A woman is warning shoppers against saying yes to Lowe’s cashiers when they ask for a donation.
Complicated relief efforts are underway across the Southeast after Hurricane Helene caused devastating losses over the weekend. Several organizations are beginning to call on the public to help those affected by this disaster.
However, Florida-based realtor Vanessa Charles (@iamvanessacharles) has a PSA about something to avoid when trying to help.
Think again when donating money at the cash register
Charles explains that since Hurricane Helene, she has been to multiple chain stores like Lowe’s, Publix, and CVS, where she has been asked if she wants to donate money towards hurricane relief efforts at the cash register.
“Do not ever do this,” Charles says in no uncertain terms. She then explains why.
“What happens is that these big major chains collect all this money, and then at the end of the quarter, the end of the year, they donate this money to honestly who knows where, any organization,” Charles says, pointing out the first, but not the main issue with these donations.
She then explains the real benefit companies receive when asking for donations.
“They use it as a tax write-off. So they get this big chunk of money of our money that we have given them. They take it. They use it as a tax-deductible donation to a nonprofit organization, and it saves them tons of money. Like millions of dollars in taxes. But they’re using our money to do it,” she says.
Charles urges people to send donations to vetted organizations, or even directly to families in need instead. The Daily Dot reached out to Charles via Instagram direct message for further comment but did not hear back as of publication.
Most viewers agreed about cash register donations
The video received over 21,000 views, and most commenters agreed with the TikToker.
“Yes! Never funnel your charitable donations through for profit company. All you’re doing is handing an entity that does not pay enough taxes as it is another tax write off,” agreed one person.
“You as an individual can set your bank account to round to the next dollar and put that change toward charity donations- a CEO shouldn’t be getting a tax rebate and the good will from your donation,” someone else suggested.
One person seemed to confirm Charles’ hypothesis, saying, “I work for a financial services firm and they use charities and donations to not pay $50 million in taxes.”
Should you donate money at the cash register?
But one commenter disagreed with Charles’ take.
“I work for a nonprofit and point of sale donations like this fundraise so much money for us and make a huge difference,” they said.
This same person explained, “Individuals don’t want to just give us a couple bucks directly bc they think it doesn’t make a difference. But when they participate in these campaigns it adds up so fast and really does help us.”
@iamvanessacharles Yes we need people to help with Hurricane Helene relief efforts, but do not do it at the cash register! (Or for any organization for that matter.) these stores are asking now because they know they can get more money out of people when emotions are high, so they dont have to pay as much in Taxes. Dont do it.
♬ original sound – Vanessa Charles
So does donating at the cash register make a difference? NPR claims that these “round-up” donation campaigns are responsible for a huge uptick in donations for charities. In 2022, charities raised $749 million through these types of donations, which was a 24% jump from 2020.
NerdWallet takes a more individual approach. It suggests continuing to make small donations at the cash register if they make more sense for your household budget. They also say shoppers who feel good about donating this way should also continue to do so.
However, if you want to make a more significant impact, or benefit from a tax break yourself, NerdWallet suggests donating a larger amount directly to a charity.
If you are looking to donate to victims of Hurricane Helene, you can find a list of several organizations that are supporting local relief efforts here.
The Daily Dot also reached out to Lowe’s, Publix, and CVS via email for further details about their charitable programming.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
