Be careful when filling out your reports. Towards the end just before you're ready to submit a page will come up that is PRE-FILLED with a $10 donation for Harvey victims. While it's great if you want to donate, some people might choose to donate in different ways or through different channels. I don't know if it is on all reports but it was on the one I just did. I thought it was kind of ballsy, putting it inside the report form like that.

I saw that in my last report too. I did donate the $10, but I am not going to do that with every single report I do. I'm actually doing an assignment today, so I wonder if it will ask me again. I will update here later and let you know.

Does it say where it's going? I'm not really interested in padding some non-profit CEO's fat salary, but if it's a place I am donating to anyway, I don't mind ACL getting the tax break.

Harvey victims. But, from what I have read, only about 5% of donations have to actually go to the cause. Most of it goes to those who are raising the money.

That was my point, sestra. Some organizations collect millions of dollars from a disaster to build 4 or 5 houses, others spend their money on fancy dresses and parties, and then there are those that actually do some good. Generic "Harvey victims" doesn't tell me much. It needs to be more specific.

PayPal is offering the opportunity to donate and you can choose the organization you prefer. I made a small donation that way. My nephew and family live in Katy and they evacuated but luckily their home was spared. Others nearby weren't so fortunate. I just can't imagine.

I found it irritating. Rather than asking me if I would like to, there was an assumption that I would. I've already donated quite a bit more than that to several different organizations, and will do likewise for Irma, but having the amount already in the box waiting for me to check off didn't feel right.

So if I donated the $10 they want, ACL gives 50 cents to the cause and keeps $9.50 as "Administrative cost?" Yeah, no. And their pre-filled amount and form made me a little angry.

@sestrahelena wrote:

So if I donated the $10 they want, ACL gives 50 cents to the cause and keeps $9.50 as "Administrative cost?" Yeah, no. And their pre-filled amount and form made me a little angry.

No, when you donate $10, ACL gives $10. They gather up money from all their shoppers and donate it all in a big batch. They take credit for the donation. They show the amount of the entire donation on their taxes. The news reports you are reading about saying only 5% goes to the cause is not because ACL and others are withholding money. It is because many organizations that the money is donated to are running with such high administrative costs that only 5% is making it to the victims. This was recently discussed in connection with another MSC who was collecting money for Wounded Warriors program. That program has recently been in the news because only a small amount of the money donated to that program actually was being used to benefit wounded military personnel. Big media coverage and a lot of those running the Wounded Warrior program lost their jobs.

No, I don't donate to ACL's causes. This is not new. ACL has done this for years periodically. They choose a charity and collect from their shoppers and add it to whatever donation they make and it maximizes their tax deduction. Instead of paying their shoppers, they are using their shopper's donation to increase their tax deductions, lowering their cost of doing business. I was shocked once when their selected charity was one of their employees. I am also shocked each time I do a report and the automatic donation screen comes up. It always says "do you want to donate some of your earnings?" WHAT earnings? Most of the ACL shops are reimbursement only, so I have no earnings. I am only being reimbursed for money I already spent. If they want to ask for donations, they should change their wording. It's very offensive to me to be asked to share money from my earnings when there are NO earnings.