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First off, I’d like to say that I know that in general they do a good job. I have frequently given time and money to charities in the past myself and I still think that they are a worthwhile cause.
However, my gripe with charities has been triggered by recently having to run the gauntlet several times at a London tube station, as well as a round of recent visits from the charity workers who call on your doorstep. The tin shakers at the entrance to the tube usually aren’t a problem and I have in the past been more than willing to throw some change into the tin and carry on with my journey.
I think that their fundraising methods however, have become a bit more aggressive in recent times. Although, maybe that is too strong a word, perhaps it would be more correct to say that they have taken the initiative to be more ‘interactive’ with the general public.
Anyway, when you use public transport as often as I do, it gets very irritating when you are repeatedly stopped, often by the same person and asked if you “can you spare some time†for whatever charity. Sometimes more than one charity can be found “manning the gatesâ€, and it feels to me like they are trying to push the public conscience a just little too hard!
Another aspect of charity fundraising that I find annoying are collectors that turn up on your doorstep, even though you declined to support their cause the month before. For example, that Christian Aid guy the other evening that came knocking on my door. I sent him away last month but he came back this week so I told him the envelope had probably been thrown away with the recycling. End of story, but no, he asked me if I wanted another one. I should think I would have asked for one if I wanted one. The say charity begins at home, but do they want to move in now as well?
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I simply buy stuff from charity shops, that way I'm not just handing over money for the sake of it. Charities would do better if they had a raffle system so that you feel that there's something in it for you when you donate. You wouldn't expect to necessarily win but you might be encouraged to give if it puts you in a prize draw
24/11/16 ahforfoulkessake
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When I lived in huddersfield there put something in place saying any fundraisers are not allowed to approach people walking around within 3 feet they have to wait for person to approach them.
If someone approches me they are very bouncy about it which I like I normally say i like your enthuasim however I am in a rush ( i give to charities either by volunteering or lose change in tins)
20/10/14 Mr H
If someone approches me they are very bouncy about it which I like I normally say i like your enthuasim however I am in a rush ( i give to charities either by volunteering or lose change in tins)
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Sean
I followed your link.
Why do you think people would donate money to you on your begging page when you give no information on which charity you intend to volunteer for and no details of any kind?
29/08/14 Zanni
I followed your link.
Why do you think people would donate money to you on your begging page when you give no information on which charity you intend to volunteer for and no details of any kind?
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You can always ignore chuggers, don't 'justify' yourself or say you already donate, don't get angry with them and tell them to sod off, don't tell them you're in a hurry, don't say anything to them and completely blank them, that approach works fine for me, lucklily at home we have a private access gate and a wall with anti climb paint, useful for keeping away unwanted callers and religious nutters, we do get unsolicited phone calls, I refuse to deal with foreign call centres anyway so that's not a problem, if I ever get phone calls from banks, insurance companies etc, I just hang up on them, once you engage in conversation salespeople see it as a sign of interest or weakness, don't acknowledge these people and they will annoy someone else instead.
25/01/14 Tired and emotional
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Just read this in Wisconsin, USA. This year we have midterm elections all over the nation, and my husband and I donate what we can. But the begging calls and letters have already started. In Wisconsin, there is a state "do not call" list, but of course charities and political groups are exempt. The phone parasite are the worst.
25/01/14 CJ
-2
Well there you go that's today's Great Britain for you - a place where hard working taxpayers get squeezed not once but twice or 3 times or more. Our t1ts have already been squeezed purple by the government in order to pay for the work-shys and yet still the charities just can't leave us alone can they? Why don't they go ask the multi-millionaires for money instead? Oh yeah because those people are hard to find - they live in mansions with locked gates and they are probably sipping champagne on a yacht somewhere in the Mediterranean. It's just much easier to pester you average working people around and make you look bad if you don't give.
03/10/13 Mark
-2
All you have to do is blank them, just totally ignore them, how difficult is that?
01/06/13 Chug off
-6
I would like to add that the British public is extremely generous as seen in the amount of money that is raised for tsunamis, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. However, I think charities are taking advantage of kind-hearted people. Add to this the fact that the Government already spends an awful lot on sending aid overseas - why do taxpayers need to pay yet again? I do worry about the fact that a lot of overseas aid ends up in the pockets of despots and dictators. Also, some countries, like India, which receive British aid, spend money on nuclear weapons. They must be laughing at us!
25/10/12 Disillusioned in Swansea
-1
I recently gave £2 to charity via my mobile. Since then, I have been getting daily calls from an organisation that 'calls people on behalf of charities'. It's getting annoying now as I just wanted to make a one-off donation. Now, if I answer, they try to persuade me to give more. I've put their number on my screened calls list but it still shows that they are calling me every day. Someone in my family isn't very well and every time I see a missed call, I start to worry. I just feel that this is a kind of harrassment. I was quite happy to donate the first time but do wish that they would leave me alone now.
