I’ve made contributions to the tsunami disaster. I’ve given money to panhandlers. I’ve helped a friend get on his feet, in a big way. I’ve donated quite a bit of time to repairing family, and friends cars, for free. I feel I given quite a bit. And I’m not trying to say that I’m some kind of saint or something. But sometimes, I say no. With panhandlers, I can walk away. And chances are, I will never see them again. With family and friends, they understand that I can be busy with other things. All is good.
About 10 minutes ago, a cow-worker walked and stood in front of me, and just showed me a brochure. Like I should know what a brochure with colorful graphics of young kids on it, without any text at all, should mean. I’m a mind reader I guess. Confused, I asked, “What’s that?”. “Girlscouts”, he said. I told him that I was good. I quickly then said, “sorry”. He just said “oh, ok” and dropped it. Which is ok, because I would’ve gone off if he pushed it.
Not only is this the lamest sales pitch I’ve ever encountered, but I don’t think that anyone should be subjected to this at work. I don’t believe it’s against our company policy, but it should be. Now the guy probably thinks I’m some kind of stiff, when in fact I’ve given what I could, to where I feel my generosity should go with other things. Now I have to see this guy every time I’m at work. It’s also likely that I’m over rationalizing what he’ll think of me. Not that I care, but I guess I do a little bit.
Please, if you’re a parent. Please don’t bring your childrens fundraisers in to work. There’s a reason your kids are given these tasks. Maybe they should do them on their own? I know, you’re trying to be the good parent by trying to boost sales/numbers, or whatever. But I feel you’re putting pressure on other co-workers by doing this. Keep it out of the workplace. Thank you.
But…but…how’re we to get those delicious cookies if we know no children of the right gender/age?
I’m not in favor of outlawing all such things, but perhaps it would be best to post fundraising literature outside one’s cube or office, or maybe in the lunchroom. That way, you don’t have to bug anyone, and those who are interested can find you.
There ya go. Some of us need to get our yearly dose of “caramel delights” I agree that directly asking is pretty tacky. As far as the kids doing the sales go, I kind of agree with that. One thing one of my co-workers did is put the sign-up sheet in the lunchroom and then made the kid deliver the goods when they came in. I thought that was ok.
What would really suck is if the parent took the kid to work and and made the kid ask the co-workers to buy something!
It generally says right in the brochures that they are only to go to family, friends of the family, or have their parents bring it in to work! Why? Because someone might assault them as they go around trying to shill expensive junk in an attempt to raise money! (Don’t know about girl scouts, the guides up here still go around with the group and some go around individually or sell in front of supermarkets, at least they did last time I was associated with them. Mmm chocolate mint cookies…)
I agree though, the best way to do it is leave a sheet in the lunchroom or something similar, you don’t go around trying to get people to buy stuff to support your kid.
Maybe the whole concept should be reworked. Maybe the organization should just rent space in malls or something, so they can get their money and people can get their fix. When I was a Girl Sprout, the idea was that you had to be willing to go out and pound the pavement for your troop and GS as an organization. It taught you how to take initiative, deal with rejection, and interact with people. Restricting sales to family and friends, or having your parents do it, is not teaching them anything at all.
It’s not about that anymore. It’s strictly about raising money. Girl Scouts 'round these parts are mainly setting up tables outside of willing grocery stores for a few hours on Saturday afernoons during cookie season and selling their entire quota without breaking a sweat.
I wouldn’t allow my kids to go door to door, and I live in a remarkably safe suburban neighborhood. I don’t know people outside of our street and even though I’d be with them, I don’t think that it would be a safe or sensible way to go about things. But that’s probably why I don’t intend for my kids to get involved in anything that requires them to do the work of maintaining funding. That’s an adult job. And by that, I don’t mean mom and dad taking order forms to work.
No, probably what he thinks of you is exactly what he thought of you before. I’d guess that he didn’t do the big sales pitch because he didn’t want you to think you had to buy something. And when you said no that was fine with him. My husband takes the kids’ fundraiser stuff to work with him, but never asks anyone to buy. He just puts the flyers out and lets nature take its course, if you will. We don’t really like the idea of asking people to contribute to our kids’ activities, but most of them won’t happen without some help. And we never have done the ones that ask us to fill out cards to mail to people. No way am I going to subject anybody I know to junk mail just so my kid can win some kind of silly prize.
I always thought the best fundraisers were the sales of candy - the 4 pack of Reeses Cups, Snickers bars, etc. A bit overpriced, but I knew why and I didn’t mind when co-workers brought these in.
A lot of parents at my office put up flyers on the bulletin board for their kids’ fundraisers (no one actually approaches us, but that’s against our company’s policy). I don’t hate the practice (mostly because I know my parents did the same thing for me), but, to be honest, it does make me uncomfortable. Not so much when my coworkers do it, but definitely when my boss does it.
There’s always some schmooze who thinks buying 10 boxes of thin mints will put him in the big wig’s good graces. Then when the boss delivers the cookies, schmooze raves about how wonderful they are and how great it is he got the opportunity to buy them. And then there’s me, wondering if not putting my name on the list is going to make me look bad. I know it shouldn’t make much difference, and my boss repeatedly says there’s no pressure to buy anything. Still, I do wonder if that schmooze doesn’t get somehow get some extra bonding with the boss by buying all those damned cookies.
So every year I buy a couple boxes and give them away. I must be a mutant. I think I’m the only human being alive who doesn’t like girl scout cookies!
