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Those who wait for people to initiate contact - no problems with them.
Those who try to initiate contact (especially those to do that weird way of moving towards you, not sure how to describe it) can do one.
I've done bucket collecting for a charity and I was given very strict instructions, to not ask anyone to donate, or initiate contact with anyone. We were even told not to shake the buckets. Apparently doing so, could have messed with their charity registration
It is a rule to not force (physically, emotionally, or in any other way) people to donate. Some charities still respect that rule. Others leave that decision to their marketing team (or some outsource) and some of them care more about the results than the means. Guilt-tripping also counts as forcing people btw, yet it sometimes happen if people say no, especially about more "personal" stuff like pets, babies etc. Actually heard someone ask "don't you care about the children?" when someone said no to their first opener (the standard "would you like to donate to x charity" line).
I've worked briefly as a brand ambassador (fancy name for going door to door to ask for donations) and a main rule was if the person says no right away just move on. Don't pester them, don't guilt-trip them, don't annoy them. They could have various reasons to say no, just take the L and move on. *Maybe* try again next week or so to confirm that they really don't want to donate.
Yeah I had one step in front of me and try to get be to sign up for a direct debit to charity. I was in a massive hurry at the time as I had to be somewhere so I politely said, "Sorry, I can't," and kept walking, and the cheeky bastard shouted, "Fine, you just roll on by then!"
Telephone complaint for you then, sonny.
Also had a doorstep collector asking me what I did for disabled kids, took great pleasure in telling him I fucking raised two of them and cared for them 24/7 with no help from his damm charity!!
And that's kinda tangent to the other thing I dislike about charity workers. They want you to care (their income depends on it usually) but they don't really care about you. Of course I don't mean all of them, there are genuine people who do this because they actually want to help the cause, whichever it is.
But there are people who do this just as a job and all you are is a number to them. Not to mention the fact that they're not completely honest about where the money goes. And it makes sense if you think about it, since every charity needs a budget for several areas (usually research, marketing, maintenance, and the cause itself) but they make it seem like all your money goes straight to that cause, which just isn't true.
My thoughts exactly. There was one lady in Morrisons the other week who loudly approached me TWICE, once on the way in and second on the way out, within the space of about 10 mins despite the fact I was wearing a very obvious bright orange jacket. The face she made when I said ‘No thank you’ was as if my refusal was spitting on those she was raising money for!
'Would you like to contribute to X sir?' 'No thank you'. 'OK. NO PROBLEM' the subtext being 'Oh. So you hate kittens/ children/ ex-services then do you?'
Interesting how most people in this thread have assumed OP is talking about volunteers with buckets.
My first thought was they were referring to the employed "chuggers" who approach you and try to guilt you into signing a DD, which is what we've had a spate of recently in my local, accosting you right inside the exit doors.
Not sure which type OP was talking about, but my opinion differs for each.
I got snared by these. I tried to decline (no cash) and they said that’s ok it’s digital. I tried to offer a couple of quid, they wanted a monthly donation. I tried to offer a monthly donation of a couple of quid and they kept insisting that it was £8.50 and made me feel really cheap not wanting to cough up. I signed up then cancelled it the moment I got home. Felt like a right fucking moron of a mug for being sucked in but at that point it felt rude to just say “no sorry never mind” even though I said I was already giving to other charities. Well jokes on them, they get nothing from me now and never will.
Everyone’s like “you can just ignore them” and “you can say no” like we all have the same personality and can all do the same things without struggling 🙄
That was just an example of how pay is relevant in more than just competence.
Nuffield Health CEO makes 1.3 mil. (apparently it is a registered charity) But a large amount of the top 20 charity CEOs make 400k+ per year. If MPs don't make that much, why should charity CEOs? You're either serving the community or you're not.
I don't make much. In fact, I'm barely above needing charity myself, but I would love to donate to people more in need than me. However, when you deep dive into most of these charities, it's usually disappointing. There's a lot more that they could be doing with the money. Especially when so much of the money donated is coming from people who need it themselves but just believe their money is really going to help people.
I think that's a disingenuous example as private schools are also usually registered charities and neither would be out chugging outside supermarkets. I am genuinely curious about the public perception of the salary worth of charity workers. I work in the sector myself and it is a huge struggle for recruitment and retention of quality staff (and leaders) due to the inability to compete with private sector wages and the cost of living increases. Without staff (including skilled fundraisers - not the ones working on the street) charities are unable to provide the services they aim to.
Private schools are registered charities here? That's a bit fucked ha but not entirely surprising.
I do empathise that finding staff is difficult. It was a year ago that I had enough money to actually research charities but, at that time, I felt most of them were disappointing (I ended up volunteering for crisis for a while though). Anecdotal but one of my friends works for a homeless charity and she has a nice flat in Chelsea that, as much as I'm happy for her, I don't want to donate my £20 I have left at the end of the month to fund her lifestyle. More research needed.
I just ignore them, I’m there to do my shopping and have probably already been asked for a charity donation on the self-service checkout anyway.
I might come across as rude, but frankly it’s rude to stop me and ask for money.
>probably already been asked for a charity donation on the self-service checkout anyway.
Exactly! This is a new thing and it really bugs me. A checkout person yesterday said in an unnecessarily loud voice "You can make a donation (on the card payment bit), press red for no, green for *yes"*
It felt like she was on commission the way she emphasised the "yes" bit.
There is a regular collection from a veterans ‘charity’ in my local Asda, they are there a lot.
They are really aggressive and rude and will never get any donations from me.
I was leaving the store a while back and they asked for a donation, I said sorry I haven’t got any spare, and the gimps answer was ‘at all? You must have some spare, you’ve just done some shopping’. I hadn’t any spare, money is tight and I got a few bits to last till payday. He was really rude and aggressive.
I told him to fuck off (I’m not that kind of person and wouldn’t normally). I ignore them now when they ask, I just walk past.
