Against Gift Aid

I like to go to museums. The typical business model for a museum is that it operates as a charity, which means if the customers pay with "Gift Aid" then the museum gets 25% on top of their payment, paid by the state.

(Museums I have recently enjoyed include Haynes Motor Museum, Aerospace Bristol, Fleet Air Arm Museum, London Science Museum, Portsmouth Submarine Museum, Royal Observatory at Greenwich. To its credit, the Science Museum is free to enter and therefore does not ask for Gift Aid).

If you walk into a typical museum in the UK and ask to buy tickets, they'll usually ask you to pay with Gift Aid. You'll be reminded that it won't cost you anything and it will mean more money for the museum. This is a trap. It will cost you something, you'll get no benefit, and they don't tell you how much trouble it will be until after you agree.

What it costs you is several minutes of hassle and invasion of privacy as step-by-step you hand over your name, address, phone number, and email address.

So I always say no, because I don't need the hassle, I don't want to hand over my personal data, and I don't like having my behaviour "nudged".

But in return I feel glares from other customers waiting in the queue (even though I'm saving them time!), and disdain from the person behind the counter who can't understand why I wouldn't want the museum to have more money for free. The easiest way to avoid the disdain is to try to imply that you're not a UK taxpayer and are therefore not eligible to pay with Gift Aid, but that feels unethical too.

So it's a lose-lose situation. Why can't I just walk in to the museum and pay my money and enjoy the exhibits? Why does it have to be a morally-loaded shakedown for my personal information? It sours the museum experience right at the start. I can't be the only person who feels this way?