Forced donations?

KittenMittens84 · September 2015

So I got an email today from the boss about a charity campaign kickoff. It's a good cause but we basically get bitched at if we don't donate under our company name or give "enough". This rubs me the wrong way just like when people make donations instead of favors and announce it to their guests. If I want to give money/time/etc to a charity/cause it should be on my terms and the places I want to give to. Not because my boss thinks we are making her look bad by not "giving enough". Just needed to vent about it since to me it's crap to force people to donate.

novella1186 · September 2015

Yeah that annoys me too. Really bad.

To a lesser extent, my company does a similar thing. Our admin went around last Christmas and gave us all donation slips and said to hand them back to her after we fill them out. I was more than happy to donate $20 (that was about all I could afford because I choose other donation programs around the holidays and that's where my money goes).

Well, I looked at the slip and you didn't get to pick which amount to donate. You had to put a check next to a pre-determined amount, and if I remember correctly the lowest amount you could donate was $500 and came directly out of your next paycheck. No thanks. I was really annoyed with that one.

PrettyGirlLost · September 2015

I think that's super inappropriate. You shouldn't feel pressured into any superfluous social shit at work. . . you should just feel pressured to do your job ;-)

KittenMittens84 · September 2015

The sad thing is it's not like our boss it trying for say $500 but usually $10 to $20. But where I work most people are living paycheck to paycheck and can't spare even that much.

AJC430 · September 2015

Our company does this every year. They don't force us, but people eventually know who does and doesn't give because those who give get to wear jeans. It does kind of suck. The only difference is, our company lets us choose our charities - and they usually match a percentage of the gift!

thespeshulestsnowflake · September 2015

novella1186 said:

Yeah that annoys me too. Really bad.

To a lesser extent, my company does a similar thing. Our admin went around last Christmas and gave us all donation slips and said to hand them back to her after we fill them out. I was more than happy to donate $20 (that was about all I could afford because I choose other donation programs around the holidays and that's where my money goes).

Well, I looked at the slip and you didn't get to pick which amount to donate. You had to put a check next to a pre-determined amount, and if I remember correctly the lowest amount you could donate was $500 and came directly out of your next paycheck. No thanks. I was really annoyed with that one.

What the fuck? $500 is a good chunk of my paycheck! That's crazy!

But I never like charity fundraisers at work. Well at my last job, there hasn't been anything here at my new one. At my old one, it felt like they were doing something monthly. I was "you don't pay me enough to have me give you money back every month."

thisismynickname2 · September 2015

I think it is kind of weird that a company gets to pick and choose charities. We do quite a few service days a year as a group, and in addition we get 4 paid time off hours to do our own volunteer work. If we donate to charity, the organization makes a matching gift.

We're not allowed to solicit each other for donations to charities, which is nice because we don't bother each other every day over this or that. But, as I am affiliated with a non-profit, it sucks in a way because my coworkers would be more than ideal candidates to invite to events and my friends aren't really into that stuff. So, I find it weird that I can't bother my coworkers about stuff but the organization chooses preferred charities for us.

novella1186 · September 2015

thespeshulestsnowflake said:

novella1186 said:

Yeah that annoys me too. Really bad.

To a lesser extent, my company does a similar thing. Our admin went around last Christmas and gave us all donation slips and said to hand them back to her after we fill them out. I was more than happy to donate $20 (that was about all I could afford because I choose other donation programs around the holidays and that's where my money goes).

Well, I looked at the slip and you didn't get to pick which amount to donate. You had to put a check next to a pre-determined amount, and if I remember correctly the lowest amount you could donate was $500 and came directly out of your next paycheck. No thanks. I was really annoyed with that one.

What the fuck? $500 is a good chunk of my paycheck! That's crazy!

But I never like charity fundraisers at work. Well at my last job, there hasn't been anything here at my new one. At my old one, it felt like they were doing something monthly. I was "you don't pay me enough to have me give you money back every month."