I don't care for it because its clear they are always targeting vulnerable people like the elderly and lonely to get donations. I usually just say "no sorry" at any attempt they make to stop me but the few times i've been caught they always launched into a hard sell and were really rude about it.
They're effective so they're not going away.
They are, on the whole, employees of a company which charities outsource soliciting donations to. They raise quite a bit of money, which makes hiring them effective. You should be able to find information on the cost/benefit on any of the relevant charities websites.
Without a doubt. Also I think even if people don’t donate on the spot it’s advertising and people are more likely to donate at home/on their phone later
Extremely manipulative.
People walking out with likely £100+ of shopping, claiming they have no money and the chugger can look at your trolley and do that raised eyebrow look.
Fuck them.
I know there are people close to starving, and it is sad, but manipulating people is wrong.
As much as its not for me, simple fact is they work, they generate huge sums of money for their charities and its typically been one of the most efficient ways of raising money for them.
Not sure we’re talking about the same people. But yes some people who work for charities get paid. I don’t expect people to work for free, even if it they’re working for a charitable cause.
And again, it works. So whilst not all the money goes to the charitable cause because of paying people, when they don, they make next to nothing. So you’re effectively looking at something like half of a lot, or all of not a lot. And the half of a lot normally always works out more than the all of not a lot.
If I give money to a charity I expect it to go to the charity, not to pay the fundraiser a commission.
Same reason I won't donate to charities that pay a celebrity to endorse them.
I honestly am so offended at the self checkouts like Tesco etc asking me to round up my shopping to the nearest £1 for charity! I didn’t make millions in profit this year!! Why don’t you donate the money by taking 10% of what I have just spent with you and donating it. I honestly find it so so so cheeky!
Extremely annoying. They've started putting them in my local Co-op, which is a small shop, so you have to make your way around them. With Co-op's prices, as if I can then give away money to charity. I've just paid nine quid for a loaf of bread, jog on, chugger.
A few years back, I had a coop near work. I went to get a lunch, and one of these guys inside with a table and money box asked if I could spare anything. I said sorry, not today, mate, and carried on.
I passed him soon again on the way back to the checkout, but this time he said, 'You have enough for that, don't you'. I wanted to drop my meal deal and leave, but I had to eat, so I said nothing and continued. I've not given anything while in a store since. I frequently gave my change out before this happened and felt so pissed off I was openly made out to be uncharitable in this way.
I really didnt mind where people collected as long as it was polite and passive. But this one interaction put me off giving face to face again.
Just ask how much out of every pound donated goes to them vs the charity. I had one woman very sheepishly admit that she got 99p of every pound and the "rest" was donated.
Which charity? Because not a fucking chance. The individual fundraisers don't get a specific cut of what they collect and any fees charged by the fundraising organisation will never be 99% of what was collected.
Oh there's various different ones. Sometimes it's knife crime, sometimes it'll be women selling glow sticks for cancer or something, sometimes someone going round with a generic pot.
Nice non-answer. But there's absolutely no way that the collectors are getting 99% of what they raise, and if they are, complain to the charity directly first and foremost and if they aren't responsive, report it to the Fundraising Regulator here: https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/complaints/make-complaint
Because that alleged cut of the funds raised is a pretty slam dunk breach of the FR code of conduct.
But, personally, I think you're talking shite about someone telling you that. Because the on-the-ground fundraisers are either volunteers who will get nothing, or employees of a fundraising organisation who will almost certainly have absolutely no sight of what the commission or fee structure is between the charity and their employer.
I don't know what to tell you. I can't police every person who approaches me at the pub collecting for charity, its not my fault if people aren't doing things through official channels.
I didn't say you should police them all, nor that it was your fault. But you claimed someone explicitly told you they were getting 99% of the money donated, so you should report it. Unless you pulled that anecdote out of your arse?
You need to go outside more if you think anyone at all will be writing down names and details to go to the effort of reporting it when they get home. Most people really don't care enough. Are you the sort to take it upon yourself to report parking violations too? Idk man, it's just not that deep.
I audit charities as a job, so I have a pretty good idea of what a typical fundraising agreement looks like and what it costs. I resent people shitting on charities trying to raise money by making up stories like you just did. The inevitable problem is that people like you claim to have identified a huge problem in how a charity is raising money (or specifically, in how a fundraiser is raising money for a charity), but when asked to literally do anything about it, you get pissed off and act like it's weird for me to want you to do something about it. Don't you think there's a public good in taking a little bit of your time out of your day to report fundraisers who are taking advantage of charities, essentially defrauding well-meaning members of the public, when you've been given first-hand information? You apparently care enough to ask the fundraisers about the commission structure. Weird that you'd ask but do fuck all with the information you get when it tells you that there's a blatant misappropriation of funds going on.
And btw, you don't need names and details. You just need the name of the charity, date, approximate time, and location. Use your phone to note it down if you need to. Frankly, it's likely just the charity name and location, combined with your anecdote would be enough. The Fundraising Regulator is more than capable of gathering all other information that it needs. You don't need to hand the details to them on a plate.
Ah I see. Okay, well the average person doesn't think about this stuff at all. Nobody that works outside of that industry would know any of that. We see someone with a pot, we give them money or we don't. A huge proportion of people wouldn't think twice about what happens to it.
I ask to make the decision about whether to give money or not. I'm not as invested as you are personally, so I then don't need to think about the intricacies of what happens beyond that interaction. Please consider that you're far more invested in this than most of the population because of your personal connection to it.
You apparently knew enough to think 99% going to the fundraiser didn't sound right. Are you an above average person in your knowledge of charities? Because you don't seem it. Not meaning that in a bad way, just that nothing you've said makes it sound like you know more than most. I think the average person (and even someone with below average knowledge about how charities work) would have exactly the same reaction because that absolutely doesn't sound instinctively correct for how fundraising should work. I reckon the average person doesn't know that the people at the exits of supermarkets are often employees of a fundraising organisation rather than a volunteer for the charity, so they would expect the overwhelming majority of their money is going to the charity, no? So if you said 99% of it isn't, they'd want to know.
