5 ms·
I now routinely get solicited for donations by point-of-sale devices, and routinely skip them. (I have yet to get a glare or any other reaction from a clerk for
by hirundo 4y ago
I now routinely get solicited for donations by point-of-sale devices, and routinely skip them. (I have yet to get a glare or any other reaction from a clerk for doing this.) My rationalization is that I do not trust an unknown random charity to serve their stated purpose with my donation. I didn't even consider that the store could be corrupt, reimbursing themselves for their own donation.
When I skip a random donation I think, hey, I'll just bundle up these little rejections and make a real donation to an organization that I do trust. But I don't keep score. Given the increasing number of these soliciations I may be underpaying this promise.
- thaumasiotes 4y ago> Given the increasing number of these soliciations I may be underpaying this promise. This implies that the more often people ask you to donate money to charity, the more money you are obligated to donate to charity. Do you really believe this?
- hirundo 4y agoNo. I believe that I could do more good by donating more, and hijack these requests as prompts to do that. It's just a motivational hack rather than erasing red from my ledger.
- scrose 4y ago> I didn't even consider that the store could be corrupt, reimbursing themselves for their own donation. I would very much like to be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that’s what they’re all doing in some way. — Although, I really hope someone will prove me wrong in the comments. AFAIK if you donate to a non-profit through the pos terminals, it counts as a tax deductible donation that the organization with the terminal can claim, not you. For example if you donate $10 to the ASPCA through a Petsmart terminal, thats a tax deductible contribution for Petsmart from money out of your pocket.
- willcipriano 4y agoIts also $10 of taxable income to Petsmart, net canceling it all out.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- yboris 4y agoI hope you've heard of GiveWell and their more-than-a-decade of research trying to find the most cost-effective organizations - ones that try to do as much good per dollar given ;) https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities
- haswell 4y agoWhat does the “;)” mean here? Unsure if this is a serious comment and GiveWell is worthy of investigation, or if there’s some subtext I’m missing based on the wink.
- yboris 4y agoSorry about that -- I meant that my recommendation was made with a friendly attitude. I have been giving 10% of my income to charities recommended by GiveWell for over 10 years now. I am very serious and think more people should know of GiveWell's work and follow their recommendations.
- haswell 4y agoAll good, and thanks for the clarification.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- nkrisc 4y agoDoes the receipt show the donation so I can claim it on my tax return? Perhaps next time I’m asked I’ll make the donation and then ask for a receipt for the donation if the store receipt doesn’t show it.
- SoftTalker 4y agoThe receipt will show it, though the IRS doesn't require documentation for such small donations.
- projektfu 4y agoI just give away a few large donations to effective charities I know, and feel comfortable ignoring little requests, except from people I know well.
- behringer 4y agoI've only gotten feedback once, at a goodwill. I used a birthday coupon or some such discount and when I refused to "donate" any amount to whatever charity, she said under her breath that since I got the discount I should at least donate. Since it was under her breath, and since these workers are generally ill treated and underpaid (quite literally less than minimum wage) anyway, I decided not to make a scene, but I very much felt insulted that they would want me to donate to a charity after they just sold me a product they received for free.