Moral blackmail

I think these charities should not guilt trip people for donations. It's a continuous barage of begging letters, phone calls and being accosted in the street. I donate what I want to and no more, but it really concerns me that a lot of older people especially will feel so guilty that they will sign up for shat they can't afford and that is awful.

I have one of those no cold calls stickers next to my front door. Since I put it up I have only had one person (who claimed they didn’t see it) and when I pointed it out they apologised and left.

M0nica

I feel that 'Cold calling' stickers advertise that someone elderly lives in the house, so could be an advertisement for vulnerability if anyone with eveil intent saw it.

I’ve had one since I was in my 40’s MOnica, they’ve always annoyed me.

Mibsy

Thejobcenter makes people take these "jobs" and the cold calling phoneones, or else lose benefits, trouble is they are commision only which might be why some are so persistant, they are desperate. The whole thing is wrong on every level

I didnt know that one....

I do remember that there was quite a bit of pressure all the way back in the 1980s (before all the cuts started) that I was starting to feel personally when I got a couple of so-called "redundancies" and landed up unemployed for a couple of times lasting months.

So I could have some sympathy with people in that sort of circumstances - as there wasn't too much pressure back then by the JobCentre and I just had to remember to give them the answers they "wanted" on their query forms. For instance "What type of job will you do?" meant "Tell us you'll do any type of job - even if it's very different to your own type of job. So I put "any" - though I meant "I'm an office worker". "How far are you prepared to travel" and one put "Anywhere" - whilst meaning "I don't have any transport - so I walk to work or would take a short public transport journey". The one that concerned me most was "What times/days are you prepared to work?" and I knew the correct answer was "Any" - whilst I was thinking "I'm an office worker - and so thats about 9am-5pm Monday to Friday".

These days I gather applying for a job is a full-time job of itself and having to prove it and being expected to have a smartphone (even if you're useless at modern technology).

But I gather it's all got a lot harsher since the early 1980s.

I have reservations about some other ways charities collect too.

1. Cancer Research - errr - that research includes animal experiments. That's a no then to me...

2. RNLI - in the area I'm in now it's deemed a very worthy cause generally. Well I know I'm in West Wales (the side facing America) and so presumably the ones in this area only go out on genuine callouts (ie not acting as unpaid taxi service across the Channel to Britain) but I gather the RNLI gets "lots" of money anyway. So that's two reasons I won't give to them.

My feathers get ruffled when I get two young kids at the end of the checkout offering to put my shopping into bags for a donation to one group or another they're raising money for. How can you say no to those hopeful little faces?
Last time I succumbed though, they had put my eggs and bread underneath the tins and that didn't end well 😏
(Message to self: don't be drawn in by a sweet little face)

I used to feel guilty but I don’t anymore. I found trying to justify my financial decisions simply gave them something to work with. They are trained to guilt trip as this thread proves.
I’ve found younger chuggers (charity muggers for those who don’t recognise the term) do get flustered if you use phrases they relate to - I won’t give because “you are invading my space”, “you are disrespecting my choice” and “you are choosing to make me uncomfortable “.

Our small local High Street, all of 150 meters long, has had at least one table of “Chuggers” from a different charity every day for the last fortnight they are hard to avoid. They usually begin with “can I ask you a question”. I always respond “no” and either ignore or keep saying “no” in my best “teacher voice “. It usually works.
Telephone people from charities I donate to get “thank you for considering my donation inadequate …. I will now cancel my DD” and I do.
The thing that gets me cross is being asked to “round up” at the till. I always refuse. I used to automatically pop the change into the collection tin if I agreed with the charity, and still do IF I am NOT asked. I know the volunteers at my local charity shops have been told that they must ask and hate doing it. I’ve even written to Oxfam and cancelled my DD to them because of this. It might only be pennies today, but if it works I am sure they’ll be asking to round up to the nearest £10 in a short while.
My local favourite charities without the money to hassle people, or who still have one off volunteer collections have won big time from this 🙂

I feel that 'Cold calling' stickers advertise that someone elderly lives in the house, so could be an advertisement for vulnerability if anyone with eveil intent saw it.

