0

I co-manage a group of about 20 people, most of whom I only see once a week. Recently my partner (the other leader) fell ill and has been hospitalized with a serious illness. She will be in the hospital for a long time. Not only is this difficult, but her medical bills will be very expensive.

I want to ask my group for donations to ease some of the stress caused by her situation. However, the only time I can see most of these people in person is for a weekly meeting. I want to maximize the amount donated, but of course I understand people have different financial situations, so I don't want group members to see how much others are donating.

I have already sent a group email to the members telling them that I will be asking for donations during the meeting. I think most people in the group are kind-hearted, but I really don't want to make people who can't give as much feel uncomfortable. I also want to make the donations truly anonymous; I myself also don't want to know how much people have donated, as I don't want this to affect my feelings toward them regarding something that's not work-related.

I could ask for people to just stop by after the meeting, but most people just want to get out of there as soon as possible, and often I have additional things to handle immediately based on what came up in the meeting.

What is the best way to get as much money donated as possible while not making anyone feel uncomfortable about it?

user24827
  • 17
  • 1
  • 1
    Where in the world are you located? – gerrit Nov 23 '17 at 01:05
  • 4
    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the question is about how to collect donations anonymously, not the interpersonal aspect of asking for donations (which the OP states they have already done). – Astralbee Nov 23 '17 at 15:58
  • Is this about communicating that people can donate anonymously or about picking a way for people to donate anonymously? The first can be on-topic, the second is definitely not, and I'm indeed agreeing with Astralbee that that's what you're asking right now. – Tinkeringbell Nov 23 '17 at 16:41

2 Answers2

3

Setting up an online donation account such as GoFundMe it will preserve the anonymity of donations and allow you to quickly mention the topic without the need to talk about or publicise how much any one person has donated. If you like you could still have a physical donation box; One way to say this to the group is.

I have set up a GoFundMe account for {%friend}, I will email you all the link and any contributions are much appreciated. Also, I will be happy to make the donation for anyone who wants to put some money in this collection box.

That way there will be no awkwardness around the amount of money people give at the time will not be compared and used for guilt as the real donations will take place privately at a later time, and putting money in the box does not actually indicate how much any one person will donate.

Someone could put in $2 and then donate $500 later, or someone might put in $50 and not donate online at all, the point is nobody will be able to compare how much others are donating

Jesse
  • 7,123
  • 3
  • 36
  • 58
  • Doesn't GoFundMe still show names to the person who set up the account? https://support.gofundme.com/hc/en-us/articles/203687114-How-do-I-make-my-donation-anonymous- I think amounts are always public too. I remember looking into this when I wanted to donate to a friend without it being "weird". Maybe other platforms let donors be truly anonymous though. – Em C Nov 23 '17 at 13:28
  • @EmC i believe there is a setting to make it private..... but I've never done myself so maybe you are right, in which case substitute GoFundMe in my answer with another site that allows for anonymity – Jesse Nov 23 '17 at 14:39
-1

Tell them the truth. It’s not really going to make people uncomfortable if you ask,”It would help (name) really much if you donated. The hospital bills are really expensive, and we ask you to please donate, even ifs it’s as little as a dollar.” in the email. You could make a Pateron page so you won’t know how many people have donated.

Firework
  • 437
  • 3
  • 15
  • 1
    Sorry if I didn't clarify it well. I have told them the truth. They know the situation, as I explained it in yesterday's email.

    What I think will make people uncomfortable is if they only donate a few dollars and then others in the group after them donate much more. Then, they will either feel insecure if they can't afford to give more, or they will donate more than they are comfortable donating just to match others. I know some people in the group have more money than others, as I know some are paid more than others, so I really don't want to highlight this in the meeting.

     – user24827 Nov 23 '17 at 04:03
  • Patreon is more for creative projects, but the idea of using an online donation system is great! – Jesse Nov 23 '17 at 04:52