Charity Canvassers at the front door

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts. You could be right MerylStreep they could indeed be scammers. Now I am waiting for the inevitable charity letters through the post which wend their way to me just before Christmas, with the free pens and other unwanted items. I used to tear them up and put them in the bin, now I return them as unwanted junk mail instead of cluttering up my recycling bin.

Local hospice only, I drive past most days.

Judy54, they don't need a licence from the LA to collect door to door for DD. Before I retired, l worked for licensing and we had loads of complaints from the public.
You only need a licence if you are asking for cash, which is a Street collection, not door to door.
A permit must be obtained for any of the clothing collections though and many of those are scams.

We don’t get them, we too are very rural, electric gates and dogs are a wonderful deterrent. I too support our local charities, they are the ones who need the money.

I had the same with Centrepoint, Grandmabatty, ringing us every month with “updates on how our donation helps” that always turned into appeals for more money. Eventually I told them that if they rang just one more time I would cancel the direct debit, and we’ve heard nothing since.

I used to support the Salvation Army Christmas appeal every year, but had to stop when it led to umpteen begging letters and calls from them. I just give toys to the local branch now.

I had a man and woman knock at my door canvassing for something.
He said : How are you today?
Me: I’m eating my dinner
He: ooo lovely, what are you having?
Me: goodbye.

6 o’clock in the evening. FOr Goodness Sake ! ?

Slightly diverging from the topic but I used to give a set amount each month to Red Cross. I lost count of the times they would phone me with sob stories to give more. The final straw was when they increased the amount I gave by direct debit without asking me! I was furious and cancelled as soon as I saw it.

I strongly object to the door to door collectors who try to pressure people to commit to a fixed monthly amount through direct debit.

They are not interested in a one off donation and are quite pushy.

I presume the charities who employ these people have found this method fruitful else why would they do it?
Their attitude puts me right off.

I think the writing is on the wall for these hard sell merchants,
though, and it’s been a few years now since I’ve opened the front door to them.

I personally find them as invasive as those touting religion.

We had a chap from a local hospice signing up supporters outside Aldi. I started talking to him and explained that DH had just died. He gave me a big hug and a kiss, but what most impressed me was that he understood what DH had died of and how very rare it was. I started donating because if things had gone differently we might have been very glad of the hospice ourselves.

When we lived in Cornwall I collected door to door for the Red Cross and was often turned away by people who were suspicious about where the money was going. When I collected for King Georges Fund For Sailors they couldn't give me the money fast enough. Anything to do with the sea was always popular.

If you do not want to give, just ignore all blandishments to do so. My brush-off remark is 'I have a portfolio of charities I give to, so I do not do phone/street donations.

I find the easiest thing to do is just send a cheque to a charity once a month and send it in an envelope and enclose no other details, not name, address, email or phone number. They cannot contact you because you have not given them any contact details.

It is easy enough to give these charities or any other organisation the brush-off if you put your mind to it.

Slightly related and funny story. My husband has a fantastic way of dealing with unwanted callers. Years ago he was plastering and accidently left a plasterer's trowel overnight and a dollop of plaster set hard on top.

Now he keeps it in the porch and picks it up when the doorbell rings. If it's anyone he doesn't want to talk to he points at the trowel and says, 'Look, I'm very sorry, I'd love to talk but I'm plastering and if I don't get on this will set and I'll be in a right mess.' They back off immediately.

I have several dds. I am reluctant nowadays to give to people collecting outside supermarkets as it is difficult to know which are genuine and which are chances.
I really hate it when a charity asks you to text a number to donate X amount and when you do it turns out they just want to get your phone number so that they can ring you back and hassle you to sign up to donating a certain amount a month. These strong arm tactics, and the obnoxious chuggers harassing people on the street, are getting charities a very bad name.

Quite a few charities used to drop off envelops in the past.

RNLI, Action Aid and a kidney charity are ones we used to get regularly. Thinking about it we've not had that happen for a few years now.

Apparently the RBL did collect door to door till 2016. I didn’t know that.

www.thirdsector.co.uk/royal-british-legion-ends-door-to-door-fundraising/fundraising/article/1400442

I do the same as Monica.I simply say that we don’t give to anyone at the door.

My response is quite simple. I just say 'We do not do business with anyone, including charities, on the doorstep'. Say it clearly and politely. I have yet to have a negative response.

We have a sign on our front door, obtained from our LA, with their logo and that of Police Scotland on it, which says it is illegal to cold call. It has worked for most cold callers.

Indeed it was Callistemon and done every year. Don’t yet know if it will be resumed this year.

I've never heard of it before, Germanshepherdsmum, but if you knew the collectors then it must have been authorised.

is there any evidence that such signs deter callers ?
i would be surprised; likewise, no junk mail.

Both charities did pre-pandemic Callistemon, and as they were local people I knew the collectors.

We have DDs set up for our favourite charities, and just politely tell them that, which seems to suffice in most cases. I’ve occasionally had one who’s been a bit pushy, and I must say the charity goes down in my estimation if they employ people like that. The worst I came across was a young female chugger in Salzburg, who asked us why we didn’t care about children with disabilities. Nice.

The Poppy Appeal never goes door to door. A scumbag once stole our collecting tin from my place of work and did just that though, so please don’t be taken in.

Germanshepherdsmum

What about people who collect door to door for Poppy Day and, in coastal areas such as mine particularly, the RNLI? Both are national charities but I doubt collectors, even if paid employees, know much about the charity’s income or the CEO’s. Perhaps people are being a little harsh if the collector can show ID.

As far as I am aware, neither the RBL nor the RNLI collect from door to door.

RBL sells poppies in authorised places during the time of the Poppy Appeal, either outside large shops, with permission, or by delivering poppies and collection boxes to places of work and pubs etc, not by knocking on doors.

If anyone claims to be doing that, then they are scammers.

Judy54 you can buy a sign to fix on or beside your door:
"No Cold Callers"

What about people who collect door to door for Poppy Day and, in coastal areas such as mine particularly, the RNLI? Both are national charities but I doubt collectors, even if paid employees, know much about the charity’s income or the CEO’s. Perhaps people are being a little harsh if the collector can show ID.

I say to all who knock that I never give to anyone at the door and they're wasting their time. If they try to engage me in the why's, I repeat my statement and close the door.