How do you feel about stores asking you to donate to some charity at the checkout?

I loathe it. Especially when you can’t move ahead with your charge without declining the demand to contribute. If the store cares so fucking much, let them contribute.

Here’s why I resent it. I already give a FUCK TON of money. Why do I have to be charity shamed when I’m buying bananas?? WTF?!? I just want my goddamn bananas.

Does the company then get to write off this charity as if they were the contributor?

It's obnoxious. The store just wants the tax credit.

It's especially galling at Whole Foods, which is owned by Jeff Bezos who pays NO taxes and doesn't contribute his share to charity.

What’s the minimum ?

Just Say No!

It is absolute garbage. I agree- if the store is that inclined- let them donate. The store has no idea where, how, or what I donate so to attempt to pressure me into this at checkout is obnoxious.

I don’t like the shakedown unless asked to round up the total to the nearest whole dollar, which isn’t as obnoxious to me.

I'd say "I have had sufficient. Thank you."

Yes, they do, R3!

I say, "no thanks". The business is not entitled to an explanation.

I do charitable work and contribute generously, mostly locally, to animal rescue/humane societies, and reputable wildlife protection funds.

always say no...I donate enough without being made to feel I need to give more.

Just say "no, thank you". You people get so frazzled about everything. Geez.

Checkout charity only benefits the store/corporation which will use my donation as a tax write-off. They don’t even match the donations. I happily decline when asked.

What bothers me even more are the ones that are popping up at online retailers, which phrase the “no” option as something terrible like “no, I don’t care about starving children”.

Its bullshit, the same as having to choose a tip amount in a self-serve or carry-out restaurant where no-one deserves a tip.

I just say, “Not today” or “Not now.” For all they know, I might have already contributed or I might in the future.

[quote]Its bullshit, the same as having to choose a tip amount in a self-serve or carry-out restaurant where no-one deserves a tip.

That actually bothers me more.

I imagine all of you who are saying “I give to my own charity, thank you” standing in the checkout line saying it in the same arch way that Lauren Bacall says that line in her Highpoint Coffee commercial, “I don’t need caffeine—I’m active enough, thank you!”

I’m not frazzled or stressed out about it, I’m just BITCHING because it is incredibly tacky, a boundary violation, slimy, and fucking rude. “Hey, we all know wages have been stagnant for 40 years and that you pay 60% of your income for housing, and you’ve already overspent your annual grocery budget and it’s only April, but can you stop shopping, switch into philanthropy mode while buying bananas, and give us even MORE so we can get that write-off? You’re a bad person if you don’t care about _________”. Fuck this!!!!

I’m going to start confronting the cashiers, not with venom, but I will ask, are you matching my donation if I give? And then I’ll politely tell them to let their manager know that I won’t keep shopping there.

I say “not today”.

It say "I don't care to donate today, but if you want to donate, you can give me the money." When they refuse, I look at them with my most judgemental gaze.

It pisses me off too because the stores do it to increase their profit via a tax deduction. What makes me even madder is places like The Dollar Tree who want you to buy their cheap shit to donate. They make a profit on the sale then possibly get a write off for the donation. A lot of the very poor will donate too.

I just say, I donated yesterday

I decline by saying, "Not today, Satan!"

I say, "Let them eat cake!"

Aww, don’t be nasty to the cashiers. They’re forced to ask. Just as some are forced to hustle to sign up customers for the store credit cards. It’s shitty.

As nicely as possible, I say “no thanks, but it’s kind of you to offer”. Or just “not today”.

But then again, I’m used to saying “no” to street panhandlers and doorholders.

I'm fine with it because our local grocer's main charity is a local food bank so I always round up to help my neighbors & rural folks. Especially during the pandemic.

It's rude to ask at food stores and pharmacies. People are buying necessities of life. If they're going to do donations at checkout, it should be limited to luxury purchases where people clearly have money to spend on wants rather than needs. Put an extra hundred onto your auto loan when buying a car. Who'd notice another ten bucks at the Apple Store?

There are some charity appeals that I don't mind so much, and will always contribute to. For example, Virgin Atlantic has a collection at the end of every flight asking for loose change in foreign currency. You can't exchange coins in your home country, but they are flying back and forth so the coins add up. Every month they support a different charity, and you can read about it in the in-flight magazine. They make one announcement about it as the plane is landing, and there are little envelopes in the seat-back pockets. No pressure.

The not-inexpensive grocery store I worked for always had some charity promotion we were supposed to push. I loathed this, particularly because our store was not cheap to begin with. People shop there because it has hard-to-find items and excellent produce in one location. But we were supposed to push filled-grocery-bags for the food bank plus all the monthly charity requests that automatically popped up on the card reader/PIN pad.

I did not mind so the spur-of-a-recent disaster fundraising. That pushed money to hard hit areas that might not have coordinated fund raising yet set up. And there was a coin-collection box at each checkstand that people who hate coins could use. That went to a different charity each month.

Otherwise, stores should STFU.

I agree that it’s a tax write off for bezos and despicable, but taking it out on front-line cashiers is awful. It’s not like they agree with the policy- they’re doing this bs for the measly $14/hr.

For a few years I worked for a company that routinely asked (harassed) employees for contributions towards a certain charity with which the company had a long affiliation of being its benefactor. Each year there would be an announcement, a little presentation of a check with the media present, and a speech from the president of the company about the important work the charity does. Aside from being being asked for a contribution twice a month, the most galling thing of it was the donation was made in the name of the company, yet the company itself didn't give a penny. All funds were from employee donations. Every year it was always Company Name donates (or makes record donation or any other such glorification) to Favorite Charity. A great bit of PR totally at the expense of employees.

