collecting door to door

fedupnow

Hi everybody.

I have agreed to take part in a local charities 'meet the street' fundraising campaign.

I have my i.d. & tin sorted etc and have already done a couple of hours.

My 'problem' is I am really hating it. I want to do it, the charity is very close to my heart and people generally are being very nice, even if they don't give. I have only had a few who have been rude and only one who has actually tried to chase me away.

Unfortunately, it is the 'few' and the 'one' that has been playing on my head. I know I shouldn't take it personally but why can't they just say no politely? I am sat here today wondering if I can face going out and doing it again... but without people's donations this very worthwhile charity would fold.

I am always very polite, apologise for disturbing them, thank them on leaving whatever they do/don't give etc....

Should there be any other people who are experienced at this sort of collecting.... how do you cope with being called an 'f'ing beggar' and 'scrounging minge'? How do you work up the courage to knock on more doors?

Gawd... I wish I was one of those big, brave, confident people.

paulwf

Could you drop leaflets around the day before explaining what the charity does and when you will be collecting? Not sure if it will make a difference but it could be worth a trial.

If your charity group has enough volunteers my advice would be to do a weekend of bag packing at a supermarket. Ideally you want a town centre store where you get a high throughput of customers at the tills rather than out of town stores where people do their big weekly shops. At the M&S I work out with 5 normal tills and 3 express one group managed to collect £1,000 in a weekend although many Saturday collections can still get £500 just covering the peak hours.

To do it really well you need someone on the door, someone co-ordinating with a display explaining the charity, and a packer on each till. If you want to do it properly and cover the whole weekend you'll need some extra people to cover breaks. Avoid using younger children as bags do need to be packed properly and quickly, and make sure everyone is fully briefed about what they are collecting for. Less people will be required on the Sunday.

It will be a hard weekend but as I say 10 or so people can raise £1,000 with no outlay, and if your cause is a local one and you can prove the money is spent wisely (customers will ask for details) you won't get any abuse at all.

chickmug

You should enjoy and get satisfaction from working for a charity. I always used to. But if this collecting causes stress you are better not doing this apsect but finding others ways you can help as it does not get better.

SUESMITH_2

i did this once, but never again for exactly the reasons you say - do it this time but dont put yourself through it again

Errata

Sounds like door to door voluntary work is not for you. Is there something else you could do for the charity that would suit your abilities and temperament better ?

PlutoinCapricorn

Don't do it. There are other ways of raising money that perhaps you could help with.

Does the charity get local government grants? Does it apply to charitable trusts and foundations? The Charity Commission is developing a model whereby local charities will operate under the umbrella of and be funded by a national body. Is your charity looking into this?

Has your charity got a page on Justgiving?

fedupnow

Thanks for the replies everybody.

I have the flu at the moment so have to stay home anyway. The licence only lasts for two weeks so I may not get chance to go again. If I do feel better before the licence expires, I shall give it another crack and then explain to them that I would rather help in other ways.

It does receive some govt funding but I think it is about 80% has to come from donations. It runs a lottery and has a website etc. Fortunately it has some large and very generous sponsors that keep it afloat, but times are tough and the need for it is never going to go away - they provide a hospice at home service for the terminally ill.

I have learned a lot about myself and other people. It really is true that those with the least tend to give the most. At least it is those that appear to have a lot that give next to nothing - I suppose they could be having it very hard really........ see! I never used to label people.... it's making me all judgemental and spiteful. It's not for me at all. I shall opt to push paper around or sort the bins or whatever instead.

I'm going back to bed now - dizzy and queasy

Thanks again.

Just a quick edit to say that yes it has been diagnosed as THE flu but self medication only as I have no underlying problems.

warehouse

I absolutely hate anyone knocking on my door asking for things. If I want to give to charity I will, (and do), so someone knocking on my door asking me for money is bl**dy annoying. Why? Well first of all I always feel like some big tightwad if I don't give them anything, plus when I say no, or I tell them I already give to charity then I can quite clearly see it in their eyes that I'm not believed or they've heard it all before. So I sit there for the next 20 minutes feeling like cr*p because some stranger knocked at my door. It also doesn't seem to bother some folk that I'm in the middle of eating my dinner, sometimes the only 10 minutes I get to myself.

So don't knock on doors, the people who give don't want to, they're just being bullied into it, no matter how nice you're being. People who chase you or are rude have 100% that right to do it, YOU knocked on THEIR door, they didn't come looking for you.

The person with the leaflet idea was spot on. It's not in people's faces, it's not disturbing people and they can make a decision without some pillock standing there with a bucket.

PlutoinCapricorn

I have worked in fundraising for a hospice myself. I believe that the government gives around 33% of the running costs, the rest needs to be raised elsewhere. They never did door to door fundraising, although they did visit some commercial places. They tried to fund their additional services by applying to charitable trusts & foundations. Freemasons were generous too, as were local businesses. They had many fundraising events and challenge events. They had a big legacy fundraising programme. Any donations raised by ad hoc collections were an extra, not relied on for keeping the hospice in existence.

They continually put out the message that the hospice was there to help the community, so it should be supported as local people might need it some day for themselves or friends and family.

Do you know about Help the Hospices? Are you getting local businesses to sign up their staff for payroll giving? There is a Yahoo group hospice_fundraising that might be useful.

Get well soon! And don't feel bad about the door to door collections: it takes a certain type of personality, not everyone will be able to cope with difficult people. In any case, there are so many cold callers that people are reaching zero tolerance.

GiveItBack

door to door, and street collecting really isn't for everyone. Even if you really care about the charity, not everyone can just ask someone for money (even if its for someone else / a charity)

Don't feel bad about it, just chalk it up as a learing experience. The hospice fundraising team should be very understanding. I'd simply go back*, tell them that you tried at the start - found it really hard, have had the flu since, and so have done what you could. BUT, point out, that you want to help in other ways, and maybe they could suggest something that doesn't involve this kind of thing.

They might take stands and run tombolas at summer fayres, or do supermarket collections and need volunteers for them. They might want help with writing letters to trusts - it depends on the organisation which parts of the work they have and don't. They ay even want help running events.

Anything involving cold calling is tough, as is the direct ask for money. Door to door work used to be something I was great at - now I can do it, but my skills are beter placed elsewhere.

Well done for trying, now rest, and when recovered, go back and find a way to help that suits you.

All the best

GIB.

*maybe drop them a line to tell them you're unwell and unlikely to be able to go out much more - in case they have soneone else that can

Samannie

I once worked as a charity fundraiser, or 'chugger' as it's otherwise known, getting people to sign up to monthly donations by direct debit- I wouldn't mind betting this is worse than going door to door but I really do feel your pain- I only lasted three weeks and it felt like three years! I am sure you could help the charity in a way that doesn't involve knocking on doors- then everyone's a winner! It's not worth doing it if it makes you unhappy. Good luck.