Our office has a long tradition of encouraging charity and philanthropy, but it feels as though it's getting out of hand. Almost every day, someone sends out an email or comes by with a pledge sheet asking for money for a charity walk of their child's school fundraiser. Recently, a young employee approached me and told me he feels as though he's often guilted into donating money that he can't afford. As the boss, I don't want my employees to feel pressured into situations they're uncomfortable with, but I also don't want to stop something that is inherently good for society. Where's the line?
You certainly don't want to ban such things from your office, but you need to create a system that removes the guilt from the process. It's not true charity if it feels like an obligation.
The key is to find a way to allow those who want to give to continue giving, while protecting those who can't or simply don't want to participate from the public shame of seeing their name missing from a pledge sheet.
Sadly, these things often become something of a pissing contest. No one ever writes down their pledge without first seeing how much everyone else has given. In essence, each person should give what they're able to give, regardless of what others have pledged. But for this to work, there needs to be anonymity.
You should send out a memo outlining a new policy. Make it clear that you want the office to remain open and receptive to philanthropy and charity, but that everyone is not required to participate. Let the solicitors send out an email explaining the charity and have people who choose to donate respond directly to them (you may also add, though it should go without saying, that this is not a "reply all" event). Or they can post their sheet in the break room with little slips for people to write their pledge and stuff it in an envelope, without looking at the slips already in the envelope.
It sounds Draconian and a bit overdone, but we've all been the little guy who, after pledging the $5 they were going to use for lunch, gets a smack in the face when a senior executive comes over and writes down $100.
I had a dinner-party debate not long ago with a man who stated that Bill Gates is the most philanthropic person in the world. Bill Gates may have donated more money to charity than anyone else, but he still has billions in the bank. I argued that a more philanthropic person is the little guy who gives everything they have, like Oseola McCarty, an 87-year-old laundry worker from Mississippi who saved up change and dollar bills and then donated her entire life savings, $150,000, to the University of Southern Mississippi to finance scholarships for African-American students.
By removing the guilt and public obligation, your employees will actually learn more about charity. When they decide to give, they will not be looking to others as a measuring stick, but within themselves.
Have a workplace-ethics dilemma? Ask it here, or email wherestheline@gmail.com.
