Is there a difference between a donation and a fee?
Asked by
janbb (
63239
)
April 5th, 2013
The meet-up site for my zen class says $15 per session which seems a bit steep. When I got to the first class, there was an envelope for the money that said “Donation” on it. There seemed to be a number of ten dollar bills in it so I have been putting in ten dollars. The greeter gave me a bit of a hard time about it last week – a new person to me – and now the Web site says $15 more loudly. It also says no-one turned away for lack of funds. Was I wrong to assume the $15 was a suggested donation and that you could choose to donate less?
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10 Answers
Ask the guy directly. Look him in the eye and says “Donation or fee?”
Remind him that giving you a bit of a hard time is very unzen-like.
Or I’ll simply send Milo there to boop him in the face for being passive-aggressive.
Donations can be written off on your taxes, fees can not.
But other than that, I agree with @gailcalled. I would ask the guy directly. What exactly does the $15.00 per person cover? It seems very steep to me.
Apparently that greeter doesn’t understand the difference between zen and Scientology. ;-)
If it says donation it means that the amount is voluntary and even the donation is voluntary. It should read: Suggested donation: $15.00.
It seems as if they have changed it from a donation to a fee.
^ exactly as @marinelife says. A donation is voluntary, a fee is not. Perhaps it’s their zeniness that is holding them back from telling you ‘we want $15 for you to attend’? They want you to make the conscious and voluntary decision to pay the fe… I mean donation.
For that price, you could be taking “hot yoga” lessons instead…
This is just like what the Metropolitan Museum in New York is being accused of. Admission is really free, but you are pretty much expected to pay $25. And the Museum (until this hit the news a couple weeks ago) seems to hide the free admission from the public.
A restaurant gratuity freely given is a donation (tip); the same gratuity added to the customer’s bill (regardless of service rendered) is a fee.
Out of curiosity, what is exactly being offered at these classes? $15 a class does sound a bit steep as well.
Temples are entirely reliant on the donations of the sangha, and the fees from the services they provide to the sangha to keep afloat since many of them do not have the size or resources to do other sorts of fundraising. The temple I go to offers a zazen class for $15, and daylong retreats that appeal to non-buddhists for $45, and those costs they help to keep the temple functioning and provide for the monks living there as well as providing a free vegetarian lunch to anyone who visits following the Dharma talk and Zazen, which are free as well.
They are also understanding of those who cannot afford it, or who spend enough money on gas to travel there that they will lower or sometimes waive fees with the faith that those who can afford to pay, will do so in good faith as well. You just have to bring it up to someone if cost really is a barrier.
I just treat it as a fee, and because it’s technically a donation I count them in my taxes. It’s not uncommon for people to be able to claim their weddings as tax deductions either. A large Chan temple in the LA area just charges an $800 donation for the whole shebang.
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