I have a question, and I would be grateful for your thoughts. What methods of charity fundraising do you think are acceptable, and which irritate or annoy you?
I'm asking because I'm involved with a small charity which is discussing fundraising methods.
We are not talking about paying fundraisers.
We are not talking about telephoning people.
We are not talking about accosting people in the streets.
We are not talking about asking people to fill in standing order forms.
What we are talking about is door to door collections.
So I am particularly interested in what people think about door to door collections.
Oh, and a subsidiary question: How do you define chugging?
Thanks in advance for all thoughts and contributions. Feel free to be blunt!
p.s. By the way I've just read through these two old threads on chugging, and they give me some feel for general thinking, but they didn't really answer all my questions.
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=14393
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=2589
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I don't give to doorstep collectors and I tell them so, although there seems to be a lot of 'guilt' donors.
I've been a volunteer for a few charities and found people 'on the take' every time.
I choose which charities I donate only after careful consideration.
Last edited by: bathtub tom on Thu 19 Sep 13 at 09:57
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Door to door collection is, I suspect, soul destroying for the collector. A lot of refusals or guilty donations of a few pence for every one that makes a serious offer.
Fliers and envelopes in the style of Christian Aid might get a better hit rate but OTOH there's a high risk the envelope is binned or placed with the 'do it later' pile where non urgent post sits.
Chugging to me implies the on street people who try to get you to sign up for a direct debit or standingh order there and then. I invariably sidestep them. Neither would I sign up via a similar operation door to door.
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Thanks gentlemen. That's helpful. Keep those opinions coming.
Bromptonaut, I can't remember how Christian Aid style envelopes work. Does the envelope say that a collector will call back in a week, or does it have an address to send the envelope too?
I would assume that if one was putting cash in the envelope, the latter would not be a good idea - and if it was the former, I think some people might be less than enthusiastic about the knock on the door and the person saying "I've come for your Christian Aid envelope".
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>> Chugging to me implies the on street people who try to get you to sign up for a direct debit
>> or standing order there and then
The same do come around door to door. They will wear ID/t-shirts/etc claiming to work for the charity. In reality they work for a company that is paid by the charities to sign people up. And those doing the work are only paid for signing people up. So could work all week and earn nothing but the owners earn quite a bit.
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I have decided which charities are going to have my money. I donate by various means - standing orders to some - purchase of raffle tickets etc - gifts of unwanted items to others and I buy a poppy every year.
The others don't get anything.
For some strange reason, chuggers don't bother with me!
Apropos of not much, I don't buy anything at the door.
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>> I can't remember how Christian Aid style envelopes work. Does the envelope say that a collector will call back in a week, or does it have an address to send the envelope too?<<
Around here the envelope is pushed through the letterbox but no collection date is given. This is usually followed about a week later by a knock on the door, usually by a near neighbour with a large shopping bag in which to drop in your donation.
Said collector also carries a good quantity of spare envelopes for the folk that have mislaid the originals.
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I'm a bit resistant to all forms of collection as I give a fairly large sum every year to the same charity as I have for 30+yrs. Despite some reservations I also buy a Big Issue from the same guy every time I see him in town.... there's you mate my girls say.
Like others above I regard the chuggers as the "sign up with a direct debit" folks who don't actually work or volunteer for the charity. I dismiss them in seconds. I feel sympathy for the door to door folks as it must be a thankless task and will sometimes give if I like the cause.
Whatever the cause I never give to those not quite blocking your way at the supermarket exit... I hate that form of collecting.
If I go to a charity fete I will often donate as appropriate and support the stalls.
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Poppy day only.
I do donate by direct debit to a certain political party and also to their Sovereign Draw.
I also donate to the State, although not voluntarily ;-(
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We support certain charities by DD. And a few : Salvation Army and food banks..
House to house collectors? "Sorry our charity budget is fully allocated this year"
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Have to admit I'm not very charitable.