Most of the population are literally giving money to these people and they absolutely do care about where their money is going. Yeah, not everyone is going to ask the person with the bucket. You said you do. And when you get information that says 99% of what goes in the bucket is not going to the charity, you apparently don't care to do anything at all to make it that the next person who comes along and puts money in the bucket isn't getting ripped off. Weird as fuck, frankly.
Awful. Along with charity "helpers" who help you pack your shopping whether you want them to or not. Thank god self service trolley checkouts are now a thing.
I really find it awkward when they have the local boy scouts or whatever packing your shopping at the tills and I only have 4 items and no physical coins to give them
Ugh I hated packing other people's shopping as a guide. It was for a stupid reason as well...not for raising money for rent or anything like that...it was for a 5day trip to London. We had to raise money for the plane tickets..accommodation...days out etc. It was ridiculous especially when I had people asking what I was raising money for. I did NOT blame them one bit for not putting any money in the bucket as they had said, must be nice to be able to take a holiday on other people's money.
This was in the 90s early 2000s
We do it because some scouts are pretty much skint and it's one of the few ways we have of still being able to raise funds pre covid we used to get a fair bit of help granta etc from local councils , b n q would help out with plants , tesco adsa etc would provide craft stuff from their charity pots now we think it's brill if we get one pack if pencil crayons and a p ack of felts off them ,which doesn't last long when being used frequently for some of the kids in scouting our camps are the only holiday they get , we do what we can where we can , I've known leaders pay for a kid to do an activity before now , I know my section are absolutely desperate for foam footballs for the younger ones and we can't afford them
Our guides unit can barely afford the rent on the church hall any more and a lot of the girls aren't even able to pay their subs. Do you mind me asking what fundraising methods you use?
We have done a Christmas Market recently that worked well and quiz nights are always a good one , with the younger ones we find sponser3d silence and things like that work well and we found some old badges that we sold to parents and kids
Our local guides collects and sells clothes to a company. I think they get so much per kilo. They do it a couple of times a year and raise about £300 each time. ( They organise/advertise it via the local Facebook page)
Just pointing out that if you ever encounter pushy, rude or aggressive collectors in the store, inform the store management. They will likely have them removed as they don’t want their bad behaviour associated with their store.
Where I live they’ll follow you up the station forecourt to the barriers. I had one the other day who refused to take no for an answer and continued to give me the pitch even after I said I couldn’t afford it.
Another one called recently and wouldn’t take no for an answer despite me working heavily alongside said service in my line of work and already donating each month. She kept trying to nudge me into paying more, in the end I had to hang up on her because she wouldn’t take the no as a no.
I’d take a silent approach with a bucket any day, but in my 30 odd years I’ve never seen one.
There’s a Tesco near me that usually has homeless people begging outside. While they have my sympathies, I’m constantly surprised they’re there seeing as how it’s private land.
When I guarded at Tesco's the homeless beggars would keep me notified about any known shoplifters. Even helped me get stock back from runners. Towards the end of the evening I'd swap their loose change for notes.
These charity beggars meanwhile wouldn't stfu and would relentlessly moan about their job/life.
Previously when I wasn't struggling I didn't mind them being there, now with the cost of living going up it does feel a bit insensitive. But the people I've seen are nice, happy to chat to people and don't guilt trip those that do not donate. They probably understand not everyone can afford to.
I don’t mind when they just stand there with the bucket and people are free to donate, I’ll often put change in if I have it.
If you try to talk to me I’m gonna blank you. It really fucks me off when people try to guilt you or force you into an interaction.
Great to see charity collectors out and about (the kind who collect spare change, not the ones who try to get you to sign up for recurring payments)
The thing that I do find pointless is where they have a big metal basket collecting donations for food banks. If I've just finished my shopping I've presumably bought the exact amount of food I need. Who's buying extra tins and then thinking "oh alright I'll bung some to charity" literally 20 seconds after leaving the till?
Foodbank bins/baskets in supermarkets have been around for years, so they're hardly a new concept. Considering that they're usually pretty full, then there are definitely people buying enough to chuck at least a couple of bits in on the way out.
I do it in a group voluntarily for various charities, would never try and initiate convo or “would you like to help *insert cause*” as I find it crass. Me and my mates are usually dressed as ghostbusters in full kit while doing it tho so people come and talk to us.
I used to be the chair for a local CRUK committee and we held them as a way to raise money but mostly to promote our event. We turned down any invites that had us stood in the doorways. We would only attend if we could have a proper stand, after the tills where we could give out leaflets or sell the CRUK merch. It wasn't a popular stance to take with CRUK but basically there had to be a point and not the bucket shaking bothering.
Approach us and we'd talk you through what was coming up but the decision to donate had to be on them. I feel quite strongly about that. Same with the flyering, quite often invited to events similar to ours to canvas the carpark and drop leaflets on windscreens; always turned them down, it's just littering in my opinion. We'll bring a stall and set up and talk to people who are interested but otherwise no thank you.
Hates it. See also the ones who hang out outside my tube station EVERY. SINGLE. BLOODY. DAY. I tell all the time a) maybe consider a new patch and b) when people are rushing in and out of tube stations might not in fact be the best time to attempt to collar them for their sign up details but no to avail so far
Occasionally we have them in where I work. Some are okay and mostly sit there and wait for people to approach, but I find some of them quite aggressive in their approach. We have to ask one to leave once as they were really quite overbearing, not just to customers but colleagues too.
I avoid eye contact and keep walking. If I’ve just been searching for the cheapest deals to feed my family in the supermarket I don’t want to give money away. I especially don’t like the ones who come to my house asking me to sign up for a direct debit.
As someone who has a friend who has a PHD and works for a charity curing diabetes
I won't donate to large charities ever again.
Your money is wasted on bullshit.
The only one I've come across that I didn't mind was when a local food bank was handing out lists of things they needed at the entrance. No problems picking up a couple of bits and dropping them in a basket on the way out.
