This is what I do. I give to alzheimers and cancer charities, things that have directly affected my family.
I can't give to everyone who deserves it. That's just the way it is. I feel no guilt.
Ditto! I almost lost my sight in2011 so I give to Fred hollows and guide dogs every year. I adopted 2 kids, so I give to kids with cancer, alannah & madelin, and police youth.
That's it. I get heaps of cold calls for a setup plan, but I just stick to the same 5. I can't help everyone, but I feel good helping the ones I do yearly.
2 homeless people I give to weekly if I see them. End of story.
Yep. This. Also I am not giving my credit card to a chugger or being shamed during a cost of living crisis. I give a but to charity, but I have to make decisions on where I think money is best used.
Some of them will make you feel bad! That’s not the way
Plus a lot of those chuggers are working for outsourced companies who take a cut of the donation. Even if you want to donate monthly, its better to do so directly on their website.
At least the Starlight Foundation allows both options, one-off payments as well as regular donations and the amount can be freely varied.
The only thing is they have regular campaigns where they tend to run CRO (conversion rate optimization) on their site to try to increase the amounts, and so they have A/B testing, where about half the time they have their regular donation request amounts and the other half they have their increased campaign requests. You may have to refresh the donation page a few times to get the lower amounts if that’s how you roll. They also set these amounts based on your previous donations - oh, you donated $15 to our last campaign? Let’s try to get you in for $25 this time…
Source: Starlight Foundation were one of my regular clients for my last role, working in CRO and general development of a number of sites, including Starlight…
>outsourced companies who take a cut of the donation.
I'm not sure if it's still true, but it used to take about 12 months of donations to cover the cut of those outsourced companies.
I worked for one of these companies for 4 days about 15 years ago. Did the maths and it turned out around 12 months of each donation solicited went to pay the salesperson who signed up the donation. No idea how much extra went to the company sending us out to doorknock.
I have never given another cent to a person knocking on my door or stopping me in the street.
So basically they have to ask for ongoing donations to pay the commission to the person asking for donations.
(Also, never forget how much those charaties raised during the 2020 fire/ flood season and how little of that actually got to the people who needed help. Charaties in Australia have just become big business.)
Not sure if it's still the case, but the deal used to be that the chugger company got 100% of the first year donations and 50% of the second year. They pay the chugger commission out of this.
Agreed!
The door knockers or collectors don’t usually work for the charity (except salvos).
Often the contracted door knocker/collector companies take almost all of the first two years $ of a subscription and only in the third year does the charity start to get $$.
Unless the giver gets tired and cancels : (
Hooray for the market will sort out everything!
I fell for this once. The day my son was born I was at a shopping centre buying formula and ran into one that’s a charity for disabled children. I did a once off donation of $20 (a lot for a young fella working in a call centre). To my surprise I was charged again a month later on the same bank card. Didn’t mind too much, but after another month I contacted them and was told I’d been signed up for monthly and should have been told. I thought meh that’s alright. The next month that donation had suddenly doubled to $40. Called them back and asked them to reverse it. Month goes by, another $40. Annoyed and slowly going more broke as the reality of being a new dad set in, I called once again to cancel. They refused to cancel and instead lowered my payment to $20. Multiple phone calls, multiple “think of the children’s” and it went on for about 6 months until I finally just cancelled my card and got a new one. I still get letters in the mail from them. I was a naive 20 year old who’ll now forever have a sour taste for these donations
Some of these charities are, frankly, unethical. I had a door stop by a collector who claimed my offer of a one-off payment of $50 was not possible(rubbish). Reluctantly, I was persuaded to make a monthly payment by auto debit to my CC. A chance glance at the paper work (which I was told I need not read) revealed a clause permitting the charity to make a change to the amount pledged to an amount it considered reasonable, in its absolute discretion. I declined to sign and closed my door.
FYI- this was a very old and reputable charity in NSW, that everyone would know of.
And if you read the fine print, the company that signs you up takes the first year of charity donations till it recovers it cost of employees and a profit. After that the charity starts getting money.
Cobra / appco group. Chris Niarchos.
Its mlm that screws its own workers aswell. Around 10 years ago or so i found out that practically all of the big non profits use them. I call red cross australia to inform them and enquire, and was told by the person there that a significant portion of management were ex cobra group (ie still happy to be associated) Its like a cult, and f the red cross and others. Theyve sold their soul to the devil. There should be prominent awareness of this.
Maybe a year later i found out that my brother in law knows the head of red cross, and i had the chance to have dinner with both of them. I purely wanted to go so i could verbally throttle the cnt. Totally unleash. i didnt bc i considered my bro in law. Part of me wishes i had to this day
I got conned by some charming British men to sign up for WWF. "Oh its only the price of 2 coffees a month," Not sure who's coffee costs them $15 a pop but OK. They also wrote my occupation as a barista because I didn't have a job and they weren't supposed to sign up people who didn't have jobs.
I have a friend that works at one if these call centres for charities. They get paid plus a bonus for every donor they sign up. And they don’t just work for one charity, they get rotated around and work for different charities every few weeks. If they don’t reach their weekly targets, they get a performance review and can get fired. I’ve heard about so many unethical practices that I have decided never to donate to anyone over the phone.
Well, people sign up for it, without reading the terms. It happened with many, if not most things, I suspect. Whether they would act upon such a clause is another thing - as would seeking to enforce it if dispute was raised. But yeah, the whole thing is pretty terrible. I don’t think the charities concerned appreciate the impact on reputation when people realise.
Shit that’s terrible. Could I ask what charity this was for? It’s crazy how much they can get away with. If the money was used for charity, I wouldn’t mind it as much but the reality is that 70-80% goes straight to the marketing team that makes commission off of you.
And they wonder why we no longer want to donate
This is a horrible experience!, you should report them to the ACNC and ask them to investigate, it doesn’t sound like they are operating within the requirements of their charitable registration / tax exemption
lol. I got towelled up by a smoking hot English chick outside town hall. Got me on recurring $30 monthly donations about 10 years ago. I’m also the sad idiot that would go into taro cash and come out with $300 of t shirts cause the hotty inside said I looked good in them
Don't worry, we were all young and weak once. Weirdest one I've had was just recently I had a young girl (I think, can't assume any more though) in telstra store tell me that whilst I don't look my age (38) I do give off daddy vibes and that's pretty hot followed by, so are you interested in upgrading your plan and getting a new phone?
