I'm not really offended by the asking for donations at the register thing, as long as those donations go 100% to the charity and it's a good charity, then doing something to make it easy for people to contribute who wouldn't otherwise take the time is ultimately a good thing.
The one that annoys me is where they match the donations. It feels like a method to guilt people into it by making their refusal to donate $1 into $2 not being donated.
I think you're both right here. Making it easy to donate to a cause with which you believe, by making a donation box available, is awesome. Guilt tripping you into it is wrong. Asking you loudly at the register is wrong. Matching my donation (a form of shaming if you don't donate) is wrong. A grocery store around here use to do a "we are donating $x to this charity, help us if you can by adding to the pile" thing, which was nice. They donated what they donated, and you added on top of that if you could. They made it easy. Then they got on the "we'll match your donation" train, and that, imo, was wrong. Pure chutzpah. I stopped donating at the stores when that happened. I'll still donate directly to the organization, though, if I agree with their cause.
I'm not really offended by the asking for donations at the register thing, as long as those donations go 100% to the charity and it's a good charity, then doing something to make it easy for people to contribute who wouldn't otherwise take the time is ultimately a good thing.
The one that annoys me is where they match the donations. It feels like a method to guilt people into it by making their refusal to donate $1 into $2 not being donated.
Rich people are begging poor people to give charity and this makes you, a poor person, feel good?
I’m outraged by chutzpah of asking your customers to give to charity when the company barely does any charity of their own.
Walmart had $572,800,000,000 in revenue for 2022. Thats up $14,000,000,000 from 2021. They paid out shareholders $15,900,000,000
I'm sure my $1 will make a huge difference.
Source: https://corporate.walmart.com/content/dam/corporate/documents/press-center/walmart-releases-2022-annual-report-and-proxy-statement/walmart-inc-2022-annual-report.pdf
I think you're both right here. Making it easy to donate to a cause with which you believe, by making a donation box available, is awesome. Guilt tripping you into it is wrong. Asking you loudly at the register is wrong. Matching my donation (a form of shaming if you don't donate) is wrong. A grocery store around here use to do a "we are donating $x to this charity, help us if you can by adding to the pile" thing, which was nice. They donated what they donated, and you added on top of that if you could. They made it easy. Then they got on the "we'll match your donation" train, and that, imo, was wrong. Pure chutzpah. I stopped donating at the stores when that happened. I'll still donate directly to the organization, though, if I agree with their cause.
I think it is completely inappropriate. Some people can barely afford to live and then have to feel shame and judged when they have to say no.
This is also why tipping culture grinds my gears