Companies asking for donations for charity causes - what's your take?

Lynne Level 1

November 26, 2016, 10:22 am

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Companies asking for donations for charity causes - what's your take?

This is an interesting topic that came up in my discussion about Mozilla asking for donations to keep afloat...

So while Mozilla was asking its users to donate money to keep their own business afloat, Everett brought up companies that ask for donations to support a charity that they donate to.

This actually ticks me off and I'll tell you why.

I did a public relations course after I left school and part of it touched on a company's corporate responsibility to give back to the community in some way. And of course by doing this it helps with a positive image for the company.

In South Africa every time your order food at Kentucky Fried Chicken they ask if you want to donate R1 (less than $0.10) to feed the starving orphans.

This kinda ticks me off, now don't think I don't care about the starving orphans, because really I do care! But when I am picking up food for me and my family I don't want to be upset thinking of all the starving people in the world.

The problem here is that I actually never donate money to charity organizations or businesses that have a cause they support.

There is so much crime and corruption in our country that I have little faith in donations reaching their destination.

The other problem is that when a company asks for R1 from me to donate to a charity they obviously have to have admin staff to administer this charity.

I do love to help out with charity and I go myself to my local orphanage with my children. We go and spend time with them, we bring our second hand clothes and toys that my kids have outgrown.

I ask if there is anything the desperately need and I have brought soap and other toiletries to them.

I know these things are reaching them.

What are your thoughts on companies asking for donations for charity causes?

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TommyCarey

One problem, like what you touched on, is human greed that has to be factored in. People may be asking for a few bucks here and there, but if 1,000 people donate to the cause, all those donations may not make it back to the organization they were suppose to be for. That is because people line their pockets for dumb reasons like "I wasn't getting paid enough to collect donations, so I took some cash off the top to help me out". But if someone is volunteering or getting paid to accept the donations for a cause or charity, then that person should be adding all the donations to the cause and not just the amount they feel necessary. I hate donating to charities or causes when it's not directly to the source because you never know if it's making it to the destination it's suppose to

Another thing I thought of, I don't donate so a lot of non profit organizations like Good Will because they are totally for profit companies. I use Good Will as an example because they are the worst of the worse. They take donations of clothes and items, not usually money, and they will resell them to people who don't have as much money. Basically they set up stores where people can bring in old clothes or items they don't use anymore and then those items get logged and put on the shelves. I'm ok with this because it's like the store front is the middle man since people know there is stuff they can afford at Good Will. I couldn't find these people myself, so if they know to go to Good Will, then go for it

The problem I have with Good Will is that the higher ups make millions each year off of this type of structure and they don't donate a single penny to any kind of charity or cause. They pretty much take anything you want to give them, sell it at a price that is below market value for what it is, pay their employees horribly and then keep the profits for themselves

8 years ago

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hitmeasap

Lynne,

In South Africa every time your order food at Kentucky Fried Chicken they ask if you want to donate R1 (less than $0.10) to feed the starving orphans.

This kinda ticks me off, now don't think I don't care about the starving orphans, because really I do care! But when I am picking up food for me and my family I don't want to be upset thinking of all the starving people in the world.

There's actually a "saying" in Sweden that goes like this: "Think of all the starving people in Africa." - And that's something people say every single time you don't eat up everything on your plate.

I usually answer with something like: "I eat until I'm full, then I'll throw the rest away." - And sure, even if I do care about starving people, both in Africa and wherever they might be, it's such an old and boring saying and I hate hearing it. - People have the nerve to say things like this, but they don't do shit to make things better for other people anyway.. So there's no point in saying stupid shit like that.

8 years ago

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Lynne

What is really interesting Andre is that people here beg on the street like there is no tomorrow, yet do you know how many times I have offered food but they refuse, they want money!

They tell me they are starving and they can't feed their kids yet when I offer to buy them bread they want the cash? If my kids were hungry and someone gave me a loaf of bread I would be over the moon with gratitude.