Yehhh, no I don't think so.
Seriously. I'm not doing well financially, but every now and then I'll have a spare couple bucks. I cannot afford to "subscribe" because $10 a fortnight means the difference between eating or not sometimes. I am the charity my dudes. When I say "I can't afford it" I really mean it.
Someone once told me to cut down on the coffee because I was holding one and I said I couldn't afford it, it was a Macca's coffee I got for free. I literally could not afford dinner that night.
That was the last time I really had the urge to punch someone in the face. I really don't understand the ones trying to chase down your money. Surely it never works.
I had someone point out my Calvin Klein T-Shirt, which I had bought years and years before. So it wasn't really relevant. At the time I was freelancing, which meant that my income was very inconsistent.
“Oh hey random stranger. I see you have an expensive shirt on. How dare you! Give me money now or you’re a bad person!”
They must have absolutely zero shame or effs given!
I’ve never had the chance to say it, but when they say “It’s only the same amount as xx coffees”. Hey! Look! That’s my little bit of enjoyment in this depressing life so back off and leave MY coffees alone!!!! (Not that I drink it anymore, but you get it).
Even if you somehow afforded one charity at ten bucks a month, the other guys all also want ten a month. No matter what, you’re never giving enough to suit them.
I use the line “I’m a single mum and if I give to you that’s something I can’t do for my own child, like swimming lessons that could one day save their life”.
Last week I bought a big issue from a vendor and the vendor was saying he wasnt selling many magazines “because all you workers are now lazy and only want to work from home”.
Last year I made a donation to Bully Zero which I stressed was a one time thing and then every month after they called me the same week to ask me to sign up and told me I wasn’t doing enough, then the calls came weekly and I started blocking the numbers.
The last time I was quite assertive with them about not calling me and how I was not in the position to support them and how I considered the continued calling to be inappropriate after I repeatedly asked them to not contact me anymore.
Thesedays I give to friends if they’re doing something to raise money for a charity. Or I give blood, or I buy the big issue
Most charities have hired a team of marketing people. So, my $10 contribution per week would mean $7/$8 going to the advertising team and $2/$3 going to the charity.
I did a one off payment to a charity last year. Having my details, a staff member called me and started getting very aggressive. The tone was that I wasn’t doing enough AND I need to commit more by doing weekly payments. Instead of getting my sympathy, I became more angry as the conversation continued.
I now put in a few dollars if there is a person doing collections and I will only do one off payments to certain charities (the ones that never call me after my donation)
Did this ages ago. I was 'hired' as a contractor by this company that ran all sorts of campaigns. One was going door to door selling Foxtel. $150 per sell
Another wing did charity campaigns. If you got someone to sign up, their entire first year's donations went to the company instead of the charity. Cant remember how much commission the salesman made but it was amazing.
>I did a one off payment to a charity last year. Having my details, a staff member called me and started getting very aggressive. The tone was that I wasn’t doing enough AND I need to commit more by doing weekly payments. Instead of getting my sympathy, I became more angry as the conversation continued.
I can pretty much guarantee you that wasn't a "staff member" of the charity. It was someone from a third-party telemarketing agency whom the charity had contracted to solicit donations on their behalf.
Well, whoever it was, that turned me off their charity. I’m still getting mail sent to the old place and I just tell the new owners to ignore it. I’ve had mail sent to my PO Box from different organisations. I think people doing one off payments are putting down the wrong address now. I might try that next time.
Also, the reason they were being aggressive was likely because their pay cheque depended on them successfully winning over a certain percentage of the people they had to call. That doesn't excuse that person's behaviour, of course, but it does help explain it.
I did the sign up for charities for a brief time while in University. The marketing company get the first month’s payment (if it is a monthly plan) and it all goes to the charity after that.
The last time I looked into it in detail - admittedly a few years ago - the chugged company took Bout 80% in the 1st year, and about 30% in the 2nd. After that it went ti the charity.
I think they come up with figures of 5 or 10% commission, as they claim the average punter sticks with it for 7 years.
I am sure someone has more up to date stats.
I did it around 2001 so probably wildly out of date though it doesn’t seem that long ago to me. Wouldn’t surprise me to see them get greedier. I didn’t last long at it. Hated the salesmen pushiness.
"How's your day been?"
"Glad you asked, I just need to let it out. My uncle went into hospital this morning, my mum blames his wife. Then I got a call at lunchtime that the neighbours dog has mauled our family cat to death. It has been just horrible today. Thank you for asking"
I donated to them and WIRES during 2019 bushfires. They never called or harassed me again. I had a good experience with rural fire service. I also bought craft items from the retired volunteers.
Those people you see outside the supermarket or down the high street are all external sales people.
They only get paid on signups so aren't interested in one off donations
Not only that, their systems aren't set up for it.
And as you imply, their contract with the charity is to sign up people for regular donations, anything else is irrelevant to their KPIs and a waste of time.
As someone who also used to work in fundraising and grant writing, one of the actual reasons that charities pursue monthly donations is because they are worth so much more to the organisation, as regular funding allows for better operations and planning.
If you gave $120 as a one-off, that's great. The organisation takes that money and puts it to use and then it's gone, and they have to spend resources to get the next one-off donation.
But if you gave that same $120 over a period of 12 months, meaning $10 a month, the organisation knows that it's getting $10 per month from you over the entire year. It makes planning easier and they don't have to spend as much on soliciting repeat donations from you, it just comes every month on cue.
Multiply this by the hundreds and thousands of donors that any given charity might have, and you can begin to understand why they push for regular donations rather than one-offs. It's annoying at the point of interaction with the clipboard people on the street, but when you run the numbers it's a much better use of organisation resources (aka funds) to push for repeat donations rather than one-offs.
That's all well and good. But it doesn't explain why they would decline the one off payments. Sure, the monthly subs are great as u say and the reasons u gave, but surely the $120 one off payment is better to use and be gone than nothing at all.
For me it's the pushiness. As soon as u try and talk me into that I'm shutting down and not interested. I'll listen out of politeness but if u play the guilt the doors in ur face. Literally had an rspca person tell me I must have hated animals and wish they would die because I literally couldn't afford $45/60 a month. Door never got slammed harder.
