Subj : Veteran's Day 2020
To : August Abolins
From : August Abolins
Date : Thu Nov 12 2020 11:34 pm
Hello Charles!
** On Tuesday 10.11.20 - 10:12, Charles Pierson wrote to August Abolins:
(FYI. The original of this message does not seem to have
arrived on the TgM side.)
AA>> They don't have "cash" to give away. They are simply
AA>> offering a lower price for the foods they serve.
CP> What they "lose" in profits with these discounts,
CP> whatever goodwill it might generate, could just as easily
CP> be done in a different manner. See my other reply on the
CP> subject for an example.
Do you mean the one where you describe Cracker Barrel?
Any business can give a donation anytime. They don't need a
customer to "participate" in a program to justify it.
For example, our domestic Tim Horton's conducts a "Smile for
Cookie" program every year. The idea is that if YOU buy a
cookie, they (Tim Horton's) will donate the proceeds to a
charity to help a kid's summer camp program.
My response.. Either don't make those pathetic sugar laden
cookies and just give the damn money to the charity. Or just
give the cookies to food banks that could use them, and give
$'s to the summer camp program anyway.
Tim's collecting the money from the cookie sale and making the
donation. Who's doing the donation, really? The customer, not
Tim's. Tim benefits in the tax-credit for the donation they
file. The whole process seems selfish.
Buying the cookie only serves as a metric to blame the public
for not reaching a donation goal.
Another progamme that irks me.. Every year one of the grocery
chains conducts a "Round up for Cancer.." or something like
that. The idea is to ask the customer to "round up to the
nearest dollar" from the grocery bill. The difference will go
to charity. Fine. But then after the programme, the grocery
store gets a front-page story complete with picture of giant
cheque stating "local grocery store raised $X for donation!"
No mention of the CUSTOMERS who selfishly rounded up. There is
no out of pocket expense to the grocery store at all.
CP> And as an added bonus, if your corporation donates the
CP> money to a 501(c)3 charity, for example, it not only
CP> generates goodwill, but gives you a tax write off.
In Canada, a donation is not a 100% write-off. It's far more
efficient to claim a legitimate expense such as advertising or
maintenance than a donation.