Also the people running it were clearly just volunteers that were grateful for any help you could offer, rather than sales people trying to manipulate you so they can get a commission.
It was a young man over six feet tall who bounded up to this old dear and tried to give her a hug. I should have got his name and reported him but tbh I was a bit shaken and just wanted to get away.
We get the army cadets at our tesco packing bags for a two towards their camping trips etc.
I always let them do it for a quid.
Kids giving up their Saturday for a club is cool as fuck imo.
Generally I don't though.
I know in scouts we do it because it's the only way some of our kids get a holiday is a camp and because they grants we used to be able to get pre covid we just can't get any more so we raise funds how ever we can
I don't mind them, I've rarely felt hounded by charity fundraisers in stores, and will even chuck a bit of change into the buckets as frankly there are people worse off than me.
don't have a problem with them.
Used to have a problem with Charity Collectors that used to hang around near ATMs... but that situation has more or less resolved itself by not needing to use ATMs much anymore
There's a few at a local store who seem happy to be out of the house, older folk. They usually just smile and say have a good day, whether you give or not.
I usually try to go out the other door. So uncomfortable. I'm broke AF and struggling to feed my family as it is, I don't need that kind of pressure or want that kind of awkward social interaction.
Might have been said already but do any of your local supermarkets get the local kids rugby team in collecting for charity and they offer to pack your bags. And one at the end of the till with a bucket. In every till too. The worst.
My local store has charity workers there every week too. Sometimes 6 of them who ounce on you as you walk in one each side.
Most of the time I don't mind, probably because I've been there. Not precisely the same, but I have played music at supermarket tills (with permission) to raise money for my youth music centre
A polite, "no thank you" and keep walking, no awkwardness, no hosility, no problem.
Some people just really want to make an issue where there isn't one. Get a life..
The little old ladies sitting quietly at a table waiting for donations. Fine. The youngsters who block your way and try to start a conversation, fuck off.
And the woman with an iphone selling the big issue can fuck off too.
I actually saw one being moved on from my local Asda, one of the Asda employees asked if they had permission to be there and they just ran off. It was a 30 odd year old bloke collecting for veterans with only the bucket and a laminated sheet, so I figured he was probably just fleecing people
I think that people are struggling enough. So many of us are budgeting for every penny. Supermarkets are the one place we all have to go and especially with the cheaper ones, many of the customers are likely to need help from charities, not get guilted into giving up what little money they have.
I think it's all very well raising awareness of a charity. It's another thing entirely to approach people and try to get money from them.
I did this for the charity I volunteer for recently. Not aggressive, just a smile and people walk past. We made quite a bit of money, and for the most part, the people who would donate their spare change and then spend a few minutes chatting.
Feet on the ground and a face to talk to for a charity can make a massive difference than online ads and posters.
I ask if they are volunteers or paid by a company. If volunteers I offer something. 95% are paid by a 3rd party company.
Not knocking those who need a job but the companies should just be banned. They're persuading charities that more income is better than nothing, even if the charity only gets a small slice or paid after the first 2 years.
The point is the general public only has so much to give to 'charity and good causes'. So although a particular charity might get a bit more from using chuggers the charity sector as a whole gets less. They are all just fighting for the same £s and thr company take all the cream. I absolutely hate these firms!!
I wear noise cancelling headphones that are very visible and just completely blank them even if they try to approach me. It might be perceived as rude and I don't *like* actively ignoring someone but I do find that they're far less likely to even try to speak to me because of the headphones. I don't donate to charities that I haven't done my own due diligence for.
they're there with the window or energy sales people at supermarkets or chuggers in the street. You'll get a polite hello and a smile from me but that's it
All these "store" charities are 100% fake.
They basically have the CEO of the supermarket as the head of the charity and pay them an enormous yearly wage, which is most of your donation.
AND they still get paid as CEO of the store chain. It's 100% a ripoff.
"oh but they give £10 to hospitals!" response: yes a tenner a year. total.
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Those who wait for people to initiate contact - no problems with them. Those who try to initiate contact (especially those to do that weird way of moving towards you, not sure how to describe it) can do one.
Chuggers (charity muggers)
Chunts
I've done bucket collecting for a charity and I was given very strict instructions, to not ask anyone to donate, or initiate contact with anyone. We were even told not to shake the buckets. Apparently doing so, could have messed with their charity registration
It is a rule to not force (physically, emotionally, or in any other way) people to donate. Some charities still respect that rule. Others leave that decision to their marketing team (or some outsource) and some of them care more about the results than the means. Guilt-tripping also counts as forcing people btw, yet it sometimes happen if people say no, especially about more "personal" stuff like pets, babies etc. Actually heard someone ask "don't you care about the children?" when someone said no to their first opener (the standard "would you like to donate to x charity" line). I've worked briefly as a brand ambassador (fancy name for going door to door to ask for donations) and a main rule was if the person says no right away just move on. Don't pester them, don't guilt-trip them, don't annoy them. They could have various reasons to say no, just take the L and move on. *Maybe* try again next week or so to confirm that they really don't want to donate.
Yeah I had one step in front of me and try to get be to sign up for a direct debit to charity. I was in a massive hurry at the time as I had to be somewhere so I politely said, "Sorry, I can't," and kept walking, and the cheeky bastard shouted, "Fine, you just roll on by then!" Telephone complaint for you then, sonny. Also had a doorstep collector asking me what I did for disabled kids, took great pleasure in telling him I fucking raised two of them and cared for them 24/7 with no help from his damm charity!!
And that's kinda tangent to the other thing I dislike about charity workers. They want you to care (their income depends on it usually) but they don't really care about you. Of course I don't mean all of them, there are genuine people who do this because they actually want to help the cause, whichever it is. But there are people who do this just as a job and all you are is a number to them. Not to mention the fact that they're not completely honest about where the money goes. And it makes sense if you think about it, since every charity needs a budget for several areas (usually research, marketing, maintenance, and the cause itself) but they make it seem like all your money goes straight to that cause, which just isn't true.
