Fundraising & Solicitation in the Workplace

We all love Girl Scout cookies. Well, most of us do, but do we also love all the other fund raising activities employees choose to bring to the workplace?There are several cases out there whereby companies were successfully sued for allowing for Thin Mints to be sold, which the company endorsed as an acceptable organization for which to fundraise, but not the fruit for the local church fundraiser as the company saw this as an issue involving an implied endorsement of religion.

If you are going to allow your employees to sell items for fundraising purposes, be sure to set some guidelines and then follow them.

Here are a few key steps:

  • Identify when sales can and can’t occur, perhaps even where they should occur.
  • Outline how employees should communicate the fundraiser to their coworkers.
  • Establish that the company reserves the right to approve or deny requests to fundraise.

Setting up these parameters is a solid idea that could keep your firm out of hot water down the road. Overall, be consistent and be prepared to logically and reasonably defend your decisions.

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