My kids are beginning that stage in schooling where we get fundraiser candy/candy bars to sell. I'm being asked to "take these to work" but I'm the lead of a team of six. Would it be appropriate for me to bring the box in and leave it in the break room? Does anyone have suggestions for making sure my team doesn't feel obligated to buy any?
To make things more complicated, I'm currently writing my team's yearly performance reviews.
I believe this is a bad idea. A team leader should not put members of their team in a situation to even have to think about this scenario.
If even one person on your team feels compelled to donate (and you may never know this was the case), then you may have harmed the relationship with that employee. Is the amount of money your candy fundraiser generates worth the impact on that relationship?
Make sure it's okay per company policy and HR. (It would be wise to give HR the heads up that you're putting it in the break room).
Then leave the fundraiser box in the break room, with an indication on what organisation the fundraising is for. (But not you or your children's names).
If you're concerned about your reports feeling pressure to "donate", don't mention it's yours, and don't mention it to your reports. Then nobody feels compelled to buy any.
I agree with cdkMoose and would add another choice: buy the candy yourself and anonymously put it in the break room for others to take at no cost.
I'm going to post an auxiliary answer that might highlight why you have to be especially careful with this sort of thing.
I work for a company that has a very cozy relationship with United Way. A lot of the top executives have connections with people that serve on the United Way board. We don't merely do a pledge drive - we're given all sorts of work enticements to donate (extra paid time off, dress code perks, etc). And, a bit ominously, all our donations through the company are tracked year-by-year.
Now, imagine pledge drive comes around, and you have a desire to climb the corporate ladder. You weren't planning on donating to United Way - you feel there are a lot better charities and were planning on giving to a Meningitis vaccine charity. But... you know that the C-Suite knows whether you donate to United Way. And you're not sure whether that would be a mark against you. I mean, if you're trying to get a spot underneath a manager whose husband serves on the United Way board... how sure are you that your lack of donation wouldn't play any part in her decision? Especially if you're up against someone who does donate generously? You might decide, "You know what, it's not worth the risk. I'll give to United Way instead."
Well, you're just in a smaller version of that. You plop down a donation box or a fundraising leaflet or a volunteerism time sheet - anything not work-related. Guess what? You've put a bit of a compulsion on anyone in a subordinate position to you. Because they're going to have to make the same sorts of guesses - how likely are you going to remember whether they decided not to buy anything? Are you likely to use that at all when deciding future assignments? Raises? Promotions? Don't dismiss this lightly - not only does it put them in a bit of a tough spot, but it feels bad, like they're being extorted out of something.
I wouldn't do it. In fact I would not sell the candy. Typically these boxes have 30 bars, and the school makes 50% of the proceeds form the bar. Simply write a check to the school for $15, or $30 if the kids are required to sell to boxes.
Often times the school will have a "sales meeting" to hype the kids up to sell items, offering incentive prizes to the kid who sells the most. Okay, whatever buy your kid the water bottle or whatever. So for less than $40 per kid, you don't deal with the hassle.
First, selling candy is stupid. As a fiduciary thing, it is total wheel-spinning, "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic", digging holes and filling them back in, making work merely to make work. You are literally better off spending the same hours working at McDonalds going "do you want fries with that?" And giving your McDonalds paycheck to the charity. These gimmicks are not fiduciary, they are feelgood tricks designed to make people (supporters and the epsilon-minus executive director whose idea this is) feel like they are helping, and get a little (a little) publicity out for the charity.
However, if you must, then in most cases that I see of those, they are not left in a breakroom, they are actively "pushed" by a human doing sales as it were. So real simple: be selective about who you sales-job. Do not push anyone in your report chain. Your reports and bosses are off limits, as are anyone you need stuff from or who need stuff from you. Everyone else you deal with casually, fair game. Anyone in your needs chain who wants one of those candy bars will have to stick their nose in your cubicle and stick $3 in the slot.
Yes, it's appropriate to do that, as long as you make it fairly obvious that the candy is there for charity reasons and that the payment box is close by.
Don't be surprised if some of the candy disappears without payment being made. Generally though, it's accepted and people are fine not to participate if they don't want to.
People are (hopefully) going to be intelligent enough to separate charity from "I'm bribing you for a good review/performance".
This depends entirely on company policy and how informal your company is.
As mentioned in another Answer, talk to HR first. There might be a reason(s) why you can't do this.
If you are allowed, consider your relationship with your co-workers and the people you manage. Here's a few examples of a decision tree to consider and expand on for yourself.
Yes if:
Don't if:
I've worked at companies where people, including the bosses, brought all kinds of things for people to buy into for their kids. Everything from school trips to dance classes to scouts, such as popcorn, magazines, chocolates, frozen treats, fruit, baked goods, and more (all from brand name suppliers, not their own kitchens, if anyone was wondering).
I've also worked where it was strictly forbidden for anyone to bring in products for others to buy. I've also heard of companies where food was prohibited from desks, even water bottles, so chocolate bars for sale wouldn't work their either, presumably even in the break room.
Our office handled a similar case in a way I haven't seen mentioned yet. The director of engineering -- the direct or indirect manager of everybody else in our office, but still a team member and not a high-level executive -- brought in an order form for Girl Scout cookies for one of his children, with the following message: I'm going to buy some of these for the office so please vote on types, and if anybody wants to order some for yourself, fill out the form. By doing this he led with his wallet (so to speak), did something for the team, gave everyone a chance for input without spending money, and gave everyone a chance to place additional orders. He bought a generous number of boxes for the team, and people still bought a lot privately. (It looked like it was about 50-50 in the end.)
If your kid's candy bars come in different varieties, you could do something similar. Before you bring anything in, tell your team that you'll be getting some fundraiser candy for the group, they get to pick the types, and if anybody wants to order additional candy, they can do so. Then bring it in, make sure people know where the "public" candy is, and set up a separate box for purchases.
I think it kind of depends on what it's for. If it directly impacts your kids or their school, like money for the new gym or a school trip, it might be a little inappropriate.
If your kids' class is raising money to donate to some other charity, like they plan to donate to Habitat for Humanity or they're going to have a garbage clean-up in a city park, that seems more appropriate because it's not just for your own kids. People are donating more for the charity, not directly to your kids. In that case, I'd let people know because it's a good cause that you happen to be associated with.
Others have mentioned how you could leave it in the break room, but I'd bet you won't receive any donations with that set up. If there are other team leaders or your superiors who you are familiar with, you could consider approaching them for donations, as they are not managed by you. This way you can keep the personal nature of asking for donations, while avoiding the issue of putting your team in an unfair situation.
Go discussing it with your HR. Be true and be open.
In our site there is a desk with seedlings, small box with with a hole and a paper how much each seedling is worth. Anyone can pick them and can pay for them. Someone waters them daily, grow them from seeds, bring new ones and collect money for buying new seeds. One need to stay there to see who is that someone.
Is it possible for you to bring the candies in the kitchen anonymously? Place there the box, written note with the price and who is it for (charity, school). Then collect the money in and give your kid the money.
Don't look who is picking the candy, don't look who is actually paying, don't be seen either arranging either collecting. Buy the candies as anyone else, like Joe Theaverage brought it there.
If someone traces you back with question "So it was YOU who brought it here", the appropriate answer is: "So what?" Don't overthink it.
If you are worried about the timing, you can give your kid the money now and bring the candies to the office after you submitted the reviews.