I ignore the rattle cans of canvassers outside supermarkets and the like. I ignore them even more if they prompt you to part with cash by rattling the can at you - something I believe is now not allowed?
I do Sponsor colleagues who do marathons or walks for charity though.
Something I read about in the paper the other day pulled on the heart strings though and I donated some money toward his cause (free plug coming up - sorry)
www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/335449/NHS-denied-Oliver-operation-to-help-him-walk
www.justgiving.com/stepbystep13
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 19 Sep 13 at 13:20
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I've done a reasonable amount of door-to-door, but selling programmes for carnivals & fireworks etc - all charity events (Round Table) - and never just asking for cash - except the Santa Sleigh.
We chose our estates with care, avoiding those with long drives or no money, as our manpower was limited. Most people seemed to be away on the weekend in question, even before we'd said when it was... Very few refused in the grounds of the particular charity we'd chosen... many said I won't be going but I'll buy one anyway. We were clearly Round Table members not "representatives of" which i think helped, and we even tried to send the teams to the same estates so you get recognised by a few. And the events themselves were local, and quite well known of, which helped.
It was still quite hard work to raise a few bob, but I think just straight collecting would be hard work and somewhat demoralising.
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I have a charity (hospice) I support because without donations it would close. I will also give one off donations for specific purposes or disasters etc. Other than that, I decide what to give to rather than putting my hand in my pocket for random things. There are too many 'businesses' hiding behind 'all profits to charity' where profits are irrelevant, they are running the business for the wages and the 'profit' might be 1% of revenue.
Chuggers I have nothing to do with. The chugging firm (a profit making business) will typically get anything up to your first year's donations if they sign you up on a DD. If the charity appeals to you, go home and sign up on the web.
I don't mind the local organisations, if they serve a useful purpose like bands, scouts, etc rattling the tins outside the local supermarket, and my change in the community shop goes into whichever tin appeals to me at the time - usually the same hospice I support directly.
I wouldn't normally entertain strangers asking for money at the door.
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I support a charity for a personal reason by yearly DD (RNLI), everybody else has to go without I'm afraid, door to door collecting usually happens in the evening around me and has always been at the most inopportune time which doesn't get things off to a good start.
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We only donate to the NW Air Ambulance now, by DD £4.50pm. We used to sell a book of 5 raffle tickets (sent to us after a polite enquiry 'phonecall) on behalf of the RNIB. Gradually, the polite 'phonecalls stopped, but the raffle books now started arriving twice a year (xmas and Easter) and each book now contained 10 tickets, and there were 5 of them! We sold what we could and returned any spares. shortly after we recieved a call from them wanting us to take out a £10pm DD, I refused, only to find a couple of weeks later that they had called back and "persuaded" the missus to start one for £5 pm. After a few more months, they rang to ask about the possibility of increasing oiur donation, I refused. Two days later a cardboard money-box arrived from them, now wanting us to donate any spare loose or unwanted coins from our pockets! - that was the last straw, - everything we did on their behalf was cancelled, - their greed cost them!
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>>everything we did on their behalf was cancelled, - their greed cost them!
That's a conundrum for charities. Their existing supporters give them a much better payback on fundraising efforts so sensibly that's where they look first.
Sometimes it feels as if they waste the money you were happy to give trying to get you to give more.
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>> Their existing supporters give them a much better payback on fundraising efforts so sensibly that's where they look first.
Thats one way of looking at it! ;-) to us though it made us feel that we had been identified as as a "soft-touch" and they were wanting to milk us of everything they could get from us - even down to grabbing the loose change from our pockets.
They didn't seem too bothered though when they next rang to ask why we had cancelled the DD, and we told them they were pushing too hard,"good while it lasted" seemed to be their take.
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I donate to several charities but none by DD.
I donate £££s directly so they get the gift aid
BHF get non cash donations and I get an auto report of such sales.
Our small change in a money box gets translated /topped up for the Air ambulance.
The only international one I support is ORBIS.
Small local organisations, cub scouts etc sometimes call and I will donate.