That may be the logical case, but I fail to see how that’s my responsibility.
The whole “Sign up per month” is ridiculous in the current environment, and add to that the tactics of emotional manipulation and pushiness and guilt tripping…. They can go jump!
I always chuckle when i see the cancer people approaching me. I shake their hands and thank them for raising money for me, not from me. I present as healthy so they never know if i’m legit. I’m legit dying though, i just look healthy for now.
Yeah, i care but don’t engage with the feelings for the most part. I mean obviously we all care to some degree about life and death. I’ve worked a lot in aged care though and a healthy 80 year old only has about five years left but they don’t live like they’re dying.
They tend not to give a fuck and just enjoy their current health. I try to do the same. Still, sometimes you’ll be just sitting there and break out in tears knowing the pain your passing will cause others. I’m not claiming to be a rock or anything but i feel i have a healthy perspective.
can confirm. charity board member for a large charity for10 years, under the constitution, I had to pay membership every year just like any other member.
didn't get paid a cent, but had to pay for many things and donated over $10k.
Prado? Pffft! 300 series you mean. And do you really expect a charity worker in Africa to deliver a $100 food package with anything less than a $120000 vehicle?
Cobra / appco group. Chris Niarchos. Its mlm that screws its own workers aswell.
Around 10 years ago or so i found out that practically all of the big non profits use them. I call red cross australia to inform them and enquire, and was told by the person there that a significant portion of management were ex cobra group (ie still happy to be associated) Its like a cult, and f the red cross and others. Theyve sold their soul to the devil.
There should be prominent awareness of this.
Maybe a year later i found out that my brother in law knows the head of red cross, and i had the chance to have dinner with both of them. I purely wanted to go so i could verbally throttle the cnt. Totally unleash. i didnt bc i considered my bro in law. Part of me wishes i had to this day
The best idea is to boycott any charity who uses chuggers:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-22/young-workers-launch-class-action-against-appco-marketing-giant/7954586
I remember this, that company punished workers who failed to meet periodical targets by doing "sluggies" where they had to move while only using their back. This resulted in staff damaging their own clothes. I felt really bad for them.
I stupidly signed up for one of these after being told I couldn't do a one off, and went to cancel it a couple of weeks later. It was almost as difficult as cancelling a gym membership, I had to trawl the website to find out how — it could only be in writing via the post, using very specific language addressing a very specific team and if it wasn't received at least 5 business days prior to my next scheduled 'donation' then fuck me it was going to be taken out anyway.
I used to donate occasionally, but this exact scenario happened to me with guide dogs payment plan (they got me in a weak moment).
I ended up having to contact the bank to stop the payments. There didn't seem to be any actual way to get out of it via the company. Never again will I donate to a single charity.
It gets so annoying when they arear your local shops or workplace. I had some chuggers hone in on me recently. I stupidly let it progress to the ipad details stage. They are really forceful.
Pushovers like me: Pretend to be on your phone or something.
Have done the "pretend they're invisible" for years, i'm now old enough and cranky enough to use a new tactic:
Lock gaze with them, don't change direction, expression or respond in any way, and carry on maintaining eye contact right as you pass them by. If they get in your way don't slow down or change direction.
>Pushovers like me: Pretend to be on your phone or something.
If you talk into your phone and walk past they'll almost never try and stop you.
Another good trick is to get a look at the t-shirt to see who they're collecting for. Then when they try and stop you, you smile and ask them "\[x charity\]?", and they're like "yeah!", and then you just say you're already a member.
Of course, the best thing to do is to just learn to not be such a a pushover and say no.
BuT iTs OnLy A dOlLaR pEr DaY
In all seriousness, I think they've made the calculation that they'd rather try upsell people at the risk of losing others. It's much better for them to have recurring payments.
Annual Recurring Revenue from subscription based services has permeated every corner of the market.
Everyone from Netflix to farmers (veg/meat boxes) to charities wants to get in on the predictable revenue and lazy tax benefits of the subscription model.
There's a farm in my area that does vege boxes, no subscription needed, just order whenever, the quality is excellent and all organic, the catch is you get what you get, there's no ordering specific stuff.
We’ve got one like that nearby, and they try to sell excess at local markets (which are pretty small).
The one I buy from does a quarterly subscription and grows for you. You still get what you get to a large extent, but they take into account preferences and also take requests (in advance!) for the next growing season. They also try to grow stuff you can’t normally get at the supermarkets, so can save a trip to Melbourne and the ‘big’ markets.
I don’t mind a quarterly subscription - particularly since it’s all proper organic, generally tailored to my likes, and delivered to my door! (I don’t know how they stay in business, but that’s another issue).
Our local vet has just made it a subscription service if you want access to after hours access to a vet + a callout fee on the night + the already inflated medication and accomadation fees.
They id that at our local vet after one of the corporate vet chains bought them out. The ex practice vet who left and started up a practice across the road is doing very well with the small animals and the horse vet 20 minutes up the road has had a very healthy upswing in clients too lol! Sad to see the practice with forty plus years of history in the area slowly die but well, it's not that practice anymore anyway.
35 years ago, I was a sales rep for a printing company. Delivered some (heavily discounted) brochures to the Kew offices of a well-known, worldwide charity. Most opulent offices I've ever been in and a car park lined with prestige vehicles. I have not donated to mainstream charities ever since, instead giving to local food banks, women shelters, etc.
You can. But the problem is the "chuggers" in shopping centres that want your details and a recurring donation.
Any legitimate charity will gladly accept one off donations. For example - [https://www.foodbank.org.au/support-us/make-a-donation/donate-funds/?state=wa](https://www.foodbank.org.au/support-us/make-a-donation/donate-funds/?state=wa)
[https://www.redcross.org.au/donation/tax24/SVW1/](https://www.redcross.org.au/donation/tax24/SVW1/)
[https://donate.vinnies.org.au/appeals-wa/winter-appeal-wa](https://donate.vinnies.org.au/appeals-wa/winter-appeal-wa)
Important for people to be aware that chuggers are largely for profit contractors hired by charities. These private companies often receive the first 2 years of your donations as a commission before the money starts getting to the charity. In some of the worst cases for it then to be largely swallowed up by bloated charity admin and revenue raising consultants.