It is this type of thing that really peeves me off.

This is why I won't ever give to a charity or to beggars. I will find a good cause and I will go and give of my time.

In fact I actually do plenty of charity work all on my own, I dance to my own tune there. I get lots of people calling me for help with either their addiction or perhaps a loved one. I go and talk to a lot of people and give my time there. I believe that does a lot more good than handing over R1 on the once every 3 months I buy take out for my family LOL.

8 years ago

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hitmeasap

This is why I won't ever give to a charity or to beggars. I will find a good cause and I will go and give of my time.

I totally agree with you Lynne! - And I'm like you. I don't give anything to beggars on the street. Most of them doesn't even appreciate what I give them, if I ever give them something. They always want more.

8 years ago

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Everett

Yes, great topic Lynne!

I was once a cashier, for a Dollar Store. We HAD to ask the customer if they would like to donate to *insert charity here*, like it was required otherwise we would be written up, or in the worst case; fired. If I did not ask even one customer if they would like to donate to a charity then I would be in trouble. Now, another issue is, from my own experience, the donations that are received they say 100% goes to the charity, this is never the case!

The company will take a percentage of the donation, even if they state that 100% of YOUR donation, the money you work SO hard for, will go to whatever cause or charity. This is fraudulent in my eyes. I do not care if they have to pay *insert company, person, whatever they have to pay* to make the donation possible. They should use their own funds to pay for whatever it is out of their own pocket. You should never have to pay something to donate..

Pay something to donate?
Yes. If there isn't a coin slot for you to insert cash or coins in then you are PAYING to donate. For instance, say you bought groceries at your local grocery store and the cashier asks if you would like to donate to X charity. Most of times, the only time you can donate in a store is if you purchase something, stores actually prefer you to donate with a debit or credit card, they hate cash donations. Now, I do not know about you all but if I am in a store to purchase something, I only want to pay for the things I have bought, I do not want to pay more than what is on the sub total.

When I'm asked to donate, my answer is a swift: No! I'm not nice about it either. Lol.

8 years ago

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Lynne

LOL Everett you have just nailed it here. I do not donate either and I don't like being asked to either. I feel it is downright rude to even ask. Like you say you are buying X and Y from the shop, you should not be asked to pay more for something you never asked for. Anyone that wants to donate to charity will do so out of the goodness of their own hearts and without being prompted to.

8 years ago

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Cristian

I prefer helping people in person, it's better and more satisfying than just throwing away a quick buck when I'm buying food from the supermarket. Maybe some people feel better about themselves when doing that but I don't and as Lynne said, high corruption in my country make me think none of those donations ever reach the ones who need it, I've seen too many scandals regarding this subject to believe it anymore.

I don't have anything on companies doing charity stuff, just don't rub it in my nose.

8 years ago

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EliteWriter

There are indeed several companies who come up with this excuse of donating part of their earnings to charitable organizations and I do not like it either. First of all the first thing that comes to mind is that they earn so much, and they just give away a ridiculous amount, such as the case you mentioned. Secondly, I hate the fact that they use this 'honorable excuse' to try to encourage more customers to buy from them. Whenever I give a donation I prefer to do it personally.

8 years ago

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Barida

I see nothing bad in companies asking for help for many reasons which can be from having financial constraints to run the company effectively to the payment of their workers and all of them. one thing I think which is right is that they use such donations for the right purposes and ensure that there is an adjustment in management to avoid a repeat of such.

7 years ago

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Corzhens

I am really saddened whenever I would see in the internet a website that is asking for donations for the upkeep and maintenance. Isn’t it like telling the world that you are going bankrupt and that you need the help of the public in order to survive? What kind of business is that and what kind of businessman are you? But in fairness to those websites, they are doing that maybe because they are getting small sponsors that way.

7 years ago

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SEOClerks

Companies asking for donations for charity causes - what's your take?

Companies asking for donations for charity causes - what's your take?

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