Supporting charities through work

[bluesnurse]

i am livid. :angryfire my employer is a large health system and we've just been informed that they're going to participate in *four* charity drives through the year. the last time we were solicited, i simply ignored the request. i've got my own charities that i support and i don't need anyone hitting on my paycheck for something i may or may not wish to support.

today we got another solicitation from a different charity -- but now, per my manager, we are *required* to go on the company website and enter our contribution. if we do not wish to participate, we still have to go on the company intranet and document a contribution of $0.

as far as i'm concerned, this borders on extortion. my giving is no one's business but my own. and no one can convince me that big brother is not poring over those records, deciding who is or is not a good corporate citizen, and figuring it into evaluation/performance/promotion decisions.

everyone in our small specialty office agrees that this crosses the line, and we are simply refusing to respond. we've told the office manager (who agrees with us but is just the messenger here.) she only asked that we contact her boss and make it clear that we are refusing (her boss is also very cool, and i feel bad for her because she too is being pressured by the suits in corporate.)

is this common? i've been through once-a-year campaigns by a certain large us charity (not mentioning any names), but have never been asked to document a "thanks-but-no-thanks." and knowing this is going to occur every quarter makes me want to

btw, the charity in question is one that i would actually support voluntarily. but under the circumstances -- forget it!

"if purring could be encapsulated, it'd be the most powerful anti-depressant on the pharmaceutical market. ~alexis f. hope"

[sleepyndopey]

The large hospital system I work for asks us once a year to donate to THEM:angryfire. Yeah, right.

[prmenrs, RN]

I once rec'd a solicitation on my time card from the University asking for a donation. I taped 2 pennies on it and sent it in.

[Batman24]

I once rec'd a solicitation on my time card from the University asking for a donation. I taped 2 pennies on it and sent it in.

That's awesome. :w00t:

[Batman24]

Definitely crosses the line. You shouldn't be required to give money unless you see fit to do so. My guess is the majority will just ignore the request and rightfully so. I don't think you should even need to explain.

[santhony44, MSN, RN, NP]

I have been asked to sign that I'm not donating to that Large No-Name Charity that you mentioned, but not to enter anything on line.

I agree with you, it's nobody else's business if I donate , three quarters of my income, or nothing at all.

[CHATSDALE]

i don't care how much i agree with a charity and whether or not i had intended to give i would not like this at all

[Ms Kylee]

We get hit up all the time to donate to a very large charity (one I would donate to) but they want a monthly payroll deduction contribution. We also get hit up to donate to the bed fund, the foundation, and everything else. I'm sorry, work, but you don't pay me enough to keep donating my very hard earned money back to you. My charity donations are my business alone. And one of them got a very large van full of clothes when I moved....

[EmmaG, RN]

I have never contributed through work, and never intend to do so. I have charities that I contribute to privately, and it's certainly not any of my employer's business.

[Christie RN2006]

There is a charity that my hospital asks us to donate to and we have to fill out a card saying how much we want to donate. If we don't want to donate anything we have to mark "$0". It makes me mad that they force us to fill it out and they make a bit to do over how much is donated from hospital employees every year. This charity supports lots of little charities, some of which I would support, others of which I am very much against.

[prmenrs, RN]

I did always give to [ ] Way, but I did it as a directed donation: I told them where I wanted the $ to go. More than once it was a non-profit in which my son was participating, so a win-win for me. Also avoided having my money going somewhere I didn't want it going. The more people sent designated donations, the greater part of the undesignated pot went to that charity.

I don't participate in that program any more because I'm "casual". I DO object to the hospital wanting me to give to them--I give @ the office, okay??

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

I wonder how legal it is to require employees to fill out a card marked "zero" if they don't wish to contribute, or go to a website to enter "zero" for their donation if they so choose. How on earth can it be a requirement of my job to indicate how much I give to which charities??? Sounds like someone is just begging for a lawsuit from an employee who has just fallen under his or her last straw.

I feel we're already hit on enough for donations throughout the year to various organizations. Not saying they're not good and worthy causes, but I HONESTLY think they feel that since we're nurses, we're supposed to go FARTHER than the average Joe to give. Which, IMHO, is a crock of crud.

I give to a number of charities in varying amounts throughout the year. My employer knows of absolutely NONE of them. It's not their business to know.

And yes, I also get a mailing once a year from the hospital foundation board, or trustees, or whatever they call themselves, asking me to give them money for the hospital!! Ummm....I WORK here for less than I think I should get per hour, so my "donation" is covered, pal. I ain't gonna PAY to work here!