Yeah that was well beyond what I could afford. I was pretty stunned when I saw the amount.

Jen4948 · September 2015

Yeah, that's an insane amount!

But yeah, the whole thing crosses the line of professionalism for me. I like to donate, but I'll decide for myself to whom, when, and how much I'll donate, thank you very much.

[Deleted User] · September 2015

Yeah, no one gets to voluntell me what to do with my money. I'll listen to the bitching.

ETA: I found out that a plant manager who worked for my company years ago would let people off final warnings and things like that if they donated a certain amount of money to a charity he supported.

This doesn't seem quite that bad, but how long before it goes in that direction? Is it affecting your reviews? Your continued employment? Who's to say?

[Deleted User] · September 2015

KittenMittens84 said:

The sad thing is it's not like our boss it trying for say $500 but usually $10 to $20. But where I work most people are living paycheck to paycheck and can't spare even that much.

@KnotRiley, this weird... badge? siggy? keeps showing up on posts and posters are saying they didn't post that.

Hmmm... It didn't grab the image...

KittenMittens84 · September 2015

FeeleyToBe said:

KittenMittens84 said:

The sad thing is it's not like our boss it trying for say $500 but usually $10 to $20. But where I work most people are living paycheck to paycheck and can't spare even that much.

@KnotRiley, this weird... badge? siggy? keeps showing up on posts and posters are saying they didn't post that.

Hmmm... It didn't grab the image...

I noticed that too but thought it strange. It shows once it's quoted

KnotRiley · September 2015

KittenMittens84 said:

FeeleyToBe said:

KittenMittens84 said:

The sad thing is it's not like our boss it trying for say $500 but usually $10 to $20. But where I work most people are living paycheck to paycheck and can't spare even that much.

@KnotRiley, this weird... badge? siggy? keeps showing up on posts and posters are saying they didn't post that.

Hmmm... It didn't grab the image...

I noticed that too but thought it strange. It shows once it's quoted

Sorry all! Wires got a little crossed apparently, but you shouldn't be seeing it now!

KittenMittens84 · September 2015

I'd love to ignore the comments but she will have actual meetings about how we are making her look bad.

PrettyGirlLost · September 2015

KittenMittens84 said:

I'd love to ignore the comments but she will have actual meetings about how we are making her look bad.

Can you decline the meetings?

TNDancer · September 2015

Our company is constantly doing this as well. I hate it. Ever month there is a different drive for salvation army, food donations, veterans, etc. I like giving to these thigns, but don't hit me up Constantly.

PrettyGirlLost · September 2015

I mean, the companies as an entity are free to donate to each of these drives/causes and then use that as a tax write off. Otherwise, supervisors within the company should not be pressuring employees to donate, ever.

princessleia22 · September 2015

Yeah, that's ridiculous. One of my client companies operates like this and it is well known among the employees that you are expected to donate min. 10% of your income a particular charity that the company sponsors. I don't think they could officially fire you for not donating, but you won't last long at the company if you don't. They are also required to volunteer with that charity a certain number of days a year. They also have an annual event and expect any vendors to participate. I've heard stories of they basically telling vendors that they need to sponsor/donate at a particular level ($15,000+) if they expect to continue working for them. And they pay very close attention to who participates in these events and who doesn't.

DH and I are very particular about our charitable donations. We don't give to any organization without first looking at their financial reports and seeing how they spend their contributions. We've seen some charities that looked really good until we looked at their financial reports and realized that 1/2 their income went to one persons paycheck, instead of charitable endeavors. Seriously, if your charity brought in $250,000 in contributions last year, the charity president shouldn't have made over $100,000 income from the charity. That's just stupid and I'm not wasting my money on charities like that. Even Susan G. Komen is lacking in the way they handle their money. They do a lot of good because they do bring in A LOT of money, but I don't think they spend it as efficiently as they should. So, we aren't selfish with our money and donate to various charities on a regular basis, but I would be very offended by a company telling me that I had to donate to their particular charity.

kvruns · September 2015

My last job was really big into the United Way. And by big into it I mean having employees donate $$, god forbid there was ever any volunteering or time allowed to employees to volunteer. You would get a link to donate and if you hadn't clicked it in a certain amount of time you'd get another reminder saying you haven't clicked, blah blah. I was paranoid that they would have like a naughty and nice list of who donated and who didn't and it would affect me later on so I always donated even though I like my money going to specific ones of my choosing.

