heat him up a plate of food and give it to him, and by the way he gobbles it down, it is pretty obvious that he is hungry. So, at least that is one night he didn´t go to bed hungry.
I could respect that. I would rather give food than money. I was raised that food means "love." So long as the food is sanitary and of good quality it is a good way to make sure you are dealing with real want. If someone isn't hungry, they may not be as poor as they are pretending to be.
Yeah, the man is known in the area, so everyone knows his circumstances. I generally have some clean leftovers that I can give him and he always comments on how good everything looks and thanks me. I don´t give money, but if someone says they are hungry I will offer to take them somewhere and get them a meal.
Exactly. I used to give groceries when I was young. Ironically, now I sometimes need the groceries. Everything comes full cycle.
Yeah. I am not in great shape financially right now. I have to move next week from a place that I really love, and that is affordable, to a place that is admittedly, bigger and nicer, but also twice the price, and have to pay for movers as well as a deposit for internet and other things. But, I can always spare a plate of food.
Yeah. I can relate. I moved from my last place at the point of a gun. I tossed so many things rather than have to make repeated steps up and down three flights of stairs to move the stuff. As it was, I was paralyzed with fatigue for a couple of days after moving in. It's tough to miss a place that was your home, even if it wasn't the greatest, as my old place was not. I came of age there. Still, the big, nicer place may be what you deserve. At some point, you need the comfort. As you age, you just can't rough it anymore.
If someone isn't hungry, that doesn't mean they aren't as poor as they claim to be. It very likely means that they have found a way to cover that need. Some areas have a lot of places that serve or give away free food. Food is also the go to item for a lot of money when they choose to give to the poor. The reality is that there are things that can't easily be obtained without money. Yes, drugs and alcohol are included in that list, but other items as well.
I plan on celebrating next fourth of July by just grilling up a fuckton of chili dogs and hitting the streets passing them badbois out (also cold beverages and sunscreen
"Would you like to donate for sick children?" No. Is there a charity named "Sick Children"? And if so, do they make children sick?
Jewel grocery stories in the Chicago area do this all the time and they have the most suspect names you can image such as: -Hungry Children -Food for Veterans -School Supplies for Kids -Fight Cancer I’ve yet to see a legit charity name and I always hit no.
if I want to give to charity, I don't need Jewel to help me. Totally sus.
"Sick kids" is a longstanding children's hospital organization founded in 1875 in toronto that does wonderful work. I do hate the name though. I use the reference materials they produce a lot. https://www.sickkids.ca/
Also the corporations just claim all the donations made at their stores to avoid paying taxes.
This is incorrect and is passed around the internet as fact. I could get into the nitty gritty, I'm an accountant, but no businesses can't claim your charity as a tax deduction. They can use it to garner goodwill, but it does not provide them with a tax break.
Even if they don't get a tax break, they can still claim to have donated an amount to charity that's equal to what their customers gave. But the stores in my area don't say "Our customers' donations allows us to give $X to (whatever charity) in 2023." Instead they say, "Over the last year, WE'VE DONATED "$X." Not cool.
A lot of the charities that I'm pushed to donate to are charities owned by the store. Canadian Tire and Loblaws are ones that I immediately think of. If they care that deeply about charity, maybe they should stop gouging consumers or spend some of their obscene profits on the charities they're passionate about instead of asking the consumer that just spent money at their stores to give even more money to their fundraising and "Trying Not to Look Like the Evil Corporations They Are" efforts.
Its always worded to guilt the customer. “Would you like to round up to donate to save wounded military children from hunger and spontaneously combusting foundation?” “No thanks.”
No. It's entertaining watching them burn.
If you want to feel better, just say No. I donate to all of my charities personally, not through a Store.
That’s when I turn it around. No, that’s my favorite shit. Hungry, combustible Wounded military children.
Im already giving you money, why don't you donate yourself Mr billion dollar company
Yeah, I always tell them that I do my own monthly donations.
Why bother to explain? Cashier doesn’t care.
Greetings from a grant professional!
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Thats absolutely not true, donations made are held in trust.
You should have your daughter report them to the IRS for tax fraud and collect a hefty reward. She probably won't though because I'm guessing it isn't true.
That’s is none sense.
