Okay, HANDS UP ...

[Pixelated]

... everybody who can relate to this ... especially now!

[Ironclad Alibi]

I have never had the hard sell, but I am frequently asked to "round up." I say "no" because I pick the charities I support, not other what people pick.

[Pixelated]

I have never had the hard sell, but I am frequently asked to "round up." I say "no" because I pick the charities I support, not other what people pick.

We seem to run endless "fundraisers" at my store ... and it ain't no mom 'n' pop little indie store. I often go whole shifts without bothering anybody, but occasionally a supervisor will wander by and say "Don't forget to ask!" So I do, but if the person says "No", that is absolutely the end of it. A few of them add, "I have my own donations picked out" and I suspect that the majority of people who say "No" do so for that very reason.

What I really like about this video is when the "customer" asks why isn't the owner "rounding up" for the kids! Tell the CEO of my store to put a crowbar in his (probably offshore) account; tell the shareholders to do the same, and donate out of their OWN pockets if they want to make the company look good. Don't ask your customers, who are already paying your ridiculous prices so your profits can zoom ever higher, to do so.

[mjr]

Me, cynical?

Join the club!
Speaking of cynics, have you ever read about Diogenes of Sinope? There's a story where he supposedly walked around in broad daylight with a lantern, saying that he was "looking for an honest man" (some translations are that he was "looking for a human", because he saw dogs and scoundrels everywhere). And another alleged story where Alexander the Great met him, and asked him if he wanted anything. Diogenes basically said, "Yeah, move out of the sunlight."

And when Plato defined "man" as an animal, bipedal and featherless. Diogenes plucked a chicken, plopped it down, and said something like "Behold Plato's man!"

[Ironclad Alibi]

Here is an interesting discussion about whether humans are animals, and the difference between us and other primates. BTW, probably not safe for work or kids.

[csquared]

I firmly believe that ALL businesses who "collect" for charity do it solely for the tax break.

There is no tax break, unless they also claim it as income, which would then be a wash.

It is a shame that they don't typically match the donations.

[Kit-Ginevra]

Join the club!
Speaking of cynics, have you ever read about Diogenes of Sinope? There's a story where he supposedly walked around in broad daylight with a lantern, saying that he was "looking for an honest man" (some translations are that he was "looking for a human", because he saw dogs and scoundrels everywhere). And another alleged story where Alexander the Great met him, and asked him if he wanted anything. Diogenes basically said, "Yeah, move out of the sunlight."

And when Plato defined "man" as an animal, bipedal and featherless. Diogenes plucked a chicken, plopped it down, and said something like "Behold Plato's man!"

He was also reprimanded for masturbating in the middle of the marketplace, to which he replied 'I wish it were as easy to banish hunger by rubbing the belly'.*




*Do not attempt this in your local marketplace. They will not appreciate that you were just emulating dear old Diogenes.

[Nunavut Pants]

*Do not attempt this in your local marketplace. They will not appreciate that you were just emulating dear old Diogenes.

I'm guessing you know this from direct personal experience?

[KuariKaydrith]

The company I work for does fundraising pretty much year round. I do ask if customers wish to donate to the charity of the month, but I refuse to be pushy about it, especially if it's a charity that I personal am not comfortable supporting in the first place. I'll ask once, and if the customer says no I leave it at that. The company probably does it for the tax break, but what is hilarious is when a customer who actually works for the charity has no idea that we're taking donations for them. It kinda makes me wonder if the money we collect actually does to the charity in the first place...

[Pixelated]

Interesting, Kuari ... I've never run across customers who work for the charities we raise funds for (WHICH local foodbank??) so I've never had a chance to ask them about it. I wonder what kind of answer I'd get if I could.

We do get some charities that ask for donations directly ... for a while we had people collecting for breast cancer research, outside the doors, and I had no problem donating to them. (Were they legit? I'd like to think the store manager or at least SOMEBODY verified who they were ... but for various reasons I do think they were.)