Chuggers - the ones that stand in the street and get you to sign up for monthly payments - are a different breed to the tin-rattling brigade. The best way to deal with a chugger is to ask them how much the charity is paying them to sign people up; is it a fixed rate or are they on commission? Yes, they really do get paid from the "donations" to raise donations.
And people do sign up giving away their personal details to strangers!!! in the street.... Unbelievable
I simply tell them I do not give to chuggers. Charity collections have very strict rules that chuggers seem to be unaware of. They cannot rattle the tin and shout out like a market stall holder, they cannot approach you, you have to approach them, they cannot form a line across an entrance to channel you like sheep towards their charity booth. If they do any of these you are allowed to call the locak council The bit that bugs me the most about chuggers is that most are no longer volunteers but paid for collectors with some being paid above the national wage and others getting a 40% commission on monies collected. That will be from money donated.
Well one I donate to is through work is a local worthy cause and reputable. My employer specifically states that all monies go to the pointy end. I'm going to look into the other now after reading the comments on here. It's well known, but you never know. I'll ignore chuggers from now on. I remember when David Milliband threw his toys out of the pram when defeated by his brother. It was widely reported that he was moving to New York to work for a charity on a 6 figure salary. I remember thinking that was a lot of donations at the time.
A good way to judge a charity is by the wages they pay at the top. eg 32 charity bosses paid over £200,000 last year - Telegraph But also to rate them on their performance. eg Haitians are urging people not to give money to American Red Cross | The Independent "Despite collecting nearly half a billion dollars to provide relief after the 2010 Haiti earthquake and pledging to build 700 permanent homes, the ARC has been accused of only building six."
or looking at it another way.... The charity raises money they wouldn't otherwise have raised by getting professionals involved.
When confronted by chuggers I have actually used the line "I wouldn't give to a charity that would use my donation to pay chuggers" before. I don't do direct debits. I have standing orders for small donations to a few charities, and I'll always donate if there's an air ambulance collecting box.
