VENT On street charity workers

Reverbe

missesther wrote: »

Ok I'm going to get shot down now but I feel much the same way about Comic Relief and Children in Need. I like that they're raising money for others but they're essentially charities taking money to distribute to other charities. Why can't I choose which of those charities gets my money and how much of it?

Please tell me I'm wrong and actually they're a charity that are doing something unique compared to the other ones and I won't feel like such a grumpy woman.

I dont give to Children In Need. Now get ready to call me a callous bleeder , dont you care about the kids etc.. but I will tell you this. Years ago my dad was a headteacher of a small primary in a large Northern town.Locally one school (not his i hasten to add) had recieved money from Children In Need and used it to do up the staffroom with a new kettle , microwave and the like. Have since never given to CIN and never will.

vikingaero

Originally Posted by missesther
Ok I'm going to get shot down now but I feel much the same way about Comic Relief and Children in Need. I like that they're raising money for others but they're essentially charities taking money to distribute to other charities. Why can't I choose which of those charities gets my money and how much of it? Please tell me I'm wrong and actually they're a charity that are doing something unique compared to the other ones and I won't feel like such a grumpy woman.

Reverbe wrote: »

I dont give to Children In Need. Now get ready to call me a callous bleeder , dont you care about the kids etc.. but I will tell you this. Years ago my dad was a headteacher of a small primary in a large Northern town.Locally one school (not his i hasten to add) had recieved money from Children In Need and used it to do up the staffroom with a new kettle , microwave and the like. Have since never given to CIN and never will.

Thing is, no one forces you to watch CIN or Comic Relief. You can change channels or switch off. The CIN/CR fundraisers I've seen in the street are often no more proactive than charity volunteers holding a tin.

The chuggers on the other hand invade you space, accost you and attempt to stop you. I've been in deep conversation with a friend and mongtard-chugger will butt in - that's just plain rude.

liz_uk

Got accosted today by a girl with pink hair who jumped in front of me, arms out stretched shouting `how are youuuuuuuuuuuu today`...

It is very annoying!

Markb06

lexuslass wrote: »

Off the subject of on street charity people but Sainsburys are terrible for this!

You walk around the store and there always seems to be someone trying to get you to change energy supplier or a credit card trying to get you to sign up.

The two local ones I go to (Tamworth and Burton upon Trent) allow the charity bucket people to hover right inside/outside their doors.... I find it almost impossible to be able to ignore them - nowadays, I always conveniently seem to be on my phone in mid conversation (with no-one!!) as I am walking out of the store

Just hope no one actually calls you then

Markb06

I was on the phone in the pouring rain and still had a charity person jump in front of me. I gave her a look and she wondered off to someone else.

I did note they umbrellas so they could sign people up with out getting wet.

hcb42

Reverbe wrote: »

Im guessing the answer will be a heck of a lot less than 130K a year.. jeebus how much do ppl need to live on??:eek::eek::eek:

I would have a guess at a similar amount of money as the market requires to get an experienced MD, strategist and people manager for an organisation of a similar size turning over 50 million!

£130K for a large charity like Shelter, does not therefore surprise, any more than the salary of Sainsbury's would surprise me.

paddyrg

I do hope someone from one of the major charities has a read of this thread and sees how much damage they're doing to their reputations by associating with chugger companies. It may mean they cajole more cash in the short term, but the long term brand damage is pretty huge.

BoGoF

hcb42 wrote: »

I would have a guess at a similar amount of money as the market requires to get an experienced MD, strategist and people manager for an organisation of a similar size turning over 50 million!

£130K for a large charity like Shelter, does not therefore surprise, any more than the salary of Sainsbury's would surprise me.

The difference is the MD of Sainsbury's is answerable to it's shareholders. Who is the MD of Shelter answerable to? Again, it's about public perception, would Joe Public be keen to donate to shelter if they knew where the first £130k of donations were going?

frivolous_fay

I nearly walked into a bunch of teens spraying fizzy drink around in my attempt to avoid a set of chuggers. I must be losing my mind.
They hunt in packs here and you have to give them a stupidly wide berth or they come after you anyway.
They take the fun out of shopping.

Professional

paddyrg wrote: »

I don't think anyone is arguing against giving to charities, or even street collections and campaigns, but about the highly scripted pushy sales techniques chuggers are paid to use on us - methods that would be immediately deemed unacceptable if it was a private company using them to sell magazine subscriptions, for instance. But the fact that the charities do use commercial companies to bully charity subscriptions out of people is what people object to, see the reasons given above.

If a charity wants to put volunteers out for a tin shake, I will very happily give usually, and talk with the passionate volunteer about why it means so much to them, and maybe get enthused myself. But chuggers are out with an ulterior motive, pay lip service to the charities support, but are really there to earn £8-odd an hour and make more money for their employers, the charities getting the leftovers.

Charity is an important sector, it is the commercial deception that upsets people and leaves them feeling betrayed, burning up valuable goodwill in the process.

Some people are quite clearly arguing against giving to charity and theres generally a lack of understanding around how it all works.

If you see my original post I accept that the paid chuggers use unacceptable techniques at times. I agree with you on this point, if you want to give it should be your choice and not shoved down your throat. Everyone in this thread seems to understand this, not everyone seems to understand that charities are facing £3 billion in cuts over the next 5 years and therefore they are obliged to do something to try and increase their income.

Commercial deception is arguably a tenant of capitalism. This is the society we live in. Virgin tells you £10 a month for your TV, Internet and Telephone. It's deception, realistically you pay £10 a month for 6 months after that its £20 and you pay an extra £15 or so for line rental so £10 becomes £35. But if they said £35 in their advertising then Virgin wouldn't be Virgin. The same way MacMillian Cancer Support tell you £5 a month for cancer support realistically anywhere between 10% and 50% goes on admin - but wages, bills, transport costs etc all are a necessary yet less glamourous part of the equation.