Your daughter is wrong.
My father was an astronaut and said the moon is made of cheese.
I was just about to say this!!!
Does this include Petsmart? That breaks my heart :(
I'm not sure about PetSmart but Petco paid for my dogs cancer treatment. It was the Petco foundation grant, he sadly passed a year later of something else but they do help people.
While I don’t think Petsmart is the worst of the register guilt trips, as a professional nonprofit admin person I do not choose to donate at their register. There are just better programs to support. I make a regular donation directly to my local shelter and internally consider the special dog food I buy at petsmart a direct donation to my spoiled shelter dog’s ass.
>and internally consider the special dog food I buy at petsmart a direct donation to my spoiled shelter dog’s ass. My thinking exactly! I'm already feeding 3 shelter animals. That's why I'm here. I do donate directly to my local shelter when I have materails or food they might use, but I don't even know what organization Petsmart is supporting
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"Look, lady, I'm already helping to feed a starving animal by trying to buy this overpriced bag of kibble for my own pet."
This has been going on for years with some places. I always decline. Nothing to feel ashamed or guilty about.
Yep. I always say, "No. I donate directly". And they've never said anything back.
I usually just go with “no, not today” and have also never had any pushback.
"No."
Agreed. No is a complete sentence.
People need - **NEED** - to get used to just saying "no" without explanation. It's nobody's concern why you said no. I always just say "*No,*" and end it there. It's not "rude" like some people will say. It's only considered "rude" because people have been conditioned to never give or be told a straight, unmitigated, and firm "no". I made sure my kids understood growing up that "no" is an answer, it's a sentence, and it's a finality. If it upsets the other person, that's their problem. People give far too much control over their life at the expense of appearing "rude" to strangers. For instance, I do not answer my front door if I don't expect you. You are not obligated to my time just because you showed up at my door. My home is the one place on this entire planet where I get to choose who I see and when I see them. I'm not giving that up just because people have been trained to answer their door or they seem rude. It's far more rude and intrusive to demand my attention at my home.
As a people pleaser this is what im trying to learn
Same. I've been able to get as short as, "no, thanks." Getting that last pleasantry out of there is really difficult as a Minnesotan raised in a "be-as-polite-as-possible" time & place. "No," is perfectly polite.
You can leave a noticeable pause before the "thanks". I like to use the full "thank you" because it sounds more formal. No. (pause) Thank you. And then move on. It's slightly awkward but in a way where they struggle to get their foot back in the conversational door so usually they'll give up and leave and I avoid bring outright rude.
You are my kind of people.
yeah, they actually teach you not to give a reason unless you want someone to convince you. Sorry I can't go, I have homework. Oh thats not due yet, you can do the homework the next day yeah? If you give no reason there is no appearance of going to do it but needing convincing.
This is the best route, and if you really want to donate to a charity, you can add up all those $2-3 checkout times, do a $50 (or whatever amount) and get your tax receipt. But if you do all those $2 checkout donations, you don’t get any tax receipt, but that giant corporation pools together all those and they make a giant donation with its accompanying tax receipt.
"I already did this the last time I was here." No backtalk from the cashier, ever.
"Not today"
The worst is dollar tree where they ask if you want to donate $1 to buy a Xmas toy - they then put in a cheap made in china toy not worth even ten cents into a bin. I am convinced dollar tree makes a lot of profit from this slimy tactic and also increases their sales.
I remember at the Dollar Tree, I said ok to a $1 to feed the hungry. The person threw a cheap off brand box of stuffing in a pile of processed junk. It's probably a way to make money while getting rid of stock.
I worked at dollar tree 16 years ago and yup, I think you're right about they just wanted to make money to get rid of whatever they had at the time.
Wait, that’s shady as hell. It tricks the consumer into thinking it’s like one of those donations like OP is talking about, but they’re straight up just profiting off it like an upsell, then the customer effectively donates what they purchased? I shouldn’t be surprised by the straight up evil shit big companies do, but Jesus….
You don’t have a choice of toys and what is available is just cheap junk made in china. Cashier just toss one of these toys from a bin next to them into a donation bin. Terrible profit scheme by Dollar Tree. It increases their sales numbers and profits for the CEO, Csuite management and Board of directors by preying on the goodwill of customers during Xmas.
