What do you think about this?

[mappers]

So I work for a cancer center that is owned by one of the largest hospital chains in my state. They want to really develop us into a unified entity like other local cancer centers and they have launched this big campaign to fund raise and remodel. They have some large donors lined up all ready but are wanting to raise more, I guess.

So we as a staff have been challenged to raise $25,000 over 5 years and we will have a room in the new facility named in our honor. They've suggested that we forgo giving each other gifts at the holidays,birthdays, etc. Instead of collecting for MD gifts at Christmas, for example, we'll give to the campaign instead. There are about 100 employees in the area where I work-nursing, lab, MAs, office staff, schedulers, MDs, etc. So that averages to be about $50 a year per employee.

There are saying that "our enthusiasm and dedication" will really impress the higher-ups at the hospital.

Something about this bothers me. Part of me says that I guess it is a good cause. But part of me says....I'm an employee!! I've never had an employer ask me to make a contribution to it before. It just seems wrong on some level.

PS. When we had our annual giving campaign (you know where they take money out of your paycheck for United Way, etc...) they stressed that we should have 100% participation, even it if is only $1.00, to impress "The donors" and the hospital brass.

[lovinlife11]

That's crazy!! I would not donate just to impress the higher ups, who cares if they are impressed or not?? I would go with your gut instinct, donate if you choose, I would choose to not donate :)

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I used to get letters all the time from my famous pediatric hospital asking me to donate to them. I threw every single one of them in the recycling. They screw me out of hours of pay regularly and they want me to donate to them? I think not.

[TopazLover, BSN, RN]

I suspect none of the nursing staff needs a wing named after them as a group. People already know how critical you are to cancer recovery. Instead I would ask why the CEO and other top exec. types are not chomping at the bit to have their names up on a wing? If they don't think enough of the cause to support it, why would the nurses? If they get bonuses, and many do, ask them to contribute 100% of their bonuses rather than deprive staff of remembering each other with token gifts at holidays, etc.

Actually I would not ask them. I would let the person who made this outlandish request take the counter offer back to them and let them smoke it in their pipes.

[Mulan]

That's crap.

Let them pay for their own fund raise and remodel.

Like with the United Way, the hospital gets credit for giving a half a million dollars but it's not the

hospital that gives the money, it's the employees.

Then they come up with these yearly projects, like sending outdated supplies to Africa and they expect

each employee to donate so they can raise $25,000 to pay to send the stuff.

I say let the hospital pay the $25,000 or let the CEO pay the whole thing out of his own pocket, he can

surely afford it.

[monkeybug]

Our hospital did the same thing. They strongly encouraged payroll deductions to fund our cancer center. I, too, donated (mainly to be seen as a team player) and let me tell you, it was a lot easier to get the payroll deduction started than it was to get it stopped! I was a bit offended. We had a pay raise freeze the same month an article came out in a local magazine about our CEO's vacation home and how lovely it was, and then they want us to give them money.

[llg, PhD, RN]

All charitable organizations hope that their employees will donate at least a little. It really is the way the charitable world work. Large donors (e.g. foundations that give really big bucks) often look at the participation rate of the employees as part of their criteria for funding major programs. They figure that if the employees don't believe in the work they are doing, they are not really an organization committed to providing the services they offer. They figure that our income (I work for a children's hospital) is the same as that as other people in the community. So, if we ask other people in the community to donate, then we should ask ourselves to do the same.

A few years ago I was trying to raise money for a nursing scholarship program (so that my hospital could provide scholarships to employees who wanted to go back to school). We were easily able to find some people in the community willing to donate to that fund ... but many of them asked, "How many of the staff members themselves are making donations to this fund?" From their viewpoint, if the staff members were not willing to chip in a few bucks, it meant that they did not care about nursing education and/or did not feel the scholarships were needed -- or they weren't worth funding.

Bottom line: Chipping in a few bucks shows the community (i.e. donors) that you as an expert in the field believe that the services you provide are worthwhile -- and therefore deserving of the community's funding. If you don't donate, it looks like you don't believe your services are worth much to the community and are therefore, not deserving of funding. It's how the world works.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

don't take it personal. After all, they are not considering you personally. It is just a marketing effort to earn some bucks and is cheaper than taking out ads in the paper or soliciting donors elsewhere

[TopazLover, BSN, RN]

While I agree with llg about much of this I do not think in this economy where many people have had pay checks frozen or no longer coming in it is fair to ask employees to suck it up once again. If I were asked as a member of the community, I would want to know how much are top management giving. I would expect to hear that each was giving their bonus. If not, why not? If they expect employees to shell out earned dollars I don't see why they would not put in money not included in salary.

Many staff members are holding a family or two together with one salary. Everyone wants a piece of the action from this meager pay. If I had to choose between the charity of my choice and donation to a new wing that I felt would be filled with patients but not adequate staffing (the usual) there is no way I would give up my gift to my favorite charity for this. In this econnomy we are all forced to make choices. I would support a nursing scholarship program long before I would give to a building.

[Blindsided]

I have no trouble tearing up my United Way request when it comes around, nor would I have trouble saying no to this.

[DawnJ]

They do that outside the medical field too. For United Way and for PACs. I call it "Corporate Sponsored Extortion".

[Jenni811, RN]

um...i would be kind of upset about this. I feel like it is hospitals way of saying "Give us 25,000 and YOU guys do it so we can have free money." Let me tell you...The hospital HAS the money to do it, they just don't want to. I have my sources of me knowing this....having them give up 25,000 is like the average person donating $25. I'd say "F*** it" i understand it is to a good cause, but clearly the hospital sees a need for it if they are asking this of you guys. If they feel a need for it, they will do it with our without the money.

we as nurses donate enough. We sacrafice 13 hour days, working 13 hour nights which is AWFUL for our mind, body, health and family. We sacrafice time with our families. We sacrafice holidays with the ones we love. This i feel is me doing plenty, i feel good bout it...don't get me wrong. im not complaining. im just saying i feel like i sacrafice enough and im not going to work my butt off to raise the hospital 25 grand when they HAVE it already.