Should Mary Buy Her Own Bonus?

If she donated $1,000 for a school to buy products, she would hit her million-dollar goal.

Mary was so close to making her million-dollar sales goal only $1,000 short. If she made the goal by the end of the year, it would mean a fat $10,000 bonus check, and a happy trip to the bank to finance a dream home shed recently found. Other sales reps also were close, and one had already made the bonus. The books would close in just a few days, but at the end of the year her clients werent in a buying mood.

Still, Mary had one hope: inner-city Lincoln High School. Its students, who often had to share textbooks, could really use her companys multimedia educational aids, but Lincoln had no discretionary budget for new teaching materials. What if Mary donated the money to this needy school for the purchase, and put herself over the magic quota?

Or perhaps she could offer partial donations to close sales at several schools. She would then surpass her quota goal with room to spare. The Lincoln school or other needy schools would gain immensely valuable educational programs that would help them serve their students, her company would pick up sales revenue, and she would meet her sales quota. Even better, she would earn a cool $10,000 on an investment of $1,000.

At first thought, this seemed like a win-win solution. But the idea needled Marys conscience. The more she thought about it, the more something about it bothered her. Yet if she didnt close this sale one which would help out disadvantaged students she wouldnt make that bonus, and her dream house would remain out of reach. She found herself wondering, What should she do?