Emily Guy Birken* suggests how you can keep donations to co-workers’ charities from wrecking a carefully planned budget.
Image: Jackie Ramirez
Are office solicitations becoming a regular drain on your paycheque?
Last week, it was the IT woman asking if you’d buy overpriced gift wrap to support her daughter’s music program.
Earlier this week, the head administrative assistant asked everyone to chip in $20 for an upcoming retirement party.
And you know that Ted from accounting is going to hit you up for a donation toward that charitable 10 km marathon he’s been training for.
While you’re happy to support all of these co-workers and their causes individually, together it’s getting to be a major financial burden.
So how do you keep these regular solicitations from wrecking your carefully planned budget?
Here’s what you need to know about navigating this financial and etiquette minefield.
Perfect your “No, thanks!”
Office solicitations are awkward because it can feel like there will be some sort of work or social repercussions for saying no to a request for money.
But you have every right to refuse to give, no matter who is asking.
You don’t need to give a reason or an excuse.
You simply need to say no.
Perfecting your polite “No” will go a long way to making sure these requests leave no hard feelings on either side.
Here are some ways to refuse graciously:
- “No, thank you.” It’s an old standby for a reason. If your co-worker presses, you can say that you appreciate their passion for the cause, but you’re not interested.
- “I’ve already allocated all of my charitable spending for the year.” This is polite, to the point, and not something anyone can argue with.
- “I don’t donate to organisations unless I have done my own research on them.” This makes it clear to the office solicitor that you ultimately get to decide where your money goes.
Know your workplace policy
Many organisations are well aware of how uncomfortable workplace solicitations can be, since you’re a captive audience for the solicitor-du-jour, and you have to maintain a pleasant working environment with them, to boot.
That’s why it’s common for workplaces to have solicitation policies.
These policies will often prohibit one-on-one solicitations between employees but allow more general solicitations.
For instance, your workplace may not allow the father of a Girl Guide to go desk-to-desk asking each of his co-workers how many boxes of Thin Mints he can put them down for, but will allow him to put a sign-up sheet in the break room for those interested.
If you’re feeling pressured to give, start by finding out the specific policy in place.
If multiple co-workers are not adhering to the policy, then you can say something to HR or your manager about making sure everyone knows the policy.
But what if there is no policy in place?
“Tell someone!” recommends HR professional Jenni Stone.
“Solicitation only becomes a problem when it becomes disruptive.”
“This repeated solicitation and pressure is unacceptable.”
“Let management know what’s going on so it can be addressed through creating and enforcing a policy.”
Develop a personal policy
Even if there’s no policy in place at work, you can still create a policy for yourself regarding donations.
Having such a policy for yourself can help you say no comfortably without feeling cornered, since you’ve already made the decision before the sign-up sheet has gone around.
Here are a couple of ways to shape your policy:
Never give at work
If you have a flat refusal in place because you don’t give money at work, then Rhonda in marketing won’t be wondering why you gave to Keisha’s fundraiser but not hers.
If this is your policy, you could say you’ve budgeted for charitable donations and take care of it entirely outside of work.
Only give in specific categories
Decide ahead of time that you will only donate to certain categories of charities.
For instance, you might decide you’ll only support children, education, and the arts.
That makes it easier to say no if a co-worker is raising money for their church or for medical research.
Those are worthy causes, but they’re not in the categories you’ve chosen to support.
Make a charitable budget
Determine the amount of money you’re willing to spend on office solicitations.
That could be an overall budget — like $150 for the year — or an amount like $5 per solicitation.
If you choose an overall budget, you can tell anyone asking after you’ve used up the $150 you’d allotted that you’ve reached the end of your budget and to try you again next year.
If you choose the $5 per request, that will allow you to support everyone without destroying your overall budget.
Pressure from management
Pressure can occur when your workplace encourages you to give money toward a retirement party, wedding or baby gifts for co-workers, or to help a sick employee.
You can often feel like you have no choice but to give money toward these causes, even if you’re feeling financially strapped.
There are a couple of ways to handle these kinds of uncomfortable solicitations.
The first is to only give what you can.
In addition, remember that you can always ask if there are other ways to be supportive.
Similarly, you could offer to set up the retirement party, bake the cake, or even run the errands necessary for the party in your off time.
That shows you care without hurting your bottom line.
* Emily Guy Birken is a writer. She tweets at @EmilyGuyBirken.
This article first appeared at www.wisebread.com.