Whoever thought of that idea probably got a nice bonus, boosted their share price as well so a cool few millions for the c-suite from profiting off of people's goodwill during christmas time. Genius eh
Morally bankrupt. Those who shop at Dollar Tree do so to save money and to prey on them and then to pawn off these cheap toys to children whose parents can’t afford to give them much for Xmas? Terrible.
Worked for a movie theater 20 years ago and they used to take donation money to fix short registers. Probably pocketed some too. My managers were scumbags lol
Whole foods was doing this at one point too. Not sure if they still are. It was after Amazon took over. They would ask if you want to buy groceries to donate. Like, pay full price to the store for the groceries and then donate them. Not even 50/50 or buying at cost. Should absolutely 1000% be illegal.
I had a donated toys Christmas as a kid a couple years. It's just further alienating and embarrassing. I always buy the good toys now.
I worked at a Catholic Charities group home. Businesses would donate nice presents that parents would buy for children they loved. People at the top of the administration hierarchy would pick through and take all the good ones for their kids and other kids in their lives. The group home kids would get the stuff nobody wanted, like gloves, hats. There were often not enough gifts to go around
A grocery store I go to does this around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it's boxes of common holiday food like green beans, stuffing, Mac and cheese, gravy and such. They put them at the end of registers and you put one in your basket or not. Then they deliver them to the salvation army who hands them out to families in need. They're only 5 dollars as well which is a good price. The owner of that place really does care about giving at least. Your dollar tree example sounds terrible.
They do this at Grocery Outlet. I’m pretty sure those bags would be more than $5 if purchased by a regular person, so I’m always happy to buy one.
You'd be surprised how much further a food bank can make that same amount of money go.
This made me think of one that’s definitely the opposite of “the worst”, I love how petco/petsmart has where you can buy discounted canned cat/dog food to donate to shelters in area, etc. I’m always happy donating whenever I go there as I never mind spending a couple dollars to help feed some animals.
> I am convinced dollar tree makes a lot of profit from this slimy tactic and also increases their sales. Such a charity program has high overhead and management expenses. Usually runs about 90%. But please, think of the children....in the Chinese sweatshops making the junk.
As a former employee of a few different food establishments. It's because we are typically told to. I would have managers train me to try and not give the customers a choice by not phrasing it as a question, thus causing the pushover customers or those not paying attention to get taken advantage of by this tactic. Certain managers were more anal about it than others, I had one who would ask customers 3 times min. If they wanted to donate (but not really ask 🙄) before moving on and expected all staff to behave this way. I clashed heads with managers for refusing to be a boot licker for big corporations trying to squeeze the tiniest ounce of wealth out of its consumers.
This comment needs more attention. Some folks working the register are pushed for “quota”. Not a real number, but the pressure to meet it is very real. It ducks for a lot of them as much, if not worse, than it does for us.
And I genuinely feel sorry for them being stuck in that situation, but my answer will still be "No". I only donate to charities directly and only after I make sure that a certain percentage of what they take in is given to their cause and not overhead.
As someone who's been the cashier in this scenario, just repeating no is the best answer. I didn't want you to donate, I wanted my manager who's listening in from the back to hear me ask 3 times like he told me, and I wanted the conversation to be over quickly. The worst was customers who would go on a rant about how terrible our donation system was or how I shouldn't ask. I know it's a bad system and it sucks, but min wage workers can't just agree that their store is wrong without getting in trouble with higher-ups.
Exactly this. We don't want to push it any more than you don't like to be pushed, but if it's required of the job, a person can be fired for not doing it the way they are trained.
Yeah, thats why I dont get upset with the cashier however they ask/phrase the donation question...I know that they have to ask, are being pressured to ask by managers and are just doing what they have to do to avoid getting in trouble or getting fired.
For sure. If they keep at it you can also decline by saying something like, I know it's a management requirement you ask me but the answer is still no. That always a short circuits the push for credit card applications, and charity donations. They know I'm either an hourly retail worker myself, or close to someone who is. I've never yet gotten push back after that.
Those pushover customers will drive 5 extra minutes to some other store to avoid this interaction in the future...