This was the case in the early 2010’s anyway and I’ve seen no evidence things have improved. I was a backpacker in that era and it was a common job backpackers would be targeted with. To do for a month before they often quit due to realising it’s a terrible way to make a living.
The realisation made me very jaded towards big charities and their corruption. Smaller charities are much more worthy in my eyes.
Backpackers are expensive these days
Plus the charities don't care about your spending efficiency. The charity getting $1 after middlemen costs when you donate $10 is still a win to them.
It because now it’s a business.. those aren’t people donating their time, they are people doing commission only work.. the company they work for take the first couple of months payments and the people signing you up are taking a cut if that
I got "trapped" by people doing that before in a shopping centre, too socially awkward to say no so I signed up and just called up to cancel later.
But I dunno how the hell you'd feel comfortable making a living like that, taking a cut from *charities.* Until I found that out I'd assumed they were volunteers or doing it for religious reasons or something and thought good on 'em.
The people wanting to sign you up for a charity subscription are not actual members of the charity. They work for marketing companies that keep over 90% of your donations as management fees and commissions. I used to work for one under the AAPCO group, I think they go by the Ascenta group now.
Don't donate to door knockers or people on the streets. Find the charity you want to support, wait til the wave of generosity and bonhomie rolls over you, make a big one-off donation, subscribe to nothing, feel good about yourself, move on.
True story about when giving cash to backpacker charity collectors near Town Hall station, Sydney. One of them gets a $50 note slotted into the collection tin. What a moment, eh? She dashes into the toilet at the station and uses two paddlepop sticks to extract the note. (Yes, she never starts work without two paddlepop sticks.)
Gets EXTREMELY pissed off when she finds that it wasn't a $50, but a NZ $5 instead. Thinks it's the worst thing that happened all day. Oh, woe is me.
This story was told to me by backpacking flatmates. They had no shame, saw no ethical problem. She knew that the company that employed her was gonna take 20%, the charity was gonna take a further 30%, so why shouldn't she take 100%?
This post says it all. I get sick of being brow beaten to go into a payment plan when they come knocking. I'm happy to make a donation but always say no when they want to sign you up for direct debits.
Sorry but no.
Yep. Its damn annoying. And once they get your details? You are never left alone again.
I admit. It has actually decreased me donating or buying a ticket or such things.
It's decreased me donating😟 easier to just ignore these days.
I stopped all regular charity donations and now I only contribute one large one-off donation to a charity per year, and my rule is it only goes to a friend who is engaged in some sort of fund raising activity and they directly ask me.
ANY pushy sales tactics, ANY unwanted direct debit set ups, and, I cannot believe that I am even saying this part, but ANY small print that allows them to increase the deduction at their discretion, should all be banned. 100% openness and accountability with clear graphics (showing where every cent goes) at point-of-sale, as it were, should be mandatory. No ifs or buts and no coconuts.
Capisce?
Totally agree. My dad was sick last year and I donated to the hospital and the cancer council. Now they keep sending my letters, like monthly (feels like weekly) asking for donations.
It makes me not want to donate at all
When they won’t take a one off donation and say it’s just a small amount each month I ask them how much they donate?
They just stare blankly, and I walk away.
I was so happy to see Cystic Fibrosis WA outside the shops the other week. They were selling roses for $5 each (roses are a symbol for CF). It was an easy decision. Five bucks as a once off donation, and got a lovely rose that lasted for ages!
I refused to sign up with a door knocker for Doctors Without Borders.
Promised and delivered on a once of $100 donation.
They charged my card agin a month later - phone call put a stop to it, but then the bastards sold my data. Arseholes!
The people I work for take one off donations and 100% of those donations goes straight to the people. Wages are covered by large philanthropic donations (angel investors) and government grants. We do not use a single $ of donations from the general public to cover wages.
Edit: corrected some info
1. The NFP prefers regular income to haphazard donations. Helps them plan ahead.
2. The NFP kinda hopes you’ll forget you signed up for that monthly donation. And if you do remember they kinda hope it’ll be too much effort to cancel. At least for a few more months.
3. The spruikers get paid in residuals. That five or ten minute convo that got you to sign up keeps them getting cash many months later. And the agency that hired them, too. Your one off donation means fuck all to them.
I always told them I’m never giving my card details to someone who came off the streets, nope.
I offered a one time donation, but was told they can’t accept cash or something stupid.
I miss the old days when door knockers would just have a bucket for cash…
At least get with the times and offer a one time only eft donation with tax invoice supplied???
You can. Just donate directly to the organisation. by a one off donation.
If the organisationation you want to donate to relys on paid "pan-handlers", then i'd revaluate that organisations worth.
Simply google of the charity/organisation of your choice and give a one off donation. If its a local mob you feel deserve a hand just walk right in and give to them.
Rule of thumb: If they want a recurring payment straight up, they are corporations. Do not give.
The problem with some charities is that you really don’t know where the money is ending up, I would prefer to do a nice deed once a day and directly help someone.
I did laps for life this year and raised over $1000 and reach out called me yesterday asking for monthly donations. Like I raised money? Leave me alone. I could’ve done nothing. It stated out as can you do $40? … no.. how about $20.. no.. what about $10… NO!
Guide Dog Australia accepts a single donation. They are very nice .
RSPCA does not , they are really pushy.., I ended up arguing with them .. ridiculous. I don’t know why they behave like that .. after that I stop donating to RSPCA…. It is sad ..
Don't feel sad I know one person who left them her entire will, it was a house worth $700k, one of my wealthy clients plans on leaving them about 1/3 of his networth as he has no kids, and he's worth many millions.
I try to donate to the smaller ones that are local and basically never solicit ever and just talk about their work instead, or I kind of feel bad for all the pets being fucked over in Ukraine right now, but that requires a bit of research into which companies are legit and less corrupt or at least not total scams, even if I'm only sending $20, I rather it go somewhere less corrupt.
Things were a lot different when I was growing up.