Big TV adverts do not affect my donations.
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I'll give when I want , which isn't very often on my meagre pensioner's pittance. I've contributed to many over my life including Shelter ( there, but for the grace of God, etc ) and a local animal rescue place. Currently a member of the British Heart Foundation.
I don't like the ' blackmail ' method of envelopes. When you say you've lost yours, they whip out another one and stand there until you fill it. A nearby pot of old washers helps there.
Chuggers can be put off by speaking with a Scottish/Yorkshire accent and wearing a huge tartan Tam o Shanter.
Ted
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I pick and choose but very rarely give to street collections , occasionally give at the door and am a long time member of an organisation which supports several charities , regular posters will know what organisation I am talking about.
In addition to the above ....
Personally, I support the Royal Marsden Hospital who looked after my sister in her final months.... several hundred pounds was raised for them a few years back by sponsoring me slimming....I lost over two stone but its all back on now..
I also support the Salvation Army who looked after my brother when he suffered a breakdown..... I did a sponsored row of 10K on the local gym rowing machine ...
and I support a friend who works as hospital chaplain but she receives virually no help from NHS for the valuable pastoral work she does . several hundred pound raised in a raffle of donated gifts ( prizes such as helicopter ride etc)... ....
I have held a collection tin outside a supermarket on a busy Saturday and I thought I must have become invisible......
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"I support the Royal Marsden Hospital who looked after my sister in her final months..."
Similarly as what Helicopter said - Over the final couple of years that she lived, my little sis was looked after and assisted by a local charity and I supported them to the tune of several thousand pounds. I know where the money went and who else benefited.
I wouldn't give a single penny to any faceless charities and fundraisers. Sorry, but I just don't trust any big organisations. I'm sick and tired of those day-time ads asking for £2 a month. I don't answer the door to anyone I'm not expected and chuggers can get screwed.
If you want to give financial support, get involved. Properly involved.
By the way Helicopter, Salvation Army supported me too. They delivered me exactly 46 years, 12 hours ago, in Ancoats, Manchester.
Happy birthday me!
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Happy Birthday BBD.
It's a pity it's too late now, but if you'd told us beforehand we could have sent you a birthday card and expensive present.
;-)
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A credit card and a rolled up twenty?
Cheers Kevin!
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Last week I dropped some books into a Help the Aged shop, or whatever they're called these days, and the lady said that when they write to you to tell you your item has sold and for how much - which I don't care about but they apparently have to - they do have cases where people ask for the money back.
That seems more than a trifle uncharitable, to be honest.
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This is a difficult one for me because I see it from both sides as no doubt Tyro does and it would be unfair for me to dodge an answer.
The PDF is an exceptionally small charity with just seven Trustees and all of us work full time (apart from who works almost fulltime this year!).
We do all the fundraising ourselves but it's something I'm always uncomfortable with.
Next weekend will see Ian & I here
truckblog.co.uk/2013/06/25/gathering-of-the-griffin-show-2013/
There is no entry fee so we have been invited to stand at the gate with buckets asking for donations and we all appreciate the opportunity to help our funds. The oncoming winter is always our busiest time anyway.
However I shall be very uneasy as I know I will see people dropping money in the bucket who obviously can't afford it, but feel obliged to.
We have a Just Giving page and have had quite a good income from people being prepared to be sponsored to raise funds for us.
We also have a couple of regular monthly donations from haulage related firms who believe in what we do and want to give a bit back to the industry they love.
We run a Christmas Raffle begging prizes, which is extremely hard to do, from lorry main dealers and suchlike but it means the raffle tickets have to be posted out to everyone and it is getting more costly to do. (could really use a helicopter ride!)
Another trucking forum has adopted us as their charity and run an annual auction for us which is excellent and it also means we get a good Press coverage for anything we do.
....but I always feel we are asking the same supporters yet again, to support us.
None of the Trustees ever takes a penny in expenses and we all give our time freely so no-one is 'employed' or paid in any way.
