UKC

Charity adverts: we're all exposed to them and occasionally they'll tug at the heartstrings enough to incite a donation. But why do they insist on monthly commitment? I'm quite prepared to give a one off payment and am prepared to be generous with it but not many of us know where we're going to be six months down the line financially.

Edit: I've now signed up for the DD, I would have preferred a one off donation though.

In reply to Phantom Disliker:

I'm guessing because a one off donation is just that.  One off. 

One interaction with the donor = 1 donation: not very cost effective

One interaction with the donor = continuous DD donations, very cost effective.

Plus I think it plays on the fact that a large chunk of people will leave a DD in place for a long time because they can't be bothered with ever calling the bank to cancel it.

I 'would' sign up for a charity DD, but I would never feel pressured to do so.  If the collector says they're not in a position to take a one off payment then make one directly to the charity via the website.

Edited:  Sorry, I misread, I thought this was about a street chugger or a door to door collector, not a tv advert.  

In reply to Phantom Disliker:

Cancel the direct debit via you on line banking and purchase a few items when doing your shopping for the food banks instead. FB collection points are often housed within supermarkets and it’s the most direct and effective way of being charitable IMO. 
 

In reply to Phantom Disliker:

From a marketing point of view, it’s far easier to ask someone for £2 a month and then them not even notice the impact it has on their bank balance over 2 years, for example, than it is to say “give us 48 quid now.”

Also gives them some certainty from a forecasting point of view.

In reply to Phantom Disliker:

I don't do charity direct debits.  I donate as and when I want a sum I can afford at the time, e.g. by regularly doing sponsoring for people who do sponsored stuff.

I actually really object to "chuggers" pushing for DDs because it takes advantage of the vulnerable.  Personally, I would impose some form of licensing that mandates that street fundraisers in a public place[1] may only take one-off donations and may not set up direct debits, standing orders or continuous credit card authorisations.  If they want to do that, they should give you a leaflet to take home and think about it.

I know you can just cancel it, but vulnerable people won't think that way.

[1] Any place the public have access to, so including the likes of railway stations even though they are technically private land.

In reply to Phantom Disliker:

This is just as true for charities, and having direct debits coming in can give them a little financial security.

Plus what others said about direct debit givers being likely to end up giving more, over time.

I'm not very keen on giving that way either, but it does make a lot of sense for the recipient.

In reply to Phantom Disliker: I pay by DD, but I selected my charity fairly carefully.  I dont forget, they get stability.  My circumstances would need to be very different to stop... 

Wilkie14c - my charity of choice isn't local so the foodbank is irrelevant ( read that as a different thing, but certainly not unimportant).  I'd be curious to know if food banks have a wish list, and what they like best (cash)

In reply to wilkie14c:

I'll look out for the foodbank collection points! There is a lot of needless suffering in this country. Some of the cruellest things happen overseas though and this is why I won't be cancelling my DD.

In reply to Phantom Disliker:

When your accosted by a chugger ask about the fees. Last time one copped me it was for guide dogs, they were trying to raise 1 million quid but the small print said 500k was the collection company fee. I appreciate they have wages to pay and have to pay for the pitch to put the inevitable gazebo on but 50%?

I set up to donate direct instead. 

In reply to Phantom Disliker:

They don’t insist on monthly donations. The sites you’ve looked at may not not give that sort of option, but they have other means of giving a one off donation

In reply to Neil Williams:

Don’t get me going on chuggers!  I work for a charity, know loads of charity ‘boses’ and not one of us agrees with them. I’d ban them coz I reckon they end up signing a high % of ‘skintish’ people who don’t have the confidence to say ‘no’.

In reply to Dax H:

Wow, way excessive. As a rule of thumb, the business model for employing a fundraiser (applying for grants, organising community fundraising) is they should be aiming to raise about 3 or 4 times their salary. 

In reply to mick taylor:

Well the campaign to sign up to DD worked on me, stitched me up like a kipper!

I'm glad; made me feel good to boot. Everyone's a winner

In reply to mick taylor:

That's interesting, is that 3 or 4 times the salary of the person doing the actual fund rasing or does that cover the expense and profit of the company employing them? 

In reply to mick taylor:

Yes, precisely my concern, and those people are more likely to be the ones for whom cancelling a DD is something complex, not just a case of pulling up the Monzo app and doing a couple of taps.

I'm more than happy to chuck a quid in a bucket, and I suppose they could do a modern day version by having a contactless machine there and doing "tap to donate a fiver" or something, but I have a big issue with trying to get these commitments out of people by guilt tripping them.

Also in railway stations they cause an obstruction (I put in a formal complaint to the TOC or Network Rail as appropriate when I see this - at a busy station it's pretty much not possible *not* to be in the way doing this).

In reply to Phantom Disliker:

I asked the same at a lifeboat station once when my partner was being given the 'hard sell' . 

'so we can forecast and plan ahead knowing our incoming revenue' was the answer. Suffice to say I didn't sign up to anything. Happy to make a donation when I want to but no long term commitment. 

In reply to Dax H:

My example was if a charity directly employs a fundraiser (salaries post) NOT when they contract one of those chugging companies (shud have made this clearer).  Hospices are a good example, they invariably employ their  own fundraisers who organise a range of fundraising activities. They might be on £25k but would hope to bring in upwards of £75k

In reply to Phantom Disliker:

It's really very simple. They get FAR more money that way