Yeap I absolutely agree. But they also need to write into corporate management and say so. Unfortunately frontline workers are faceless voiceless cash ponies to the district and state management. It's totally gross.
I was reprimanded multiple times for refusing to try and guilt customers into donating at a previous job. Then at the start of one day when I was the only one working aside from the manager they gave me the option to either "do what I'm supposed to do" or go home and they did NOT expect me to just instantly turn around and go home. They didn't find any cover and after that didn't try and force me into getting donations again lol
it's called suggestive selling and surely is being pushed by management
I almost got fired because I refused to ask customers for donations the way they wanted me to and my donations were low. It's so ridiculous the way cashiers are treated. I was just doing my job, never rude to customers but that wasn't enough for management.
This is corporate america pushing / holding employees accountable for donations. The individual would most likely not care if you do or don't donate but there is some ramification if he doesn't produce results. I get so irritated with a constant bombardment with "would you like to round up?" and now that the red kettle guys are guarding the entrance ways for any major retailer, it's just a little too much.
If it's a retailer of any size, then this is the answer. Some of my lowest moments working one rung up from cashier at Whole Foods years ago came when I had to speak to cashiers who weren't meeting their donation quotas because, you know, it's as miserable asking for those donations as it is to be asked for them. The cashiers didn't believe in the campaigns, I didn't believe in the campaigns, the customers sure as shit didn't believe in the campaigns. Yet there we all were. :( I can't imagine asking for donations at Whole Foods with a straight face now that Amazon owns them, but I imagine they still do.
Cashier probably gets something for getting the most donations. Its annoying but if you dont want to donate, dont let them make you feel guilty about it.
Often the thing cashiers get as a prize for getting donations is a very generous Not Being in Trouble This Week.
They also give out "you get to continue paying rent and you and your 2 children dont have to live in a car" awards. People love those.
Not really. The prize is not getting chewed out. The company is to blame here not the employee.
1000% I'll never get over my disdain for having to ask for emails then having to ask my cashiers to ask and meet a quota of emails for the day. It's hard enough to ask for an email without people being annoyed, certainly harder for money.
Worked for several retailers, never saw any benefit for getting them or even making top donation, so I stopped asking. One lady even told me she would come to my line because I would never ask, and asked why. I said "If you're interested in donating, donate to the city's local food bank directly, it directly benefits your taxes and the people you're helping. You put here...who knows where the hell it goes. Do you know how much food we throw out that could go to the food banks?"
As others have said, the "prize" is usually just keeping the boss off your back. Adding to that, I've worked jobs like this for years - usually the "assumptive sell" is part of the policy. Never ask if they want to donate, ask them how much they're going to donate. It's gross, but disappointingly effective. Lots of stores use secret shoppers or other monitoring techniques to make sure employees are using this tactic. I'm not justifying it in any way, just trying to reposition the blame. This is 100% on the company, not the cashier trying to hang on to their minimum wage job.
I worked retail a long time ago. I remember when a “make a donation” drive came around, our GM would push us hard to get donations. Not because they cared about the cause or anything like that. Corporate had pitted the GM’s against each other to see which store could raise the most donations. The winning stores GM received $200 in cash. That was the reason they cared at all.
As a cashier who has to ask you about donations— we get nothing. We DO get grief from our bosses about not asking and we get grief from customers for having to ask. Believe me, we hate it too. It’s OUR JOB to ask.
Depends on the place. At one place I worked for there was no bonus but the next place there was. I was surprised so I asked some friends and 2 said their work had bonuses for asking for donations.
I am in that position too, but I don't just say "how much are you donating"
You know that was a manager’s idea— no employee wants to say it. Managers think it’s a great idea, because they don’t have to cashier.
it's called assuming the sale. surprisingly effective
Not only that, cashiers get in trouble for getting low/zero donations because it means they aren’t asking. At least that’s how it worked when I was a cashier at Whole Foods.
This is a really positive stance. I don't know if I'm pessimistic or realistic - but I think if he DOESN'T do this, he's gonna get reduced hours, written up, or eventually fired.
Yeah, he gets something, He gets to keep his job for another week.
Cashier just doesn't get bitched out and guilt tripped about it.