25/10/12 Disillusioned in Swansea
0
What irritates me is what I call the "begging bowls" set out at the checkouts of some supermarkets at half term time in the UK, a youngster with a bucket for some charity money will offer to help you pack your shopping, if you refuse you are made to feel guilty.....this is nothing more than organised begging...I always refuse, I prefer to select the charities I support, and I will not be bullied, emotionally or otherwise, into giving money for something I don't happen to think is important in the larger scheme of life!
16/07/12 sulia
-4
I don't even humour charity collectors now, nor do I give on a personal basis privately any more, as I once used to. There have been far too many scams, instances of commercial companies raking off profits, dubious clothing collections that turn out to actually be for commercial companies rather than for the charities they claim to be collecting for when you look at the small print on the bags, etc, etc, etc.
If the charity sector wants to tolerate these lowlife tactics, then my choice is to give up on charity altogether. I have personal experience, as I'm sure many others do too, of aggressive charity collectors harassing me in the street and coming to my door, demanding my bank details, and then it transpires they don't even work for a charity, but for commercial organisations that charities have allowed to collect in their name for a measly slice of money they manage to extort from honest people with good intentions.
The minute some charities decided to behave in the underhand ways above that characterise 'charity' nowadays (and it's tended to be the larger charities that I once supported such as the Salvation Army and Amnesty that have gone down this ill-advised route ), was the minute I decided to stop supporting them in any way whatsoever, including via anonymous donation. These days, I don't even try to establish whether a charity is on the level or not; it's not worth my time. I've been so sickened by greedy commercial companies and their equally-unethical 'charity' partners that I wont give a brown penny to any of them any more. They can go to hell as far as I'm concerned - they've brought the lack of trust and public interest that noe exists between them and the public at large on themselves.
16/05/12 Rachel
If the charity sector wants to tolerate these lowlife tactics, then my choice is to give up on charity altogether. I have personal experience, as I'm sure many others do too, of aggressive charity collectors harassing me in the street and coming to my door, demanding my bank details, and then it transpires they don't even work for a charity, but for commercial organisations that charities have allowed to collect in their name for a measly slice of money they manage to extort from honest people with good intentions.
The minute some charities decided to behave in the underhand ways above that characterise 'charity' nowadays (and it's tended to be the larger charities that I once supported such as the Salvation Army and Amnesty that have gone down this ill-advised route ), was the minute I decided to stop supporting them in any way whatsoever, including via anonymous donation. These days, I don't even try to establish whether a charity is on the level or not; it's not worth my time. I've been so sickened by greedy commercial companies and their equally-unethical 'charity' partners that I wont give a brown penny to any of them any more. They can go to hell as far as I'm concerned - they've brought the lack of trust and public interest that noe exists between them and the public at large on themselves.
3
I was in Oxford street when I was approached by charity workers, about four volunteers who each were working on an unfortunate passerby. Unlucky for me I didn't noticed them and suddenly came face to face with unwanted interaction. At first she was talking about the charity but I wasn't paying much attention and at the end of her boring revision of words I took out my spare change. Then she said she didn't want it in coins but in paper. What?!! Then she repeated, "I want it in paper, you know, in notes." I had no notes just coins after buying food for myself and wasn't expecting to be harrassed by a leecher. She then gave me a rude look and was unappreciative at the amount of (£2 and something) but took it anyway. As I was leaving, one of the volunteers flashed a £20 note to the one I spoked to. I bet the 'generous donater' felt like a real sucker. Be careful and just say NO if you are out and about in London hotspots. They are not worth your precious time.
15/02/12 Pointless
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I usually pretend to be deaf and wave my hands about in make believe sign language. I have never known one not to back off in a hurry yet.
25/09/11 Insomniac
2
Charities have become a scourge, both on and off the streets. It they are not hassling you in droves around the town centre, then they are pushing plastic bags through your front door, and even worse, knocking it and in a round about way, asking for your cash! Even the TV news has become a selling point for charities. Find an issue, get it reported and a couple of days later hang around the streets hassling people with the opening selling line ''Did you see the report on TV?'' If I gave money to every charity collector who bothered me, then I would have to set up my own charity to support it. I have given to charity and I still do...but harassing people in the streets and on the doorsteps will only put people off giving. It is a step backwards.
14/07/11 Dunc -Wolverhampton
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Taff Kerby
Legislation must be introduced to curb this blatant abuse of trust....in the name of Charity