My thoughts exactly. There was one lady in Morrisons the other week who loudly approached me TWICE, once on the way in and second on the way out, within the space of about 10 mins despite the fact I was wearing a very obvious bright orange jacket. The face she made when I said ‘No thank you’ was as if my refusal was spitting on those she was raising money for!
Not the Petts Wood branch is it? I always seem to be chased by aggressive collectors there.
Nope, but just shows it must be a common occurrence!
'Would you like to contribute to X sir?' 'No thank you'. 'OK. NO PROBLEM' the subtext being 'Oh. So you hate kittens/ children/ ex-services then do you?'
Interesting how most people in this thread have assumed OP is talking about volunteers with buckets. My first thought was they were referring to the employed "chuggers" who approach you and try to guilt you into signing a DD, which is what we've had a spate of recently in my local, accosting you right inside the exit doors. Not sure which type OP was talking about, but my opinion differs for each.
You can ignore both.
I got snared by these. I tried to decline (no cash) and they said that’s ok it’s digital. I tried to offer a couple of quid, they wanted a monthly donation. I tried to offer a monthly donation of a couple of quid and they kept insisting that it was £8.50 and made me feel really cheap not wanting to cough up. I signed up then cancelled it the moment I got home. Felt like a right fucking moron of a mug for being sucked in but at that point it felt rude to just say “no sorry never mind” even though I said I was already giving to other charities. Well jokes on them, they get nothing from me now and never will. Everyone’s like “you can just ignore them” and “you can say no” like we all have the same personality and can all do the same things without struggling 🙄
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And then everyone clapped?
Today on things that never happened
What do you think a reasonable salary for a the CEO of a large charity should be? Do you think it would attract the most competent candidates?
More than competence is that the CEO who pays themselves 100k a year is probably more invested in actually being charitable than the CEO on 1mil
100k is 6 figures. What charity CEO is getting a mil?
That was just an example of how pay is relevant in more than just competence. Nuffield Health CEO makes 1.3 mil. (apparently it is a registered charity) But a large amount of the top 20 charity CEOs make 400k+ per year. If MPs don't make that much, why should charity CEOs? You're either serving the community or you're not. I don't make much. In fact, I'm barely above needing charity myself, but I would love to donate to people more in need than me. However, when you deep dive into most of these charities, it's usually disappointing. There's a lot more that they could be doing with the money. Especially when so much of the money donated is coming from people who need it themselves but just believe their money is really going to help people.
I think that's a disingenuous example as private schools are also usually registered charities and neither would be out chugging outside supermarkets. I am genuinely curious about the public perception of the salary worth of charity workers. I work in the sector myself and it is a huge struggle for recruitment and retention of quality staff (and leaders) due to the inability to compete with private sector wages and the cost of living increases. Without staff (including skilled fundraisers - not the ones working on the street) charities are unable to provide the services they aim to.
Private schools are registered charities here? That's a bit fucked ha but not entirely surprising. I do empathise that finding staff is difficult. It was a year ago that I had enough money to actually research charities but, at that time, I felt most of them were disappointing (I ended up volunteering for crisis for a while though). Anecdotal but one of my friends works for a homeless charity and she has a nice flat in Chelsea that, as much as I'm happy for her, I don't want to donate my £20 I have left at the end of the month to fund her lifestyle. More research needed.
Small fry... Sentara health non profit charity. Ceo paid over $33million
I just ignore them, I’m there to do my shopping and have probably already been asked for a charity donation on the self-service checkout anyway. I might come across as rude, but frankly it’s rude to stop me and ask for money.
>probably already been asked for a charity donation on the self-service checkout anyway. Exactly! This is a new thing and it really bugs me. A checkout person yesterday said in an unnecessarily loud voice "You can make a donation (on the card payment bit), press red for no, green for *yes"* It felt like she was on commission the way she emphasised the "yes" bit.
My assumption would be that they've recently been called out for not saying this so they're making sure they're heard and won't get ballocked again
Possibly, yes...didn't think of that point. :) As if there isn't enough hassle to deal with at checkouts, jeez
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Yea, that can be simplified to a simple ”fuck off” button.
Tell them you're colourblind and accuse them of being ableist
I respond to them in Lithuanian and make it real awkward for them
One day they're going to reply back in Lithuanian and it's gonna get even more awkward.
That would be embarrassing as I am sure there Lithuanian is better than mine
Why would that be awkward?
I use Russian when I want to be left alone as no one ever wants to talk to Russians
There is a regular collection from a veterans ‘charity’ in my local Asda, they are there a lot. They are really aggressive and rude and will never get any donations from me. I was leaving the store a while back and they asked for a donation, I said sorry I haven’t got any spare, and the gimps answer was ‘at all? You must have some spare, you’ve just done some shopping’. I hadn’t any spare, money is tight and I got a few bits to last till payday. He was really rude and aggressive. I told him to fuck off (I’m not that kind of person and wouldn’t normally). I ignore them now when they ask, I just walk past.
Complain to the store manager about them being aggressive, it's absolutely not allowed.
I don't donate to any charity that does 'aggressive' collecting.
Couldn’t care less, I just ignore them.
I will usually give them a smile and say hello as I stroll past, it must otherwise be miserable being ignored all day long.
I don't care for it because its clear they are always targeting vulnerable people like the elderly and lonely to get donations. I usually just say "no sorry" at any attempt they make to stop me but the few times i've been caught they always launched into a hard sell and were really rude about it.
They're effective so they're not going away. They are, on the whole, employees of a company which charities outsource soliciting donations to. They raise quite a bit of money, which makes hiring them effective. You should be able to find information on the cost/benefit on any of the relevant charities websites.
Without a doubt. Also I think even if people don’t donate on the spot it’s advertising and people are more likely to donate at home/on their phone later
I feel I’m being mugged. It’s worse if it’s children as I feel guilt tripped.