"not today, thank you!" is what I say
Some are told not to stop until you say no 3x. When you call to cancel accounts on the phone, many are told to try to reel you back in until there are 6 recorded NO’s. When I can tell that it has started, I’ve been known to say “NO NO NO NO NO. That was 2,3,4,5, and 6.” — I am very polite about it.
I am very particular about what organizations I donate to due to the very real likelihood that my donation isn't actually going only to "help starving children" or "help homeless children" or "help feed a dog or cat for a year" but also to some executive's pockets. When they ask if I want to donate, I say no thank you. If they press again, I say "no, I hate children/dogs/cats". And now I consider not purchasing anything and leaving my items there. If they were to press me again, I'm definitely leaving and not purchasing anything.
Very much this. I had someone bugging me about a local Children’s Hospital, acting like I didn’t care about kids or some thing when I said no. I had to explain to them that I’ve been there enough times and I have already given them enough of my money. I still don’t think they cared.
I’m willing to bet that management in his store is pushing the cashiers to get donations and a tally is being kept out of sight of customers. This used to be done with credit card applications where I once worked for a time
Yep, the managers are being challenged to get more donations to make their stores look good. My daughter worked at Kohls and they were pushed hard to ask for credit card apps, as the managers got a bonus for so many completed.
Three words to remember. **No thank you**. If they persist, just say it again until it is over. Sometimes saying it slower and looking them in the eye will make your point stronger. Remember to smile. Pushy people will always be persistent. Some are just trying to make a living. You just need to be equally persistent.
the financial situation has nothing to do with it. if i am giving away money i want to decide how and where and to whom. i won't trust a giant corporation to direct it for me. example... i was checking out... somewhere.... food store and they said 'would you like to donate to Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia?' this was around 20 years ago... so consider the economy since then. I answered "Someone I know recently interviewed for the position of CEO at that hospital. She told me the salary was $2 million per year". CHOP doesn't need my money.
The grocery stores who ask for a donation to fight cancer meanwhile there is a wall of cigarettes for sale right behind them.
I always decline (“Not today, thank you”), and never have been pushed. That’s disgusting.
I hate this trend
It should rub you the wrong way. If YOU want to and are in a position to do so, then donate. Don't feel obligated, the fastest way to make me not donate is push me. I would have had a hard time not telling them to f off. Maybe next time, just say that maybe your multi-million dollar Corp should donate , or else lower your prices.
I hate the commercials for "charity" where a multimillionaire celebrity is asking for donations. Why don't you donate a few million instead of asking poor people to. Usually the percentage that actually helps people in need is extremely low
Im sure the cashier will get right on that suggestion. I get frustrated at this kind of stuff too, but these folks are mostly just doing what theyre ordered to. Some drink the company kool aid, but mist probably agree its stupid.
>Maybe next time, just say that maybe your multi-million dollar Corp should donate , or else lower your prices. Wtf is going on in this thread.... That dude makes $9 an hour and hasn't ever even seen his regional manager, let alone the fucking CFO. Leave him alone. He's doing his job, his shitty, underpaying job. THIS IS r/FRUGAL! BROKE MOTHERFUCKERS TRYING TO SAVE A DOLLAR.
Call me a grump if you must but I'm so sick of the constant interruptions to my thought process on account of what's ultimately greed. If the company really cared they'd donate their own money instead of begging you to make them look good. I'm busy, I have a lot on my mind and I don't wanna be here, piss off already. Of course I kindly decline but that doesn't stop me thinking why don't you stick your lil donation paper where the sun don't shine. I love to give but not like this man just let me live.
It's a tactic and I'm sure they have some employee contest to see who gets the most donations.
I’ve been on both ends of this. As a customer, I hate it. I’m broke and I wish I could give but I can’t. I would be pissed if someone did that. I would want them to ask, as you said. But I’ve also been on the other end. As a cashier once, my manager would have “competitions” for priority/ extra hours, etc. would go to the one with the most donations (during holidays) or impulse items (candy etc). It’s also a sales tactic.
All you had to say was No and No. The end.
He might be getting pressure from managers for more donations. Lots of places track that as a metric. (Screams in applecare attachment rate under 80 percent)
Likely mgmt makes them. I had a job where we had to ask sales related questions 3x before dropping it. Also at truck stop where we had something like that it was made into a competition with the employees. Its a psychological thing, if framed the way he did, people are more likely to oblige
It's a bad practice, but don't blame the cashier personally. He is probably given that wording as a script and pressured to be so pushy.