Decades ago, as a child, I did:
* the MS Readathon and pestered family members to donate
* door-to-door asking for donations when I was a teenager
As an adult, I still do:
* create a Facebook post asking and ask family members for donations
* occasionally dress up as a Star Wars character either directly for a charity event and sometimes hold out a bucket, or do an event where the business owner makes a charity donation in our name
Unfortunately, chuggers are the ones generating a steady stream of income. I hate chuggers. I hate how they will do anything to try to get you to stop.
At least some of the time the people at the shops are paid to be there collecting donations, so some of what you donate goes to them instead of the cause.
I recommend researching charities and donating directly the amount you want to.
The charities are likely at arms length and only a small amount of your donation goes there. Essentially there are a number of "marketing" companies that specialise in charitable collections, and they will offer the charities a service to collect on their behalf.
For a charity, its an easy choice to make, as it is low effort and potential cash. The risk is that it can dilute the brand or irritate potential donors. Unfortunately many NFPs and charities are run by well meaning people with not a lot of clue, and as they get bigger, the drive to keep solvent is very very high.
Bc it’s not about charity. It’s about making money. Everything under capitalism is for profit, even when they say it’s not. Just google the salaries for these supposed ‘charities’. Ever since they started ‘Movember’ and similar schemes, the costs to actually get help have skyrocketed. Sure, there’s plenty of hands at lifeline but anybody wanting to get mental help better have some cash ready to spill.
Can someone explain charities who do lotteries?
Usually a million dollar house, gold bullion or some crap. Can't they sell the house cash the gold and use that money? I can't tax deduct the lottery entry.. I'm confused.
If you donate directly to the charity via their website (so that you know your whole donation will actually go to the charity) then you will almost certainly find you can make a one-off donation.
I tell chuggers that I will donate online and ask them for a brochure or card to remind me. They're not happy about this but too bad.
Reading all these bad experiences so I want to put a good one out there.
Care Flight 100% let me just make a one off donation after I rejected a direct debt option. Super nice through the whole process.
Went direct debit for 6mths when I was able to and when I wasn’t, they took me off with no fuss when I asked. Great experience.
I think that every charity that engages in aggressive marketing and targeted donor drives along with engaging chuggers actually negatively impacts the whole sector. The blow back of unhappy and dis-satisfied donors/potential donors must reduce the overall amount of donations.
I know that Vision Australia is in my blacklist for engaging cold callers seeking donations. The precipitating event was when my partner took a call and agreeing to the donations to get the calender of guide dogs. Never getting the calender but then getting a demand if payment was insulting. After following it up the cold caller wrongly recorded our address with someone else in the block of units getting a free calender. We did after much angst get the demand for payment waived. Knowing how the industry works I know that cold caller had no connection to Vision Australia, worked to targets - both call length, refusal conversion and signed up donors. So this is the opportunity cost that Vision Australia embraced by outsourcing donation drives. And it affects the whole sector.
Now I never donate to anyone.
Yeah fuck that i just stop em in their spiel and say don’t waste your time tell me if i can donate one off or its for the rest of my life. In which case, i don’t do that. Since the cancer arsehole made me cry in the mall after my dad died, all those chugger cunts can fuck right off.
I gave one off donations to two separate charities earlier this year and have received an email every few days and mail every month or so asking me to give more.
This! I have my regular charity payments set up. The ones I believe in. And I would have no problem with a fiver or twenty here and there if that was accepted. But it has become ridiculous. It's not even just the chuggers. I got a call from the place I adopted one of my cats 10 years ago. He had just died from probable feline AIDS. I suspect he was born with it since he was an indoor cat. But it is always about setting up a direct deposit. I'm sorry, I'm not going to give you my credit card details over the phone or on the street. And, then when I ask them to email me information - Oh, no they can't do that. Well, in that case neither can I.
I once got harassed via a cold call by some random charity after signing a petition on facebook. I refused to donate out of principle and she tried the "well why did you sign the petition then" card which didn't help her case.
Can't do shit without strings attached these days and everything is a business with quotas, kpi's and deceptive marketing.
I find it even more annoying after you've said that you're not interested, so they try to guilt you and play head games. I tell them to rack off if they pester me. Every time I shop in an op shop, I'm giving to charity. I also support ovarian cancer research since many women in my family have died from it, and possibly me next. I give when I can afford to.
I worked for one of the bigger charities a few years back, after that I swore to never give any of their ilk a single cent. The waste was terrifying and the lack of support they gave to the supposed beneficiaries was little to none.
I am happy to give to small grass roots direct action groups though.
Because charities have become sneaky and greedy like corporations. They especially love to pray on older Australians and get them locked in for eternity. They also make it very hard to stop those AUTOMATIC payments.
I’m going to name two charities to have done that to myself and my mother: Save the Children and Red Cross. Shame!
I used to love buying tickets when the Lifesavers had their stands. Now they want you to sign up for monthly payments and - this is the worst part - they usually use fit young men and get them to flirt with you. I find it actually predatory and insulting because it's like they're thinking "oh here's an ugly bitch who probably never gets attention, let's reel her in!"
Fuck donating to charities.
There are millions of people out there with money 99% of us will never earn. Let those fuckers donate to charities.
Gina Rinehart has a net worth (yes it's net worth, not liquid cash - but whatever) and if she gave 0.001% of her net worth to charity it would be $300k
0.001% of my net worth is $3. I'd have to donate my entire net worth to equal Gina's 0.001% - a one thousandth of her worth. She's probably spent 300k on a single dinner or bottle or champagne.
Charities are a glorified scam at this point. Probably only 10% of what you give actually ends up with the people you're trying to help, rest ends up in the exec salaries.
Charities are scams, 90% of what you donate doesn't make it to the cause you're donating for. It goes to administrators who pay themselves 200k a year to go to fancy dinners and parties.
Those aren't charities they're sales companies which offer their services to charities and hire uni dropouts to sign people up for commission
The charities get almost nothing - enough so they sign up because they don't have to DO anything for the free money
Most of the time, these are companies that collect for the charity and skim off a percentage. Getting you paying them regularly is a great source of income. Make sure 100% of your donation gets to the charity.
I agree that having the option for one offs would be nice. I have a few monthly payments going but that’s about the limit I can handle. So if I get approached now I have to tell them that to sign up with them is to give up another. A bit like streaming services.
Like all companies moving to subscription services its better to have a regular known amount of income based on membership numbers. Easier to forecast, manage cashflow and expenses and make plans for outgoings.
