I am very happy in my current job however I have one annoyance:
Every week there seems to be at least 2 or 3 different charity causes that we are asked to give to. This usually comes in the form of a jiffy bag and paper being passed around.
The problem is not the charities, invariably they are great and worthwhile, and ordinarily I would have no qualms about putting a couple of pounds in the bag.
However over recent months this has got (IMO) excessive and to give to them all would require something in the region of 5 to 10 pounds a week.
This is money that I simply don't have.
This is not a "company thing" (although the company does occasionally run fundraisers) but these are usually sponsorships and charities that colleagues are involved with. (although it often seems to be the same people doing the events). Donations are solicited publicly so everybody knows who did or didn't contribute, which is uncomfortable for those who don't.
To a lesser extent this also occurs with birthdays, and other events where we are often asked to have a whip round.
I am convinced that I am not the only one who feels this way, but I don't know how to broach the topic without damaging my reputation.
My question is, how can I broach this subject without being treated as miserly and uncharitable in the workplace?
EDIT
today is Red Nose Day and I have so far (12:30) had no fewer than six requests for a grand total of around £14
I have decided to take the advice offered and I am going to HR this afternoon as I have decided that enough is enough
Thanks to you all for responding
Donations are solicited publicly so everybody knows who did or didn't contribute
<-- this right here is the problem. IMO proper donation etiquitte is an envelope that gets passed around. You pass it around rooms, cubicles etc and each person has time to look at it and optionally donate. Person in charge of collections verifies that nothing disappears from the envelope, but does not monitor specifically who placed what amount – Brandin Mar 13 '15 at 20:47