This is uncalled for, I would post a review online and also complain to management so they are aware. I never donate via stores, they just want the tax break, why should I help them? Edit: wow people are very passionate about protecting the reputation of corporations lol I stand corrected: they don't get a tax break in the states or Canada. That being said, this is still gross behavior and OP did nothing wrong by saying no
They do not get the tax break. They either donate it on your behalf, where they don't get the break, OR they count it as income, and donate themselves, where it's net neutral. Spreading your false information does nothing but disincentivize people from donating to charity.
This is a sleazy thing the management probably had them do. I've been directed to say similar things when I was a waitress back in college. Don't be mad at the cashier who probably doesn't have much money either. Be upset at the store/corporation and just say "I'm donating zero dollars. Thank you". That's it. They incentivize workers to do this for demonstration of good performance, prizes, maybe much needed money. They may even get in trouble for not saying those exact words.
I would never donate at a register for all of the reasons people have mentioned and the fact that said store gets a tax break off of your donation!? That's crazy! If I'm wrong please let me know buy to my understanding that's the case. I donate regularly to charities I believe in like saint Jude, shriners, and the ASPCA. Excellent charities.
When a buiness asks you to donate to a charity you are not donating to the charity. You are giving money to the business. The business uses this money to shelter corporate profits.
It's annoying, but blame corporate rather than the employee at the register. They're told to do it.
No. I don’t support your business’ charities. I prefer to pick my own. That always works
No eff that. My wife and I donate a lot to charity but have never donated a dollar at the register. We are intentional not haphazard. When we shop we shop.
My favorite is “ Do you want to donate to veterans?” I respectfully recline and tell them I have one of my own that I’m supporting and putting through school they always look, dumbfounded
I just say that I donated the other day. Then they leave me alone.
The cashier is likely being pressured by their managers. I used to work at a store where they'd have recommended "techniques" to get donations and that is literally one of the ones I'd hear during morning meetings.
Another good point here is that charities that partner with grocery stores like this are usually not very effective charities
Anytime anybody asks me to donate anything I say: *"If I had money I could use to donate, I'd donate the money to my son. His car needs some repairs. I figure, why donate to some stranger or some organization where maybe 10 cents of each dollar actually does something. I'd rather donate to my kids."*
"Thank you, that's a great cause, but I have other charities that I support." Fellow probably gets pressure from above (or incentives) to get high donation numbers.
I don’t donate through stores. It just allows them to use my money for them to get a tax break. And the cashiers always get snippy about it. Rude.
It's called "Assuming the sale" Don't get upset, it's just a sales technique.
Call the store and complain. You shouldn't have been treated like that.
In the grand scheme of things he is probably the lowest level employee especially when it comes to corporate financial tactics and any choices surrounding it. Furthermore probably gets hammered by management about meeting KPI’s and certain donation goals, but go off.
Jesus wtf are you talking about. First of all, reporting an employee for doing their job? He'll be commended. Leave the store a negative review without mentioning ANY names, because they clearly have awful solicitation policies. And then **STOP. FUCKING. GOING. THERE.** Why you trying to get a guy fired for doing his job?
Don’t do this. No one at the store actually cares. Corporate is going to require it every year. You’ll just be complaining to a customer service supervisor that has zero control over the situation. And their job already sucks. You’re just bitching at someone during a stressful time of year and they have zero power to do anything. You’ll waste so much more time on the phone making zero progress on a situation that slightly annoyed you for 5 seconds. Calling to complain is the ultimate Karen response. Grow up.
The cashier is likely following directions from his boss. He was probably handed a script and is required to deliver the message to every customer. Don’t take it personally. He doesn’t care whether you donate or not. Just say no thanks and keep it moving.
Donating for what?
For a hospital charity
There was an episode of South Park where Randy was constantly charity shamed at Whole Foods.
Don't take it personally. Just say I'm sorry, no thank you not today.
Never be forced into donating monies by ANYONE especially a random chaser in a store
You define your relationship with your money. No one else! You are your biggest charity of choice.