Hi - I work for a charity. Most of our work is long term and requires long-term funding, hence why ongoing donations (pledges) are so important to keep a) our costs down, b) our projects solving systematic issues. Donations cost money to acquire and the more we need to go back and raise the higher the cost (and the less we get to projects). So we generally try to ask for pledges first, however donations are and always will be welcome. Ultimately we just want to fund the work we’re doing, and unfortunately it’s hard to plan long-term if we’re constantly running out of funding. Just some two cents and thank you very much for contributing to areas of our country which are often neglected or struggling.
It’s been like that for a long time. Those “charity collectors” are on commission. You need to donate for a couple of months before you’ve even covered their fee for signing you on.
If you want to make a one-off donation go straight to the charity and cut out the middle man.
Charities used to turn to volunteers to collect donations. Over time people became less and less interested in volunteering, and charities found that the chuggers provided much better fundraising value than their own volunteer doorknocking efforts.
As a result we now have high pressure sales tactics and dark patterns applied to charitable giving.
It's always about the money.
You can. Just don’t give them your details unless you need a receipt for tax purposes. A lot of charities have a tap and go system or bank details you can transfer to.
Find a cause you are passionate about and contact them directly with your enquiry. They won’t turn the money away and if they do simply ask for an info@ email address to lodge your complaint.
Chuggers don’t work for the charity directly. The charities pay an agency. I don’t donate via chuggers.
Volunteers rattling the tin, charity gets it directly. Volunteers selling tickets at an event on behalf of charity, charity gets a portion of sales.
You can give a one off donation to a small breast cancer charity that provides support to breast cancer patients. We are not government funded and rely heavily on donations so every little bit helps. https://www.bosombuddies.org.au/bosom-buddies-donate
I donate to charity by shopping in their op shops. Or rounding up my total at maccas.
Or I have donated directly to a cat rescue or bought something off their wish list. But I'm not in the position to donate more than $10..
At my Iga, they do it for a week with a different cause everyday...first couple of days I try and ignore them but by the end of the week I get quite grumpy...I really don't like it...do the supermarkets get paid...? Why do they risk alienating their customers?
I suspect that the people taking your donation. (ie the chuggers) get paid higher commissions on monthly sign ups than they do for on the spot donations.
Anyone who approaches you in public for a charity donation can safely be ignored. If it's a cause you want to donate to, go to their website and throw some cash at it.
My wife and I donate to https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org.au/ when we can as it focuses on "bang for buck".
Because the charity aren't running those people. They are employees of a third party which collects the first twelve months of contributions before any more goes to the charity.
The charity eventually gets ongoing recurring income ,(eventually) without any costs.
These systems exist. Buskers use them here in parts of North America, (the smart one do).
You like their music? Then just tap and select an amount. It’s brilliant. Otherwise these guys are going out of business in the digital era.
the people at the shops make huge commissions. if you sign up for a $25pm donation the person may make $100 commission from the charity so it takes up to 4 months for the charity to see anything at all. i almost want to tell people this directly who i see signing up in shops to sign up online instead of through the salesman if they actually want to support the charity
Consider just keeping track of the total amount you'd like to donate each month/year and then do research online about what the best charity is to give your money to.
That way you're not suckered into giving money to bad charities.
If they won't accept a single donation, you walk away and give it to someone else.
This is what I do. I give to alzheimers and cancer charities, things that have directly affected my family. I can't give to everyone who deserves it. That's just the way it is. I feel no guilt.
I also donate to Alzheimers charities because of lived experience. I keep forgetting their bank details though!
Dad please stop. Please come home
He can't, he has Alzheimer's. He doesn't remember where he lives.
Mum?
🤣🤣🤣
Ditto! I almost lost my sight in2011 so I give to Fred hollows and guide dogs every year. I adopted 2 kids, so I give to kids with cancer, alannah & madelin, and police youth. That's it. I get heaps of cold calls for a setup plan, but I just stick to the same 5. I can't help everyone, but I feel good helping the ones I do yearly. 2 homeless people I give to weekly if I see them. End of story.
Yep. This. Also I am not giving my credit card to a chugger or being shamed during a cost of living crisis. I give a but to charity, but I have to make decisions on where I think money is best used. Some of them will make you feel bad! That’s not the way
Plus a lot of those chuggers are working for outsourced companies who take a cut of the donation. Even if you want to donate monthly, its better to do so directly on their website.
At least the Starlight Foundation allows both options, one-off payments as well as regular donations and the amount can be freely varied. The only thing is they have regular campaigns where they tend to run CRO (conversion rate optimization) on their site to try to increase the amounts, and so they have A/B testing, where about half the time they have their regular donation request amounts and the other half they have their increased campaign requests. You may have to refresh the donation page a few times to get the lower amounts if that’s how you roll. They also set these amounts based on your previous donations - oh, you donated $15 to our last campaign? Let’s try to get you in for $25 this time… Source: Starlight Foundation were one of my regular clients for my last role, working in CRO and general development of a number of sites, including Starlight…
The cost per acquisition from some of the chugger companies is so high that the charity doesn't see a cent unless you sign up and pay for over a year
>outsourced companies who take a cut of the donation. I'm not sure if it's still true, but it used to take about 12 months of donations to cover the cut of those outsourced companies.
I worked for one of these companies for 4 days about 15 years ago. Did the maths and it turned out around 12 months of each donation solicited went to pay the salesperson who signed up the donation. No idea how much extra went to the company sending us out to doorknock. I have never given another cent to a person knocking on my door or stopping me in the street. So basically they have to ask for ongoing donations to pay the commission to the person asking for donations. (Also, never forget how much those charaties raised during the 2020 fire/ flood season and how little of that actually got to the people who needed help. Charaties in Australia have just become big business.)
Not sure if it's still the case, but the deal used to be that the chugger company got 100% of the first year donations and 50% of the second year. They pay the chugger commission out of this.
I have 3 charities I donate too. If I donated to every charity that came knocking or set up outside the IGA then I'd be in need of charity
Agreed! The door knockers or collectors don’t usually work for the charity (except salvos). Often the contracted door knocker/collector companies take almost all of the first two years $ of a subscription and only in the third year does the charity start to get $$. Unless the giver gets tired and cancels : ( Hooray for the market will sort out everything!