As this takes so much of our own resources and time we tend not to give much to other charities.
The only doorstep one is our local village 'good soul' who comes round with poppies and to have a look at the fishpond while he's here.
Ian donates to the Air Ambulance via their lottery and I always buy my calenders and Christmas cards from the RNLI shop in Looe.
Somehow though we can never manage to pass a collection tin for anything related to cancer without donating.
For a time I did do a monthly donation to The Dogs Trust but stopped it when they sent me raffle tickets with enormous cash prizes. I thought my money was going to help dogs, not to give away to lucky winners.
All unwanted items go to the Sally Army shop or the Cat Welfare shop.
....and I did get caught for £20 for a lovely drawing of Polperro the other day. The lad who knocked on the door was deaf and had everything printed on a card he wanted to say. He was raising money for his college place and I felt sorry for him after all his work and he was delighted when I asked him to sign it:)
Pat
Last edited by: pda on Thu 19 Sep 13 at 15:49
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>> their greed cost them!
In our case it was their attitude.
We gave a reasonable donation to one well known charity a Christmas or two ago and then the 'phone calls started, so Mrs CS, as ever in polite mode, told them that it was unlikely that we would be making a further donation until the following Christmas.
Now, you might have expected a response along the lines of 'thank you very much - we'll look forward to that', but instead, the 'phone was slammed down and we have heard nothing from them since.
Very much their loss. They'll not see another penny from us.
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>>or whatever they're called these days,
Age UK
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I never, ever, give to 'door to door' callers or chuggers.
We all have our own favourite charities...most of mine are small, local ones staffed by non paid volunteers.
I do sometimes take notice of larger charities when they have an exhibition, or display, of their good works in a supermarket entrance. But I hate being approached and asked for money.
Which reminds me...Oct 1st is the start of 'free will month'. My will needs seriously updating to include a few more charities, and delete others (and people) and risking thread drift I will not pay a small fortune to a solicitor. There are plenty of cheaper options.
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>>>....and I did get caught for £20 for a lovely drawing of Polperro the other day. The lad who knocked on the door was deaf and had everything printed on a card he wanted to say. He was raising money for his college place and I felt sorry for him after all his work and he was delighted when I asked him to sign it:)
Caught is the operative word here... do you have a loft full of "genuine leather" jackets bought in fuel stations?
In my old job our business was often working in a street for a week or more at a time and in certain areas where they thought they would stand a good chance of scoring these types would be dropped off by a rough van or car kept well out of sight from the punters.
I genuinely hope yours is an original pencil sketch but these guys were selling good photocopies that looked original on the doorstep.
See this...
www.hertford.net/yoursay/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6221
And this..
www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Man-lied-deafness-help-sell-paintings/story-12938923-detail/story.html#axzz2fLsAOB6n
And this...
www.hounslowchronicle.co.uk/west-london-news/local-hounslow-news/2010/11/25/have-you-been-scammed-by-sketchy-artist-109642-27718395/
You are too kind Pat!
Last edited by: Fenlander on Thu 19 Sep 13 at 16:15
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It does sound very much like the first link Fenlander:(
He did seem to try and talk though and just made funny noises...
I just hope that if it was a scam then karma will get him in the end.
I sort of wish you hadn't told me that!
Pat
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Pat I'm genuinely sorry to have flagged it up but they will sometimes return to a willing victim.
The time I mentioned they were about when we were working in the street they were in a very upmarket area with many elderly widows. After we realised their game we saw them off... for that week at least.
On another occasionI had a similar scam attempted by a caller at our fen place. When I went out in the car half an hour later I saw him down the road at the house of a vunerable elderly lady. I stopped and told him to leave the village. He argued he was "legal" so I said phone your boss on your mobile so I can speak to him.
Amazingly he did and handed me the phone and this guy with a Polish/Russian type accent tried to justify what they were up to. Told him I would call the police if they stayed about and within a few minutes the "gangmaster" turned up in a scruffy minibus thing and picked him up.