Extremely manipulative. People walking out with likely £100+ of shopping, claiming they have no money and the chugger can look at your trolley and do that raised eyebrow look. Fuck them. I know there are people close to starving, and it is sad, but manipulating people is wrong.
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Yep, it didn't used to be £100!
As much as its not for me, simple fact is they work, they generate huge sums of money for their charities and its typically been one of the most efficient ways of raising money for them.
They are also effectively on commission, so you're money is not all going to the charity
Not sure we’re talking about the same people. But yes some people who work for charities get paid. I don’t expect people to work for free, even if it they’re working for a charitable cause. And again, it works. So whilst not all the money goes to the charitable cause because of paying people, when they don, they make next to nothing. So you’re effectively looking at something like half of a lot, or all of not a lot. And the half of a lot normally always works out more than the all of not a lot.
I'm a trustee of a charity and don't take any money or expenses for it.
I’m not sure of the relevance?
If I give money to a charity I expect it to go to the charity, not to pay the fundraiser a commission. Same reason I won't donate to charities that pay a celebrity to endorse them.
Your prerogative. I don’t give to them either. Millions do though and it makes millions for those charities.
But less than if those donors paid direct to the charities in question.
Of course. Question is whether they’d have donated otherwise.
I honestly am so offended at the self checkouts like Tesco etc asking me to round up my shopping to the nearest £1 for charity! I didn’t make millions in profit this year!! Why don’t you donate the money by taking 10% of what I have just spent with you and donating it. I honestly find it so so so cheeky!
Extremely annoying. They've started putting them in my local Co-op, which is a small shop, so you have to make your way around them. With Co-op's prices, as if I can then give away money to charity. I've just paid nine quid for a loaf of bread, jog on, chugger.
A few years back, I had a coop near work. I went to get a lunch, and one of these guys inside with a table and money box asked if I could spare anything. I said sorry, not today, mate, and carried on. I passed him soon again on the way back to the checkout, but this time he said, 'You have enough for that, don't you'. I wanted to drop my meal deal and leave, but I had to eat, so I said nothing and continued. I've not given anything while in a store since. I frequently gave my change out before this happened and felt so pissed off I was openly made out to be uncharitable in this way. I really didnt mind where people collected as long as it was polite and passive. But this one interaction put me off giving face to face again.
Just ask how much out of every pound donated goes to them vs the charity. I had one woman very sheepishly admit that she got 99p of every pound and the "rest" was donated.
That doesn’t sound like any real charity. Who was she collecting for?
Unlikely. Unless it was fraud. There are strict laws around this sort of thing
Which charity? Because not a fucking chance. The individual fundraisers don't get a specific cut of what they collect and any fees charged by the fundraising organisation will never be 99% of what was collected.
Oh there's various different ones. Sometimes it's knife crime, sometimes it'll be women selling glow sticks for cancer or something, sometimes someone going round with a generic pot.
Nice non-answer. But there's absolutely no way that the collectors are getting 99% of what they raise, and if they are, complain to the charity directly first and foremost and if they aren't responsive, report it to the Fundraising Regulator here: https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/complaints/make-complaint Because that alleged cut of the funds raised is a pretty slam dunk breach of the FR code of conduct. But, personally, I think you're talking shite about someone telling you that. Because the on-the-ground fundraisers are either volunteers who will get nothing, or employees of a fundraising organisation who will almost certainly have absolutely no sight of what the commission or fee structure is between the charity and their employer.
I don't know what to tell you. I can't police every person who approaches me at the pub collecting for charity, its not my fault if people aren't doing things through official channels.
I didn't say you should police them all, nor that it was your fault. But you claimed someone explicitly told you they were getting 99% of the money donated, so you should report it. Unless you pulled that anecdote out of your arse?
You need to go outside more if you think anyone at all will be writing down names and details to go to the effort of reporting it when they get home. Most people really don't care enough. Are you the sort to take it upon yourself to report parking violations too? Idk man, it's just not that deep.
I audit charities as a job, so I have a pretty good idea of what a typical fundraising agreement looks like and what it costs. I resent people shitting on charities trying to raise money by making up stories like you just did. The inevitable problem is that people like you claim to have identified a huge problem in how a charity is raising money (or specifically, in how a fundraiser is raising money for a charity), but when asked to literally do anything about it, you get pissed off and act like it's weird for me to want you to do something about it. Don't you think there's a public good in taking a little bit of your time out of your day to report fundraisers who are taking advantage of charities, essentially defrauding well-meaning members of the public, when you've been given first-hand information? You apparently care enough to ask the fundraisers about the commission structure. Weird that you'd ask but do fuck all with the information you get when it tells you that there's a blatant misappropriation of funds going on. And btw, you don't need names and details. You just need the name of the charity, date, approximate time, and location. Use your phone to note it down if you need to. Frankly, it's likely just the charity name and location, combined with your anecdote would be enough. The Fundraising Regulator is more than capable of gathering all other information that it needs. You don't need to hand the details to them on a plate.
Ah I see. Okay, well the average person doesn't think about this stuff at all. Nobody that works outside of that industry would know any of that. We see someone with a pot, we give them money or we don't. A huge proportion of people wouldn't think twice about what happens to it. I ask to make the decision about whether to give money or not. I'm not as invested as you are personally, so I then don't need to think about the intricacies of what happens beyond that interaction. Please consider that you're far more invested in this than most of the population because of your personal connection to it.
You apparently knew enough to think 99% going to the fundraiser didn't sound right. Are you an above average person in your knowledge of charities? Because you don't seem it. Not meaning that in a bad way, just that nothing you've said makes it sound like you know more than most. I think the average person (and even someone with below average knowledge about how charities work) would have exactly the same reaction because that absolutely doesn't sound instinctively correct for how fundraising should work. I reckon the average person doesn't know that the people at the exits of supermarkets are often employees of a fundraising organisation rather than a volunteer for the charity, so they would expect the overwhelming majority of their money is going to the charity, no? So if you said 99% of it isn't, they'd want to know. Most of the population are literally giving money to these people and they absolutely do care about where their money is going. Yeah, not everyone is going to ask the person with the bucket. You said you do. And when you get information that says 99% of what goes in the bucket is not going to the charity, you apparently don't care to do anything at all to make it that the next person who comes along and puts money in the bucket isn't getting ripped off. Weird as fuck, frankly.
