It’s obnoxious to do this. Occassionally, people at work will do things like run a marathon that supports a charity, and I’ll contribute, but I have never had anyone tell me to contribute, let alone an amount. I have given spontaneously, when 911 happened some people decided to support the local fire station (that ended up losing 7 guys at the WTC) by buying things they were asking for, like bottled water and some other things, and peopel gave generously, but no one even kept tabs. Likewise, if there is some kind of gift, they are very careful to make it voluntary, and people understand others may not be able to contribute or want to, it is kind of stupid to ask someone to donate to a birthday gift for someone they don’t even know. I have friends of mine at work who do serious mission trips, they really try to do things, and they have never, ever done anything like that, the op’s situation sounds pretty crass to me. If someone questioned why I wasn’t donating, I would tell them I have limited funds to donate to charity and I have causes that I believe in, and if pushed I would tell them outright, using the OP’s example, that I won’t support poverty tourism, that I would rather support groups on the ground in places like that, who are doing real work , rather than paying for people basically going to gawk (and if like more than a few religious groups, to proslytize, which I despise…charity should be its own form of evangelism)…and if she badmouthed me, so be it, wouldn’t be the first person shrug.