KittenMittens84 · September 2015

PrettyGirlLost said:

KittenMittens84 said:

I'd love to ignore the comments but she will have actual meetings about how we are making her look bad.

Can you decline the meetings?

No, there are only about 8 people in our group so asking not to go or declining the meeting would end up being a write up.

l9i · September 2015

My company usually does several smaller charity drives around the holiday season which feels very public and more forced. They do this via envelopes with the names of all the members on it and it gets passed around to all the group members and then returned to the admins. Last year my supervisor brought one of those dreaded envelopes to our staff meeting and passed it around like a freaking collection plate! I could see some of the people were super uncomfortable and took out their wallets to put $5-$10 in. I however don't carry my wallet on me so I had to pass (I would've any way as it wasn't one of the causes I directly do contribute to). It was so awful. It would be fine to bring it up and talk about how people should donate, blah, blah, blah, but don't expect people to shell out money in front of everyone else unprepared.

PrettyGirlLost · September 2015

KittenMittens84 said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

KittenMittens84 said:

I'd love to ignore the comments but she will have actual meetings about how we are making her look bad.

Can you decline the meetings?

No, there are only about 8 people in our group so asking not to go or declining the meeting would end up being a write up.

Ugh.

Can you hand in cash donations anonymously. . . with Monopoly money? :-P

ETA: Schedule a meeting with her and HR to ask for a raise, and when they ask you why you need a raise, say so you can donate to this damn drive so you're not harrassed by your boss for making her look bad.

novella1186 · September 2015

KittenMittens84 said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

KittenMittens84 said:

I'd love to ignore the comments but she will have actual meetings about how we are making her look bad.

Can you decline the meetings?

No, there are only about 8 people in our group so asking not to go or declining the meeting would end up being a write up.

I would be going to HR over that nonsense. That's super inappropriate. The forced donations, the scolding, the mandatory meetings, the write-ups, all of it.

anjemon · September 2015

KittenMittens84 said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

KittenMittens84 said:

I'd love to ignore the comments but she will have actual meetings about how we are making her look bad.

Can you decline the meetings?

No, there are only about 8 people in our group so asking not to go or declining the meeting would end up being a write up.

That is so messed up.

I actually like how CurrentCompany does it. We just got an email about the refugee crisis; they encouraged us to donate to some specifics (UNICEF and RedCross) and they match monetary donations. And they also can give you some paid days off to volunteer. Sadly you have to be an employee and I'm a contractor, but I appreciate that they are so good and hands off about it.

KittenMittens84 · September 2015

novella1186 said:

KittenMittens84 said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

KittenMittens84 said:

I'd love to ignore the comments but she will have actual meetings about how we are making her look bad.

Can you decline the meetings?

No, there are only about 8 people in our group so asking not to go or declining the meeting would end up being a write up.

I would be going to HR over that nonsense. That's super inappropriate. The forced donations, the scolding, the mandatory meetings, the write-ups, all of it.

This is where it gets even more messed up. If I go to HR before speaking to my boss about something then once again a scolding or a write up. Truthfully I am just waiting for our contract to run up in November and hope that if they do not get it that the next company that does will just pick me up. I'm sure that sounds nuts but after 9 years I've been thru 4 different companies, 9 site managers and triple the supervisors. FI's company has been trying to get my area for a few years and this next chance might be their best bet. But I'm not just waiting around for them, still have been putting my resume out there when I come across something in my field.

