SAVING CENTSABLY: Why I sometimes don't 'round up'

There is an email (and now, a Facebook meme) that has circulated each year since 2005 which challenges people to think about where they donate their money. The little chart in the Facebook picture says, "Think Before You Donate," and then begins to rattle off all the ways that non-profit organizations such as the Red Cross and Goodwill Industries, among others, profits from your donations.

We should all be concerned with whether our hard-earned monetary and material donations actually go to help people or to line the pockets of over-paid CEOs.

However, I also believe that people should do their own research instead of relying upon the emails or the Facebook pictures that make the rounds every year.

In particular, when it comes to Goodwill, the information contained in the posting is inaccurate. The false information reports that Mark Curran is the CEO of Goodwill Industries International and that he earns $2.3 million a year. However, the CEO of Goodwill Industries International is actually someone named Jim Gibbons. Snopes.com reports that in 2011, his salary was about $725,000.

I do not want to argue the merits of a CEO earning that much money. The truth is, he oversees the operations of an international company. There are reports that many of the lowest level employees, several of whom are disabled, make very little in the way of compensation for their work at Goodwill stores. If all of this information, combined, makes you think twice about donating to Goodwill, that is up to you.

I think many of us would be surprised about where our donations to any number of charitable organizations are spent. This is why it is important to do the research yourself rather than relying upon an email or a Facebook meme.

I began the research for this article because I wanted to write about the "rounding up" question that I have been asked each time I shop at a Goodwill -- especially in recent months.

Now, I love shopping in thrift stores, mostly because the four children I have grow like weeds and they fly right through their clothing. I am careful to examine whether an item has a specially-colored tag, which will offer me greater savings, and I also have a good idea about what the items will cost, in total, before I check out.

But in recent weeks and months, when I am in the check-out line, I hear the cashier ask, "Would you like to round up to the next dollar and make an extra donation to Goodwill?" You would be surprised at the number of customers who say "yes" to this question.

The first few times my husband heard me say "no," he questioned me. "What's another 29 cents?" "What would it hurt to give them another 57 cents?"

Pardon me if I sound like Ebeneezer Scrooge, but I hope you will see my rationale. As I just stated, I shop at Goodwill because our money is tight. I buy clothing while paying attention to what each item costs. There are times I put items back because I have exceeded the amount I wish to spend in the store. So yes, rounding up to the next dollar will affect my expenses.

Now think about this. The great majority of the items I purchase at Goodwill have been donated (that means given) by other people. While there are expenses in the processing of the items, it's not as if there was a cost for acquiring them.

If Wal-Mart asked you to give them an extra bit of money with each purchase, would you do it?

Of course we wouldn't offer a for-profit corporation like Wal-Mart our extra change! So why, then, would we give our extra change to Goodwill? We are already contributing to their bottom line with the purchase of donated clothing and household goods.

Contact writer Rachael Mercer at savingcentsably@gmail.com.

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 5:48 PM with the headline "SAVING CENTSABLY: Why I sometimes don't 'round up' ."