I totally agree, Fritz and they’re easier to sell. No worrying about bothering folks at ordering time, collecting time and delivering time, they’ve either got a dollar and want some sugar or they don’t and you move along. I can move hundreds of dollars of those boxes in a single work week, but asking people to order an overpriced cutesy coffee mug or calendar is a major PITA and if I work at it really hard, I might sell $100 at the expense of annoying everyone. Sure, the profit margin’s lower but you can’t very well take stationary orders in front of the grocery store and promise to return with the product in a few weeks, eh?
Candy bars from little kids are about the only door-to-door stuff I’ll buy, it’s my one exception to solicitation at home.
Most folks put the box of candy on their desk, and an envelope for the money - 'twas mostly “honor system” and no sales pressure. The stuff sold itself.
You don’t even have to *rent * space. I’ve organized lots of fundraisers, and usually they don’t mind as long as you get insurance, etc., and they’ll even provide tables/chairs.
It drives me batshit to come in and see a box of candy or an order form lying out with a note exhorting me to support little so and so’s trip or project. Especially when the note is in an adult’s handwriting. If the trip or project is so ever-fucking important to the kid, he or she could at least manage enough effort to write a freakin’ note. It especially pisses me off when it’s for Girl Scout cookies, because sitting on your dead ass and letting someone else do the work for the things you want is NOT what Scouting is supposed to be about.
Geez CrazyCatLady, get that stick outta yer’ arse. Workplaces are ideal for flogging off biscuits and Caramello Koalas to help with school fundraising activities.
If you don’t want to buy any, then don’t. But I fail to understand how it can possibly drive you batshit crazy. :rolleyes:
With my family, we end up soliciting each other (aunts/uncles/etc.). I’d rather do that that go rattling the tin cup at work, though I’ve seen enough folks do that as well.
Just chalk it up as another inevitable consequence of politicians slashing educational budgets.
Didn’t you read her post? For that matter, scroll up and check my post. Scouting is supposed to help teach kids to be self-sufficient. I accept that it may no longer be safe to send kids door-to-door, but tabling in front of a supermarket is a reasonable alternative. Having parents take over the kid’s responsibility is just wrong.
This is how it’s handled in my workplace as well. It’s a fairly small place so it’s generally pretty cosy in its own frequently dysfunctional way. Some are parents who want to help out kids, others aren’t adverse to helping out a good cause–especially if chocolate is involved–and the rest are free to ignore the whole shebang.
I’m torn about this, and time has just compounded the fracture. I did my stint, doggedly hawking Girl Scout cookies door-to-door, while resenting hotdogs whose parents sold cases of the things at work. Talk about layered lessons. It’s pretty damned hard to teach kids applied altruism when their outlets have been narrowed. Just consider the threads about outrage at door-to-door solicitors. That’s a pretty scary, hostile environment in which to launch a kid. It ain’t the day of Avon ladies any more. Parking kids in line with other other charities outside grocery stores isn’t that much better.
Back in Paleolithic times we used to collect change for extended charity drives. They added up while teaching the underlying lesson. I was the coin animal, diving on overlooked pavement coins or leavings under sofa cushions. IIRC we sported tinny little fold-over button gizmos noting that we were Official Collectors for X cause. Most adults were quite indulgent about passing along a nickel here, a stray palmful–maybe even with a quarter–there. It was a hurdle for a painfully shy child but a very useful lesson in what it takes to get useful things accomplished. (It was also a sneaky way of teaching math. We morphed into ruthless third grade accountants. Making exact change was no problem after random sadistic adults who handed us an entire buck on a lark. Dad sometimes had to dig in his pocket and help me through those tricky nines–whole minus one–things though.)
I dunno. When in doubt, err on the side of mercy, I guess.
I don’t know if it is now, or ever was, universally true, but in Massachusetts in the 80’s-90’s for sure, a Girl Scout Troop HAD to sell the cookies or they wouldn’t be permitted to raise money in any other way. (My mother was a long term coordinator something for the local council is why I know this.)
Every year several troop leaders would get the truly reasonable notion that if a bunch of healthy, intelligent, active girls wanted to raise money for some troop activity, the best way would be for those girls to do some sort of service. You know, car wash, rake leaves, babysit, manufacture some crafty thing and sell it. As in, have the girls do something that genuinely provided a service or required them to learn or sweat to raise the money for whatever they wanted.
And each time they were told that the troop HAD to sell the cookies. You see, the vast majority of the cookie profits stayed with the Council and was used to pay the salaries of the upper echelons and other such managment costs, while only some piddly amount – it used to be 10 cents a box, honest! – was keep for the troop activities.
Anyway, the next time someone tries to sell you GS cookies (and you aren’t interested in the cookies themselves) you could instead just donate 50 cents to the troop: that’s all they’d make if you bought five boxes, after all, and it cuts out the hassles of having to ship and deliver the cookies.
I don’t mind when an announcement of goods/services is made by general email announcement, or in the case of my firm, a post on the firm-wide electronic bulletin board. If you’re not interested in the goods being offered, then no harm, no foul.
I agree though, being individually solicited for these things at work is irritating at best. I’m not at work to be pressured into laying out funds for your child’s latest fund-raising efforts.
I agree that directly asking is pretty tacky. As far as the kids doing the sales go, I kind of agree with that. One thing one of my co-workers did is put the sign-up sheet in the lunchroom and then made the kid deliver the goods when they came in. I thought that was ok.