I have a “no cold calling” Sticker on the front door but still people knock. I don’t answer!
I feel guilty after being approached when coming out of the supermarket when I say no and getting annoyed with the donate button in the supermarket when paying by card My DH belongs to a certain organisation/group of men that raises a lot of money for many charities so I feel we do our bit. The guilt saying no tho persists.

JenniferEccles

We get the Jehovah’s Witnesses sometimes too Pamela. Annoying but at least they don’t ask for money!

No one should feel obliged to say anything to these charity collectors other than a firm “no thank you”.
We don’t have to justify to them why we will not be donating.

We had a Jehovas Witness as a lodger for a while, a nice quiet young man, we chucked him out for growing cannabis in the bathroom.
Takes all kinds!.

Some card issuers automatically decline the transactions where a charity donation is included. I think this is a good idea as some people could feel obliged to include this in their payment. I don’t personally like this way of collecting for charity although I understand the reasons for it.

Thejobcenter makes people take these "jobs" and the cold calling phoneones, or else lose benefits, trouble is they are commision only which might be why some are so persistant, they are desperate. The whole thing is wrong on every level

We are in a no cold calling zone with a sticker in our window and multiple cameras around our house. Doesn't seem to put them off.

We get the Jehovah’s Witnesses sometimes too Pamela. Annoying but at least they don’t ask for money!

No one should feel obliged to say anything to these charity collectors other than a firm “no thank you”.
We don’t have to justify to them why we will not be donating.

If somebody comes to the door seeking donations, I say No and close the door. If they stop me in the street, I say No and walk on.
You don't have to be polite and you don't have to justify your refusal.
Be assertive. I have never understood why so many people apparently find this difficult.

I had a similar incident as Allira had with the Red Cross. I had a monthly donation set up for NSPCC, not an enormous amount but suited me. The calls started asking me to increase the amount. First couple of times I refused politely. The final time the caller was very persistent and passive aggressive. I advised him that the only reason I was home to answer calls was because I was having chemo which made me very ill in itself. Off work for 12 months, money was getting tighter and I had no intention of increasing the payment. I resented having to justify my decision but I told him I was cancelling my donation so he could delete me from his database. Sorted,
but somewhat counter productive on his part !

I know this is difficult as I am a polite/empathetic person as well

But

I do not answer the door, even if they look into the room I am sitting in and knock the window

Your local authority trading standards officer will give you a notice, free of charge, for your door saying no cold callers. Anyone who calls is then breaking the law. You can report them to trading standards and they will investigate. They will also contact you to update you on progress.

Lighten up Monica..be alright. Let's face it, you're alright.

I donate to the village poppy lady but never to any other door to door canvassers.

We are in a no cold calling zone and it seems to work. We only get Jehovah's witnesses.

I think all doorstop canvassing should be stopped. Like many others we choose which charities we donate to. I always tell them I never donate to anyone on the doorstep. Also I am always suspicious they may not be who they say they are. I do usually give in at the tills though.

It was the British legion in Morrisons yesterday. I do support them but only by putting money in a ‘tin’. I would have done so on this occasion but they didn’t want my money or card, just my bank details.
I pay to 3 charities of my choice regularly already and will not take on any more.
I’m presuming the charities have done their homework and this system works better for them but they didn’t get my details and they also didn’t get a donation. Surely if they didn’t sign me up then it would be in their interest to take some money off me?

Allira

AGAA4

Allira I would have given a one off donation but I don't want any more direct debits.
I wonder how much money charities are missing out on by not accepting an on the spot donation?

My friend used to make a monthly donation to the Red Cross, then they rang her up and suggested she increase it to £50 pm.

The man was so persistent and quite aggressive that she cancelled her direct debit altogether.

One reason I never give them my phone number!

Ages ago now, but my worst was a ‘chugger’ in central London, wanting me to make a monthly donation to a charity for the blind. I agreed to a fiver a month, but he wanted a lot of detail I wasn’t prepared to give - my phone number, and my age!! What on earth did they need that for?
So I declined those and he didn’t push it.

However some days later I had a letter from them, saying that without that information (phone number and my age), they were ‘unable’ to process my ‘application’!
The cheek of it!

Of course I should have written back, cancelling the whole thing and telling them why, but I never did get around to it.