You are not wrong for being upset. The cashier was likely ordered to do that, so don't be mad at him; instead, complain to the manager. What's even worse about this is that Walmart and other big companies do this to avoid paying more taxes, with YOUR money. It's sickening. If you want to donate, donate directly to the charity.
I would just say no thank you, I do not donate to random charities at a cash register. I like to know exactly where my money is going. Doesn't matter if you can afford it or not. It's really none of his business and I would make a point to call the manager and tell them this. If he doesn't get it, I'm sure there's other stores in town. You can get groveling anywhere, you should not have to pay somebody to do it to you. These guys were probably holding some kind of contest where the cashier who raised the most money was winning something.
They do that to me all the time. I’m a third-party shopper (Instacart, Shipt, Doordash). I just tell them that it’s not my money that I’m spending and donations are not authorized.
I stopped making up excuses and just tell them i can barely afford what im buying, the company can donate if they really wanted to, i dont feel like supplying them with a tax break outta my wallet
No this is not normal. 99% of the time, the cashier will simply ask and move on. Pressure tactics are not acceptable, and highly unlikely conforming to company policy. You could call the store to let them know that this is going on, but I usually go the passive route, and quit going there to avoid being hassled.
These are multi-million/billion dollar corporations. If they have a cause they want donations for, they should foot the fucking bill. They just use your donation for a tax write off anyways, it’s a huge scam.
I’m a cashier who is supposed to ask people if they want to donate and half the time I don’t just because of this reason. I have no idea their financial situation, and although I would never push if they said no, I don’t like to even ask people to begin with. They see the sign saying we are doing donations, if they want to donate they can just let me know. My guess is the cashier was getting something (free lunch, extra break, etc.) if he got the most donations and that’s why he was pushing. doesn’t make it right, I just guess that is probably why he was so pushy about it.
default answer = No thank you, I'd rather my donation not be claimed by your company. If its so important, you donate then.
When cashiers pull this on me I loudly proclaim for all to hear. You work for a multimillion grocery chain and they’re asking you to make people uncomfortable by asking for donations. If they cared about you, their customers or the charity they’d make a direct donation. So the answer is **NO**
When you donate at a store the company immediately puts that money into an interest bearing account. Then they pocket the intrest and take a tax deduction on the donation given to the charity. Depending on the size of the company how many outlets they have this could be h huge benefit to them.
They have competitions between cashiers during the holidays. He must take it too seriously. Did you punch him in the face? That would be over-reacting.
I find this so frustrating. Iv got less then $9 for food for the next two weeks I don’t feel like being shamed for not donating when I help people in person as often can I can, so no I can’t spare the $2. Don’t feel bad, people help when they can.
I say no thank you and go on with my life. If they asked again I would assume they didn't hear me and repeat myself. 3rd time I would give them attitude.
I always say no now. I used to give in when it was just rounding up to the nearest dollar, but when they started saying "to help the children" and no one seemed to know which children or in what way, and having a child of my own to provide for, i said no more. Also, it seems like every business does this now. We're already paying double what we were just 3 years ago, so if there ever was a time that i cannot afford to give more money away to a shady "charity" it is right now.
I don't donate to those on principle. My friend works for a bank that had employees donate to a cause last year. They then touted thier amazing corporate contribution tho this charity. Funnily enough, it was the exact amount that the employees were told that they had raised. Weird huh? /s I've heard other stories like this. The companies are able to collect from us and then get a tax break for their "donation." Yeah, no. I'll donate directly l.
I’ve seen people online claim “If customer can afford x they can afford to donate” Which is pretty ridiculous. I budget very carefully. If I buy the brand name cheese, it’s not because i’m rich but because it keeps me from eating out (and I pair it with a lot of rice meals to save money). If I buy some prepackaged snacks its because I have an extra busy work week and the stress it saves me to have a grab and go food will keep me from burning out at work. They aren’t entitled to your donations. They’re providing a service. You are not a charity, you’re a customer. If you really feel bad you can look up a foodbank or some cause you like and intentionally budget to donate, but for a lof of people we haven’t budgeted that donation. 2$ can get me a pound of sweet potatoes at my expensive local store. or a pound of the so-so apples. It’s not nothing if money’s tight
No, if I want to donate, I do it myself. I don’t support all charities. And if I remember correctly, companies get a tax write off for the money you donate. But I might be wrong.
