Donated and then got unsolicited phone calls.

dj1

Sorry I don't know where to put this or even if this is the right site but I really feel I need to put this out there.

I saw an advert on TV last week for the plight of women in foreign countries who are denied schooling and forced into marriages.

To help, it said to text a donation of £3. I've done this many times before and find it an easy, hassle free way to sporadically give money to various charities.

I was angry and shocked to receive a text back saying they would be calling me soon to discuss my donation more. There was no STOP or opt out option.

I had 2 missed calls last week until I finally answered one today when they asked me for more money.

I told them that I would now never donate again to a text number and that they have spoilt it for other charities in the future. She wasn't listening to me and was extremely pushy. I ended up having to put the phone down on her.

I then found the company involve (plan-uk) and spoke to one of their supervisors. She agreed with everything I said and said it was a marketing company acting on their behalf. She apologised and said she would remove my number. I explained that that doesn't solve the problem. I enjoyed giving to charities in this way but because of this selfish, greedy and short sighted behaviour I will never do so again as I no longer trust the system. She understood and agreed with me. I got the impression she was a nice person who wasn't in a position to help me.

I put my gripe as a message on Facebook and a few of my friends said they have been through the same thing.

Let's say I give £50 a year this way and 1000 people like me are put off by this. That's £250,000. But I think this is the tip of the iceberg. I think this could be costing charities millions.

I don't feel I can just leave it there but I don't know what else I can do. Any suggestions?

Sabato

At Christmas time I like to make a donation to a particular charity. I gave money to both the RSPCA and the NSPCC and ended up getting numerous phone calls from both.

All I wanted to do was make a one off donation and sadly I was bombarded with all their marketing guff. I've chosen not to donate to either since.

jackyann

This happens a lot.
I contacted the Charities Commission some years ago (when it was mainly postal soliciting) because an elderly relative became very distressed by the constant demands for money. She was really confused in an everyday sense, but did believe the guff about "saving" a dog or a child etc.etc.

I then contacted all the charities individually (about 35!) and told the them that they would get NOTHING if they contacted us in this distressing way. Some took that on board, others didn't. I persuaded my relative to do regular donations and ignore every other charity. I also told the charities she did donate to that if I found out they had passed details on, the donations would stop. They way we did this was by writing the name or address in a slightly distinctive way.

I was also aware of large charities taking local or national government contracts and not really sticking to their stated aims.

As a result of this we decided to stop donating routinely to larger charities. We donate to local causes, and of course support friends, especially young people doing sponsored things.
we decide instead (and I do know this wouldn't suit everyone) to buy fair trade goods whenever possible and to take into account ethical issues for all of our purchases. This isn't clear cut (as anyone who takes this stance will tell you!) but we do our best!

Savvy_Sue

I don't know if it's worth submitting a complaint / comment to the Institute of Fundraising, I'd be surprised if Plan weren't signed up to their Code of Conduct, although there's no requirement to do so.

davmail

This happened to me a while ago,donated to a charity,made a monthly donation by D/D,later got phone calls,one of which asked me if all the direct debit details were correct,which they were,and lo and behold,a week later a 2nd direct debit was set up!!!! I cancelled BOTH and now no longer give this way,i now donate to charities who are at my local supermarket collecting.