Heffalump · September 2015

I had a company that did this with United Way, and it sucked. If the people who owned it wanted to support United Way, more power to them--then they could pay for it, not nickel and dime their employees. They pushed really hard for a recurring donation auto-debited from every check, rather than a one time donation. Extra-sucky.

lembaslover · September 2015

So I'm on the United Way team at work, I was asked to be a member by some of our upper managers to help plan and run the rally and other events that we do during the campaign. I'm not a huge supporter of the United Way and it does suck asking people to give money but it's hard to say no when an upper manager asks and I do really like the other people on the team.

kvruns you actually can select the charity you wish to support through United Way though it does have to be one of their partner agencies (unfortunately my charity of choice is not...)

@Heffalump, we also tend to push for recurring payment and the reason for that is because the system actually doesn't count one-time donations as participation and typically companies like to show their participation numbers. The exception to this is if you donate at pace-setter or leadership levels then it will count your participation.

Again I do actually feel like it is wrong to be so pushy about donations but don't necessarily be upset with the people at your job asking for the donations. It might not be what they want to be doing but what they've be been asked to do by managers. Also if you have questions such as how you can pick a single charity or how much of your donation goes to the charity and how much goes to overhead do ask the people who are at your site. You might be surprised at some of the answers. For example our company has agreed to pay all overhead costs from what we donate in addition to matching all donations. So 200% of what I would donate goes to the agency I get to choose.

Anyways thought I'd give a slightly different side to this, though I have to admit it feels crappy asking people to donate. Especially since where I work we have both salaried and hourly employees. Being a salaried employee asking someone who makes much less to give money is never a good feeling.

huskypuppy14 · September 2015

KittenMittens84 said:

novella1186 said:

KittenMittens84 said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

KittenMittens84 said:

I'd love to ignore the comments but she will have actual meetings about how we are making her look bad.

Can you decline the meetings?

No, there are only about 8 people in our group so asking not to go or declining the meeting would end up being a write up.

I would be going to HR over that nonsense. That's super inappropriate. The forced donations, the scolding, the mandatory meetings, the write-ups, all of it.

This is where it gets even more messed up. If I go to HR before speaking to my boss about something then once again a scolding or a write up. Truthfully I am just waiting for our contract to run up in November and hope that if they do not get it that the next company that does will just pick me up. I'm sure that sounds nuts but after 9 years I've been thru 4 different companies, 9 site managers and triple the supervisors. FI's company has been trying to get my area for a few years and this next chance might be their best bet. But I'm not just waiting around for them, still have been putting my resume out there when I come across something in my field.

That doesn't sound right at all. It almost sounds illegal.

Jen4948 · September 2015

huskypuppy14 said:

KittenMittens84 said:

novella1186 said:

KittenMittens84 said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

KittenMittens84 said:

I'd love to ignore the comments but she will have actual meetings about how we are making her look bad.

Can you decline the meetings?

No, there are only about 8 people in our group so asking not to go or declining the meeting would end up being a write up.

I would be going to HR over that nonsense. That's super inappropriate. The forced donations, the scolding, the mandatory meetings, the write-ups, all of it.

This is where it gets even more messed up. If I go to HR before speaking to my boss about something then once again a scolding or a write up. Truthfully I am just waiting for our contract to run up in November and hope that if they do not get it that the next company that does will just pick me up. I'm sure that sounds nuts but after 9 years I've been thru 4 different companies, 9 site managers and triple the supervisors. FI's company has been trying to get my area for a few years and this next chance might be their best bet. But I'm not just waiting around for them, still have been putting my resume out there when I come across something in my field.

That doesn't sound right at all. It almost sounds illegal.

Unfortunately, in many organizations HR treats going directly to them, or over your boss's head, no matter how bad your boss is being to you, as being "troublesome" and as insubordination.

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