I fell for this once. The day my son was born I was at a shopping centre buying formula and ran into one that’s a charity for disabled children. I did a once off donation of $20 (a lot for a young fella working in a call centre). To my surprise I was charged again a month later on the same bank card. Didn’t mind too much, but after another month I contacted them and was told I’d been signed up for monthly and should have been told. I thought meh that’s alright. The next month that donation had suddenly doubled to $40. Called them back and asked them to reverse it. Month goes by, another $40. Annoyed and slowly going more broke as the reality of being a new dad set in, I called once again to cancel. They refused to cancel and instead lowered my payment to $20. Multiple phone calls, multiple “think of the children’s” and it went on for about 6 months until I finally just cancelled my card and got a new one. I still get letters in the mail from them. I was a naive 20 year old who’ll now forever have a sour taste for these donations
Some of these charities are, frankly, unethical. I had a door stop by a collector who claimed my offer of a one-off payment of $50 was not possible(rubbish). Reluctantly, I was persuaded to make a monthly payment by auto debit to my CC. A chance glance at the paper work (which I was told I need not read) revealed a clause permitting the charity to make a change to the amount pledged to an amount it considered reasonable, in its absolute discretion. I declined to sign and closed my door. FYI- this was a very old and reputable charity in NSW, that everyone would know of.
And if you read the fine print, the company that signs you up takes the first year of charity donations till it recovers it cost of employees and a profit. After that the charity starts getting money.
What– and I cannot emphasise this enough– *the fuck?*
Cobra / appco group. Chris Niarchos. Its mlm that screws its own workers aswell. Around 10 years ago or so i found out that practically all of the big non profits use them. I call red cross australia to inform them and enquire, and was told by the person there that a significant portion of management were ex cobra group (ie still happy to be associated) Its like a cult, and f the red cross and others. Theyve sold their soul to the devil. There should be prominent awareness of this. Maybe a year later i found out that my brother in law knows the head of red cross, and i had the chance to have dinner with both of them. I purely wanted to go so i could verbally throttle the cnt. Totally unleash. i didnt bc i considered my bro in law. Part of me wishes i had to this day
It's crazy to think that a charity using 30 cents of every dollar for its actual cause is considered good.
I got conned by some charming British men to sign up for WWF. "Oh its only the price of 2 coffees a month," Not sure who's coffee costs them $15 a pop but OK. They also wrote my occupation as a barista because I didn't have a job and they weren't supposed to sign up people who didn't have jobs.
But did you enjoy the wrestling?
I have a friend that works at one if these call centres for charities. They get paid plus a bonus for every donor they sign up. And they don’t just work for one charity, they get rotated around and work for different charities every few weeks. If they don’t reach their weekly targets, they get a performance review and can get fired. I’ve heard about so many unethical practices that I have decided never to donate to anyone over the phone.
What the fuck! This is literally scamming, but apparently it is legal? How can this be allowed?
Well, people sign up for it, without reading the terms. It happened with many, if not most things, I suspect. Whether they would act upon such a clause is another thing - as would seeking to enforce it if dispute was raised. But yeah, the whole thing is pretty terrible. I don’t think the charities concerned appreciate the impact on reputation when people realise.
Shit that’s terrible. Could I ask what charity this was for? It’s crazy how much they can get away with. If the money was used for charity, I wouldn’t mind it as much but the reality is that 70-80% goes straight to the marketing team that makes commission off of you. And they wonder why we no longer want to donate
It sounds like the shit that "Save the Children" pulls. Had a similar experience with them, and they used that same excuse.
This is a horrible experience!, you should report them to the ACNC and ask them to investigate, it doesn’t sound like they are operating within the requirements of their charitable registration / tax exemption
lol. I got towelled up by a smoking hot English chick outside town hall. Got me on recurring $30 monthly donations about 10 years ago. I’m also the sad idiot that would go into taro cash and come out with $300 of t shirts cause the hotty inside said I looked good in them
Don't worry, we were all young and weak once. Weirdest one I've had was just recently I had a young girl (I think, can't assume any more though) in telstra store tell me that whilst I don't look my age (38) I do give off daddy vibes and that's pretty hot followed by, so are you interested in upgrading your plan and getting a new phone? Yehhh, no I don't think so.
Name the charity
Haha I've never given my card info to any strangers
Seriously. I'm not doing well financially, but every now and then I'll have a spare couple bucks. I cannot afford to "subscribe" because $10 a fortnight means the difference between eating or not sometimes. I am the charity my dudes. When I say "I can't afford it" I really mean it.
Someone once told me to cut down on the coffee because I was holding one and I said I couldn't afford it, it was a Macca's coffee I got for free. I literally could not afford dinner that night. That was the last time I really had the urge to punch someone in the face. I really don't understand the ones trying to chase down your money. Surely it never works.
I would honestly tell that person to go fuck themselves had you been me.
Same. Damn.
I had someone point out my Calvin Klein T-Shirt, which I had bought years and years before. So it wasn't really relevant. At the time I was freelancing, which meant that my income was very inconsistent.
“Oh hey random stranger. I see you have an expensive shirt on. How dare you! Give me money now or you’re a bad person!” They must have absolutely zero shame or effs given!
I’ve never had the chance to say it, but when they say “It’s only the same amount as xx coffees”. Hey! Look! That’s my little bit of enjoyment in this depressing life so back off and leave MY coffees alone!!!! (Not that I drink it anymore, but you get it).
Even if you somehow afforded one charity at ten bucks a month, the other guys all also want ten a month. No matter what, you’re never giving enough to suit them.
Most of them also want more like $30 a month.