I made donations to that charity long before I worked for the company because they were a worthy cause. After I was employed by the company, I never contributed through them. Instead, when asked for money, I would state something like, "I often make donations to them, but in my own name." I still send the charity a check twice a year.

I just say, "no." Politely, but there's no reason to thank someone for asking you to give money to their cause.

I only donate to animal shelters or the local food bank. I feel like too many of the large ones operate like a business and pay people working for them hundreds of thousands a year. If asked at checkout I usually say no because I haven’t researched the charity unless it’s the food bank and I’m at the grocery store.

R15 No, I don't think it's the same as tipping the minimum wage employees at a self-serve or carryout place, especially during the pandemic. I always tip those people. They deserve it and they need it. The checkout charity request, however, is annoying.

The checkout shakedown for donations is bad enough, but some corporations are taking it a step further. There's a class action suit against Rite-Aid because customers were enrolled in Rite-Aid’s customer-based donation program without their permission and/or in a misleading way. Shoppers using their “Wellness+" rewards card are asked on the PIN pad if they’d like to round up for Kidcents. Once a customer says yes, they are opted into the program each and every time they use their Wellness+ card in the future. During the 2019-2020 fiscal year, Rite-Aid collected nearly $20 million in donations this way, which they then used to reduce their tax burden.

Fuck corporations.

I never tip. You Americans are so stupid.

I have no problem with being asked and I have no problem politely saying ‘not today, thanks.’

The worst is at Panda Express where they ask you to round up your total to the nearest dollar for St. Jude’s or some other children’s charity. If you agree the cashier rings a bell and all the employees shout ‘hooray’ in approval. Humiliating for the employees, embarrassing for the customer.

My veterinarian clinic does this. The clerks ask "Would you like to donate today to help a shelter animal?" My mom was an animal control officer for 30 years-- all my animals were shelter animals. "I AM helping a shelter animal" I'd say. Often to the tune of $200-300 a month in prescriptions for chronic conditions, eyedrops, etc.

Companies make good money doing this to their guilted clientele or they wouldn't do it as everyone hates it. Just say no. Give to who you want, when you want.

Give to me. I need it. Thanks, gays!

I never ever donate at checkout. It’s always a ploy to make the Corp look good. I do my own thing. Once a clerk asked me to give to Some cancer fund in this sugary voice. Before I thought about it I responded in the same voice “No I’m sorry, someone will just have to die.”

If I donated at every store I’d need contributions for myself.

A cashier asked me to donate to a cancer charity recently, when I said no, she went into this weird diatribe about how she thinks they already have a cure for cancer but doctors want to make money so they aren't sharing it. I didn't need to hear that nonsense.

The other thing that is irritating is the increasing presence of tip jars EVERYWHERE. I'm not talking about coffee shops. I'm talking about the dry cleaner, the liquor store, the auto repair shop, the neighborhood bodega. FWIW this started before COVID where I live.

R44 = lez

South Park did the best send-up of this with Randy Marsh being severely hassled at the Whole Foods checkout.

[quote]I'm not talking about coffee shops. I'm talking about the dry cleaner, the liquor store, the auto repair shop, the neighborhood bodega.

The auto repair shop?? I’m sorry, but licensed professionals should not be asking for tips. Do you tip your doctor or nurse? And no, hairstylists should not be tipped either.

I’m the one who posted about giving it to the cashiers. I should have been more clear — I have worked as a cashier myself. I have more respect for people I see working in these jobs than many others. I know they are not responsible for this. But the truth is that turning up the heat for frontline customer service workers often gets more attention from management. If the employees don’t like doing something, that is seen by management and sometimes forces a change. But I agree with all of you that those people are not to be abused because of a policy they can’t control — there is a way to share displeasure with a part of a sake’s experience without eviscerating someone.

No one is forcing you to donate to a charity- if you don't want to, just say "no"

Man, how cheap to you have to be to act like it's a burden to give 30 cents to a charity? Some people here are so white trash.

[quote]Man, how cheap to you have to be to act like it's a burden to give 30 cents to a charity? Some people here are so white trash.

If I decide to stop at Panda Express on the way home work at my front-line hospital job, I don’t want to be shook-down for a fucking donation to “Children’s Hospital”. Give me my fucking food and don’t ask anything else bitch.

Fine R50. I’ll be by shortly to pick up my $.30.

Fank you so much!!!

I only give to charities that give me an adowable blanket.

Call me a Mary, but I think charitable giving is a personal and intimate thing. I think it is so tacky to think that someone wants to give to your specific charity. While I am sure that St. Jude's does good work, maybe I want to give my cash to a local charity to help sick kids where I know the money will benefit local kids and I can personally benefit from the tax write off.

How do u feel about the tip of my foot going up your ass?

Just the tip R55?

Tease!

I usually say “No, thanks I already donated” and that is that. It’s easier than the “would you like to open a xyz card” or when B&N used to push their yearly membership. Those requests were really annoying and one sales person at my local B&N was so pushy I found it easier to just order on Amazon than face her. I do feel sorry for the staff forced to push these offers though. I know that don’t have a choice.

[quote]I usually say “No, thanks I already donated” and that is that.

I don't owe anyone an explanation or an apology. A simple "no" is fine.

Yes, sometimes but often they will be really pushy and not take the first “no” for an answer. I must look like a pushover. So I’ve found saying I’ve “already donated” makes it harder for them to push back.

I'll donate under my own recognizance and I tell the cashier exactly why. Fuck giving a corporation a tax write-off.

I read somewhere that stores did this to gage pricing levels. if customers are donating a lot at a particular store they can handle across-the-board price increases.