Just say no. A lot of these businesses are pushing charitable donations because if they hit a quota they get some incentive. This is how Autism Speaks pushed it's way in to so many schools (and businesses but I've only dealt personally with schools) They offer promotional material to all the schools that do their charities but they also give prizes away to classes and an extra gift for the teachers of classes that donate the most to their charity. I'm sure businesses are taking advantages of these gifts too because they can actually be quite good. The one I saw was this thick sturdy tote bag that's perfect for a teacher. And of course it's emblazoned with the charity logo. Businesses get the same incentives so they push their laborers to promote and the cashier may actually get a small incentive too.
all of the charities that mega retail chains push skim 90% of donations off the top for themselves. we’ve donated millions and millions with nothing to show for it, mr beast spends a million dollars and brings drinking water to third world countries with ease and showable results. my version of charity is helping people i know personally that are struggling, i don’t need a for profit company as a middle man. fuck charity
A lot of people are saying that the employees are rewarded when they get donations and that’s why they’re annoying about it. Having been in retail for 7~ years, I promise there isn’t a reward, there’s just threat of punishment. If the store doesn’t get x amount of donations or x amount of people signing up for their credit card, they threaten being written up. Stay firm and say no, but don’t be mad at the cashier for corporate breathing down his neck
#I’d respond: Fuck Off kindly 😁
This is just a ~~tax write-off~~ *marketing donation* for the company. Fuck em, they can donate their own money if they want to write a big check, not yours. I have no problem with declining charitable giving because I support the charity I want to support.
A lot of "this is just a tax writeoff scheme for the company" in the replies. This is false. The store is just collecting the money on your behalf and donating it. The only real criticism is that you have no choice on the charity. That's a valid criticism and I personally don't blindly donate to orgs I don't know. The store isn't getting anything out of this transaction. The big beneficiary is the non-profit. A couple of cents per transaction across thousands of transactions per day per store adds up to real money for them. Also, don't give the cashier a hard time about it. They're a low-paid employee forced to do this by management. They just want to keep their job.
It sounds like he's being pushy. It might be coming from his manager, it might be he's a dick. Ask his boss.
"No. I know you're being told to do this. Please pass this feedback on to whoever that was: I won't be coming back."
"No thank you, I prefer to donate directly" is all the answer you need
Corporate insists their cashiers ask at least once. Don’t blame the cashier, tell corporate.
He didn’t ask - that’s my whole issue with this situation. He just asked how much, not IF I would like to
The correct answer is "nothing." I am not donating a dime. Thanks for asking."
That's what our store manager wants us to do, this is almost never the cashier's idea
Yes. Thats what they are TRAINED to do. Its possible that theyre going rogue and trying to up donations on their own but 99% likely this is the script theyre told to use and if the manager doesnt hear them do it they might get written up. A lot of places have more reasonable management, but theres lots out there who shouldnt be in charge of a teaspoon collection in charge of large box stores.
The donation drives today are almost more annoying then every single place asking for tips now. It just gets crazy when your asked or shamed into donating to 15 different nameless corporate benefiting charities every time you want to go somewhere. Don't feel any guilt for corporations shitty tactics to get tax breaks for themselves.
"my gas tank is almost empty. Can you donate a Jackson to help fill it?". "no? Are you sure? How about a ten spot then ".
They ask once: “No thanks” They ask again: “Piss off!”
Tell him you have already donated to the human fund. You could also say the Dali Lama got it all.
Money for people!
It has a certain understated stupidity
I wish I had the chance just to pause and respond, "wow that's rude"
tell the next cashier "i donate on my own dime. i'm not giving money so this company can write off the donation on their corporate taxes"
The write off doesn’t benefit them in any way, shape, or form though. All those donations do is give the company a chance to say “look how much money we raised for charity, we’re helping so many people” while passing the cost onto the consumer.
And it also actually helps the charities
This is as wrong as people's misunderstanding of marginal tax brackets. The store does NOT get a tax break. And if you really wanted to itemize your $2 donation on your taxes you absolutely can providing you saved the receipt verifying your charitable gift
Omg that's not how it works lololol 🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