I refuse to give to the salvation army but we donate a lot to our school district and various animal charities. Sometimes the local grocery chain has events to round up for veteran charities or food banks and we donate frequently to them as well.
Just curious, you are not the first to say something about Salvation army. What’s the beef? I truly don’t know anything positive or negative.
The Salvation Army is a religious group. They offer services without discrimination, but there is doubt about their hiring practices. Because of the religious foundation they require employees to be celibate unless married. This is an issue for many LGBT.
Op in the thread on tipping mentioned "This time of year".
Do you feel obligated to give to the bell ringers collecting for charity, i.e. Salvation Army and such? What if you go into the store frequently or the same charity is collecting at another store you frequent?
And what about when you're asked to donate at the cash register, i.e. "Would you like to donate $1 to Children's Hospital or something like that?
We also often have charitable collections at work this time of year, how do you feel about that?
Welcome to the Dis.I worked for the salvation army- the drivers are paid and it is policy NOT TO ACCEPT TIPS, The helpers are beneficiares of the rehabilitation center. They are provided foo, shelter, clothing and intense rehabilitation. I quit after exposing a widespread scam where driver would " refuse" donated items then offer to remove them for a small fee- terms like call it lunch or take care of us we take care of you were thrown around. I told the dispatch supervisor, but the majority of the beneficiaries and employees ( mostly former beneficiaries) were doing similar scams. To my knowledge it still occurs. DO NOT TIP OR PAY for donated items to be taken
This is a valid point, if that sort of thing matters to you. A buck doesn't really nudge the dial for me as far as a tax deduction so I give it at the register sometimes. This isn't to imply anybody else needs to; you're completely right that it's pretty disingenuous of the mega-corps to hype this as their own amazing contributions to the community.Other than Salvation Army bell ringers, I always do all my charitable giving directly with the organization. Store and cash register giving is a hard pass. For one, you don’t get any of the tax benefits when you give through the store and second the store claims your donation on THEIR taxes which I always find super shady. No Walmart YOU did not give $100k to Charity x, your shoppers gave a $100k and you took the benefit and credit. If a store matched donations that would be different.
Funny but I absolutely hate buying things for charity. Maybe it's not the same sort of thing there as it is here but it seems like the stream of Scouts/dance troupes/sports teams/school clubs or whatever trying to sell junk as fundraisers is unending. I'd much, much rather give them a few dollars donation than have to buy their over-priced popcorn or wrapping paper or whatever they're hawking....I only donate to charity by
- buying items in their high street shop
- buying merchandise direct from them via their website or pop up shop
- doing an event where I have to get sponsorship
Funny but I absolutely hate buying things for charity. Maybe it's not the same sort of thing there as it is here but it seems like the stream of Scouts/dance troupes/sports teams/school clubs or whatever trying to sell junk as fundraisers is unending. I'd much, much rather give them a few dollars donation than have to buy their over-priced popcorn or wrapping paper or whatever they're hawking.
Welcome to the dis.I worked for the salvation army- the drivers are paid and it is policy NOT TO ACCEPT TIPS, The helpers are beneficiares of the rehabilitation center. They are provided foo, shelter, clothing and intense rehabilitation. I quit after exposing a widespread scam where driver would " refuse" donated items then offer to remove them for a small fee- terms like call it lunch or take care of us we take care of you were thrown around. I told the dispatch supervisor, but the majority of the beneficiaries and employees ( mostly former beneficiaries) were doing similar scams. To my knowledge it still occurs. DO NOT TIP OR PAY for donated items to be taken