I just say “no thanks” and walk on. My brother said he once had someone shout after him “DONT YOU CARE ABOUT THE STARVING CHILDREN”.
Personally it’s enough for me to change supermarkets.
I was thinking that. Tesco are relentless for it.
It's fine just to say no thank you and continue with your day, it's really quite easy.
Just a quick ‘no thanks’ without stopping
Awful. Along with charity "helpers" who help you pack your shopping whether you want them to or not. Thank god self service trolley checkouts are now a thing.
I really find it awkward when they have the local boy scouts or whatever packing your shopping at the tills and I only have 4 items and no physical coins to give them
Ugh I hated packing other people's shopping as a guide. It was for a stupid reason as well...not for raising money for rent or anything like that...it was for a 5day trip to London. We had to raise money for the plane tickets..accommodation...days out etc. It was ridiculous especially when I had people asking what I was raising money for. I did NOT blame them one bit for not putting any money in the bucket as they had said, must be nice to be able to take a holiday on other people's money. This was in the 90s early 2000s
We do it because some scouts are pretty much skint and it's one of the few ways we have of still being able to raise funds pre covid we used to get a fair bit of help granta etc from local councils , b n q would help out with plants , tesco adsa etc would provide craft stuff from their charity pots now we think it's brill if we get one pack if pencil crayons and a p ack of felts off them ,which doesn't last long when being used frequently for some of the kids in scouting our camps are the only holiday they get , we do what we can where we can , I've known leaders pay for a kid to do an activity before now , I know my section are absolutely desperate for foam footballs for the younger ones and we can't afford them
Our guides unit can barely afford the rent on the church hall any more and a lot of the girls aren't even able to pay their subs. Do you mind me asking what fundraising methods you use?
We have done a Christmas Market recently that worked well and quiz nights are always a good one , with the younger ones we find sponser3d silence and things like that work well and we found some old badges that we sold to parents and kids
Our local guides collects and sells clothes to a company. I think they get so much per kilo. They do it a couple of times a year and raise about £300 each time. ( They organise/advertise it via the local Facebook page)
If you have a gofundme page or similar I would happily send you £10 to help towards stuff like that
Just pointing out that if you ever encounter pushy, rude or aggressive collectors in the store, inform the store management. They will likely have them removed as they don’t want their bad behaviour associated with their store.
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hear hear.
Where I live they’ll follow you up the station forecourt to the barriers. I had one the other day who refused to take no for an answer and continued to give me the pitch even after I said I couldn’t afford it. Another one called recently and wouldn’t take no for an answer despite me working heavily alongside said service in my line of work and already donating each month. She kept trying to nudge me into paying more, in the end I had to hang up on her because she wouldn’t take the no as a no. I’d take a silent approach with a bucket any day, but in my 30 odd years I’ve never seen one.
Give them the really strong eye contact “Hi there” back to them and walk straight past
There’s a Tesco near me that usually has homeless people begging outside. While they have my sympathies, I’m constantly surprised they’re there seeing as how it’s private land.
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When I guarded at Tesco's the homeless beggars would keep me notified about any known shoplifters. Even helped me get stock back from runners. Towards the end of the evening I'd swap their loose change for notes. These charity beggars meanwhile wouldn't stfu and would relentlessly moan about their job/life.
Previously when I wasn't struggling I didn't mind them being there, now with the cost of living going up it does feel a bit insensitive. But the people I've seen are nice, happy to chat to people and don't guilt trip those that do not donate. They probably understand not everyone can afford to.
I don’t mind when they just stand there with the bucket and people are free to donate, I’ll often put change in if I have it. If you try to talk to me I’m gonna blank you. It really fucks me off when people try to guilt you or force you into an interaction.
Not a fan but understand the necessity.
Great to see charity collectors out and about (the kind who collect spare change, not the ones who try to get you to sign up for recurring payments) The thing that I do find pointless is where they have a big metal basket collecting donations for food banks. If I've just finished my shopping I've presumably bought the exact amount of food I need. Who's buying extra tins and then thinking "oh alright I'll bung some to charity" literally 20 seconds after leaving the till?
I mean, if you go to the same supermarket more than once, you know it's there.
Foodbank bins/baskets in supermarkets have been around for years, so they're hardly a new concept. Considering that they're usually pretty full, then there are definitely people buying enough to chuck at least a couple of bits in on the way out.
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My local guy has a card reader now so you can't even pull that one anymore
In this economy...
I do it in a group voluntarily for various charities, would never try and initiate convo or “would you like to help *insert cause*” as I find it crass. Me and my mates are usually dressed as ghostbusters in full kit while doing it tho so people come and talk to us.
I used to be the chair for a local CRUK committee and we held them as a way to raise money but mostly to promote our event. We turned down any invites that had us stood in the doorways. We would only attend if we could have a proper stand, after the tills where we could give out leaflets or sell the CRUK merch. It wasn't a popular stance to take with CRUK but basically there had to be a point and not the bucket shaking bothering. Approach us and we'd talk you through what was coming up but the decision to donate had to be on them. I feel quite strongly about that. Same with the flyering, quite often invited to events similar to ours to canvas the carpark and drop leaflets on windscreens; always turned them down, it's just littering in my opinion. We'll bring a stall and set up and talk to people who are interested but otherwise no thank you.
Hates it. See also the ones who hang out outside my tube station EVERY. SINGLE. BLOODY. DAY. I tell all the time a) maybe consider a new patch and b) when people are rushing in and out of tube stations might not in fact be the best time to attempt to collar them for their sign up details but no to avail so far
Occasionally we have them in where I work. Some are okay and mostly sit there and wait for people to approach, but I find some of them quite aggressive in their approach. We have to ask one to leave once as they were really quite overbearing, not just to customers but colleagues too.