I have parents in their 80s whio are just getting vunerable and I hate this type of thing.
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I appreciate it really Fenlander, it's just that no-one likes to feel they have been duped, do they?
Pat
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>>>no-one likes to feel they have been duped, do they?
No... a bit like paying a hefty car insurance premium in the belief they will uphold your side when it gets tricky... but they just love the 50-50 to save the admin.
Hopeless thread drift but just received a mail that's put me through the roof and going to cost us enough for a house full of your pictures.
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I'm sorry if this sounds mean, but i've reached saturation point with all of them.
You can't watch telly without pleading eyes looking at you, aural versions are now infecting the radio text this text that and leave the NSPCC some dosh when you kick the bucket, you can't even have a pee at the MSA without staring at some poster pleading, i've had enough.
I give to charites of my choice, preferably for the benefit of older people and the Sally Ann always gets my money, i now avoid others like the plague.
I wouldn't mind if our useless apparatchiks hadn't p'd up to £10billion (if the news is to be believed) on a cancelled supercomputer system for the NHS, that money should be clawed back from the pension pots and golden handstands of all who had fingers in the pie right up to the top and then gifted to British charities...breath not held.
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"He did seem to try and talk though and just made funny noises..."
Keep him 'talking' at the door while your hubby sneaks behind and pops a huge balloon.
If he craps himself, it's a scam.
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The company I work for chose a charity to support each year. The new years graduate intake have to agree to spend 10% of their time supporting this activity so I often get tapped up for money in some form or another. At least over the last few years they have been charity's that I would otherwise support.
A little while back we had a door knocker representing SCOPE. Told me he was just establishing if we would be prepared to support them in the future. I said maybe, to which he asked if he could take my name and address to confirm that he had spoken to me........and then could he have my bank details "to confirm my identity" Politely told him no and said I wasn't impressed by his stealth way to complete a direct debit mandate. He looked a bit sheepish and left. I emailed SCOPE to complain about the tactics being used by their collectors but never received a reply
I prefer supporting smaller local charities - I always feel that the money is more wisely used rather than spent on highly paid execs and slick advertising.
Mrs B sponsors a child, but I'm yet to be convinced this is wise use of 20 odd quid a month
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>> I emailed SCOPE to complain about the tactics being used by their collectors but never received a reply
But he didn't work for SCOPE so they couldn't follow up. SCOPE will have paid one of the 'chugger' companies to sign people up for direct debit donations. The 'employees' are basically self-employed and just get commission - so for many that could mean no income at all. One marketing group operating like this is Cobra Group and their franchises.
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If any of you lot are believers and are expecting to sitteth upon a certain Deity's right hand when the time comes, there may well be a bit of consideration regarding camels and needles to undertake.
It's the reason I reckon the cloudy/harp infested half of the afterlife probably resembles the terraces at Fulham in about 1994. A couple of tramps and plenty of room to mooch about in.
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Thanks to everybody for your answers and comments.
The comments on this thread have been informative, helpful and thoughtful (and even thought-provoking), and have surpassed my expectations.
As well as having been helped, I have been most impressed.
(All in all, the quality of the comments indicates something of the real strength of this forum. And there has been impressively little thread drift!!)
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Here's a little bit of thread drift, but still un-charitable:
Our Spar has got one of those sponsored exercise bike fund-raisers pedalling away this week.
Unfortunately it is positioned right in the entrance lobby, meaning they have reduced the size of the newspaper stand (no broadsheets this week) and getting to their pre-packed rolls and sandwiches involves an obstacle course avoiding the perilously-spinning unguarded back wheel of the bike.
It's very irritating for customers, and they must have lost a lot of their quick snack office worker lunchtime business.
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>> and getting to their pre-packed rolls and
>> sandwiches involves an obstacle course
Thats the dietary part of the keep fit week.
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opinions please - charity fundraising & chuggers - bathtub tom