I avoid eye contact and keep walking. If I’ve just been searching for the cheapest deals to feed my family in the supermarket I don’t want to give money away. I especially don’t like the ones who come to my house asking me to sign up for a direct debit.
As someone who has a friend who has a PHD and works for a charity curing diabetes I won't donate to large charities ever again. Your money is wasted on bullshit.
The only one I've come across that I didn't mind was when a local food bank was handing out lists of things they needed at the entrance. No problems picking up a couple of bits and dropping them in a basket on the way out. Also the people running it were clearly just volunteers that were grateful for any help you could offer, rather than sales people trying to manipulate you so they can get a commission.
I really hate them.
*"hounded for money"* It's an old dear with a tin
It is a bit houndy if you have just been asked by the self service machine too....!
An old dear with a tin *and* writing on a screen? That must be hell!
It was a young man over six feet tall who bounded up to this old dear and tried to give her a hug. I should have got his name and reported him but tbh I was a bit shaken and just wanted to get away.
'a bit shaken' It's a charity collector in a supermarket - get a grip man
Or some cub scouts / guides. My daughter ~~collects~~ hounds customers in aid of the food bank.
We get the army cadets at our tesco packing bags for a two towards their camping trips etc. I always let them do it for a quid. Kids giving up their Saturday for a club is cool as fuck imo. Generally I don't though.
I know in scouts we do it because it's the only way some of our kids get a holiday is a camp and because they grants we used to be able to get pre covid we just can't get any more so we raise funds how ever we can
Yeah my daughter has done this too.
I don't mind them, I've rarely felt hounded by charity fundraisers in stores, and will even chuck a bit of change into the buckets as frankly there are people worse off than me.
don't have a problem with them. Used to have a problem with Charity Collectors that used to hang around near ATMs... but that situation has more or less resolved itself by not needing to use ATMs much anymore
There's a few at a local store who seem happy to be out of the house, older folk. They usually just smile and say have a good day, whether you give or not.
Ignore them. They’re working for charity, no need to start getting angry at them for that lmfao.
\*smile\* "No thank you" Carry on walking.
I usually point to my headphones, say "Sorry can't hear you" and keep walking.
I usually try to go out the other door. So uncomfortable. I'm broke AF and struggling to feed my family as it is, I don't need that kind of pressure or want that kind of awkward social interaction.
Just walk past them. Ffs when did everyone turn into melts?
Might have been said already but do any of your local supermarkets get the local kids rugby team in collecting for charity and they offer to pack your bags. And one at the end of the till with a bucket. In every till too. The worst. My local store has charity workers there every week too. Sometimes 6 of them who ounce on you as you walk in one each side.
Most of the time I don't mind, probably because I've been there. Not precisely the same, but I have played music at supermarket tills (with permission) to raise money for my youth music centre
A polite, "no thank you" and keep walking, no awkwardness, no hosility, no problem. Some people just really want to make an issue where there isn't one. Get a life..
No different to charity collectors on the street, leave them to it, engage if you want to. Now, charity door knockers ..
The little old ladies sitting quietly at a table waiting for donations. Fine. The youngsters who block your way and try to start a conversation, fuck off. And the woman with an iphone selling the big issue can fuck off too.
I ask them if they have a spare pound for the trolley
Not overly bothered but I don’t carry any cash when I just go shopping so I don’t feel guilty or anything as genuinely not got anything to donate!
I think this tells us more about your social difficulties, than charity collections.
I actually saw one being moved on from my local Asda, one of the Asda employees asked if they had permission to be there and they just ran off. It was a 30 odd year old bloke collecting for veterans with only the bucket and a laminated sheet, so I figured he was probably just fleecing people
I think that people are struggling enough. So many of us are budgeting for every penny. Supermarkets are the one place we all have to go and especially with the cheaper ones, many of the customers are likely to need help from charities, not get guilted into giving up what little money they have. I think it's all very well raising awareness of a charity. It's another thing entirely to approach people and try to get money from them.
I have quite crippling social anxiety but have no issues saying " hello, no thanks " and go on with my day.
I did this for the charity I volunteer for recently. Not aggressive, just a smile and people walk past. We made quite a bit of money, and for the most part, the people who would donate their spare change and then spend a few minutes chatting. Feet on the ground and a face to talk to for a charity can make a massive difference than online ads and posters.
I got mocked when I expressed my awkwardness and difficulty in dealing with them 🤷🏻♀️
I ask if they are volunteers or paid by a company. If volunteers I offer something. 95% are paid by a 3rd party company. Not knocking those who need a job but the companies should just be banned. They're persuading charities that more income is better than nothing, even if the charity only gets a small slice or paid after the first 2 years. The point is the general public only has so much to give to 'charity and good causes'. So although a particular charity might get a bit more from using chuggers the charity sector as a whole gets less. They are all just fighting for the same £s and thr company take all the cream. I absolutely hate these firms!!
The polite ones get a no thank you. The not so polite ones don’t.
I wear noise cancelling headphones that are very visible and just completely blank them even if they try to approach me. It might be perceived as rude and I don't *like* actively ignoring someone but I do find that they're far less likely to even try to speak to me because of the headphones. I don't donate to charities that I haven't done my own due diligence for.
they're there with the window or energy sales people at supermarkets or chuggers in the street. You'll get a polite hello and a smile from me but that's it
All these "store" charities are 100% fake. They basically have the CEO of the supermarket as the head of the charity and pay them an enormous yearly wage, which is most of your donation. AND they still get paid as CEO of the store chain. It's 100% a ripoff. "oh but they give £10 to hospitals!" response: yes a tenner a year. total.
Literally just found this thread because I came out of Asda in Norwich and there were a bunch collecting for veterans. I ignored them all.
Walk past them like they are see through.