I use the line “I’m a single mum and if I give to you that’s something I can’t do for my own child, like swimming lessons that could one day save their life”. Last week I bought a big issue from a vendor and the vendor was saying he wasnt selling many magazines “because all you workers are now lazy and only want to work from home”. Last year I made a donation to Bully Zero which I stressed was a one time thing and then every month after they called me the same week to ask me to sign up and told me I wasn’t doing enough, then the calls came weekly and I started blocking the numbers. The last time I was quite assertive with them about not calling me and how I was not in the position to support them and how I considered the continued calling to be inappropriate after I repeatedly asked them to not contact me anymore. Thesedays I give to friends if they’re doing something to raise money for a charity. Or I give blood, or I buy the big issue
Most charities have hired a team of marketing people. So, my $10 contribution per week would mean $7/$8 going to the advertising team and $2/$3 going to the charity. I did a one off payment to a charity last year. Having my details, a staff member called me and started getting very aggressive. The tone was that I wasn’t doing enough AND I need to commit more by doing weekly payments. Instead of getting my sympathy, I became more angry as the conversation continued. I now put in a few dollars if there is a person doing collections and I will only do one off payments to certain charities (the ones that never call me after my donation)
Did this ages ago. I was 'hired' as a contractor by this company that ran all sorts of campaigns. One was going door to door selling Foxtel. $150 per sell Another wing did charity campaigns. If you got someone to sign up, their entire first year's donations went to the company instead of the charity. Cant remember how much commission the salesman made but it was amazing.
>I did a one off payment to a charity last year. Having my details, a staff member called me and started getting very aggressive. The tone was that I wasn’t doing enough AND I need to commit more by doing weekly payments. Instead of getting my sympathy, I became more angry as the conversation continued. I can pretty much guarantee you that wasn't a "staff member" of the charity. It was someone from a third-party telemarketing agency whom the charity had contracted to solicit donations on their behalf.
Well, whoever it was, that turned me off their charity. I’m still getting mail sent to the old place and I just tell the new owners to ignore it. I’ve had mail sent to my PO Box from different organisations. I think people doing one off payments are putting down the wrong address now. I might try that next time.
Also, the reason they were being aggressive was likely because their pay cheque depended on them successfully winning over a certain percentage of the people they had to call. That doesn't excuse that person's behaviour, of course, but it does help explain it.
I did the sign up for charities for a brief time while in University. The marketing company get the first month’s payment (if it is a monthly plan) and it all goes to the charity after that.
The last time I looked into it in detail - admittedly a few years ago - the chugged company took Bout 80% in the 1st year, and about 30% in the 2nd. After that it went ti the charity. I think they come up with figures of 5 or 10% commission, as they claim the average punter sticks with it for 7 years. I am sure someone has more up to date stats.
I did it around 2001 so probably wildly out of date though it doesn’t seem that long ago to me. Wouldn’t surprise me to see them get greedier. I didn’t last long at it. Hated the salesmen pushiness.
“Love ya t-shirt”! Ugh
"How's your day been?" "Glad you asked, I just need to let it out. My uncle went into hospital this morning, my mum blames his wife. Then I got a call at lunchtime that the neighbours dog has mauled our family cat to death. It has been just horrible today. Thank you for asking"
The one I worked for was around a year before it actually went to the charity
The Rural Fire Service had a scandal a couple of years back doing this exact thing. They targeted old people. Fuck these charities and fuck the RFS.
I donated to them and WIRES during 2019 bushfires. They never called or harassed me again. I had a good experience with rural fire service. I also bought craft items from the retired volunteers.
Those people you see outside the supermarket or down the high street are all external sales people. They only get paid on signups so aren't interested in one off donations
Not only that, their systems aren't set up for it. And as you imply, their contract with the charity is to sign up people for regular donations, anything else is irrelevant to their KPIs and a waste of time.
As someone who also used to work in fundraising and grant writing, one of the actual reasons that charities pursue monthly donations is because they are worth so much more to the organisation, as regular funding allows for better operations and planning. If you gave $120 as a one-off, that's great. The organisation takes that money and puts it to use and then it's gone, and they have to spend resources to get the next one-off donation. But if you gave that same $120 over a period of 12 months, meaning $10 a month, the organisation knows that it's getting $10 per month from you over the entire year. It makes planning easier and they don't have to spend as much on soliciting repeat donations from you, it just comes every month on cue. Multiply this by the hundreds and thousands of donors that any given charity might have, and you can begin to understand why they push for regular donations rather than one-offs. It's annoying at the point of interaction with the clipboard people on the street, but when you run the numbers it's a much better use of organisation resources (aka funds) to push for repeat donations rather than one-offs.
That's all well and good. But it doesn't explain why they would decline the one off payments. Sure, the monthly subs are great as u say and the reasons u gave, but surely the $120 one off payment is better to use and be gone than nothing at all. For me it's the pushiness. As soon as u try and talk me into that I'm shutting down and not interested. I'll listen out of politeness but if u play the guilt the doors in ur face. Literally had an rspca person tell me I must have hated animals and wish they would die because I literally couldn't afford $45/60 a month. Door never got slammed harder.
That may be the logical case, but I fail to see how that’s my responsibility. The whole “Sign up per month” is ridiculous in the current environment, and add to that the tactics of emotional manipulation and pushiness and guilt tripping…. They can go jump!
I always chuckle when i see the cancer people approaching me. I shake their hands and thank them for raising money for me, not from me. I present as healthy so they never know if i’m legit. I’m legit dying though, i just look healthy for now.
Same here x
Yay for the dying early but not caring too much about it club.
I care, but worrying about it or whinging about it isn’t going to change it 🤷♀️
Yeah, i care but don’t engage with the feelings for the most part. I mean obviously we all care to some degree about life and death. I’ve worked a lot in aged care though and a healthy 80 year old only has about five years left but they don’t live like they’re dying. They tend not to give a fuck and just enjoy their current health. I try to do the same. Still, sometimes you’ll be just sitting there and break out in tears knowing the pain your passing will cause others. I’m not claiming to be a rock or anything but i feel i have a healthy perspective.
Charity board members are wanting the prado with leather seats and more seafood dinners.
This and sustaining their own costs. If they really cared they would be more transparent about how the operation works
We (in larger , legitimate charities) mostly don’t get paid anything at all, and are expected to annually donate 4 figure sums at least.
can confirm. charity board member for a large charity for10 years, under the constitution, I had to pay membership every year just like any other member. didn't get paid a cent, but had to pay for many things and donated over $10k.
Our of curiousity, is the charity Australian or international?
Mainly NSW with small national presence. $25million turnover.
Our of curiousity, is the charity Australian or international?
Prado? Pffft! 300 series you mean. And do you really expect a charity worker in Africa to deliver a $100 food package with anything less than a $120000 vehicle?
Cobra / appco group. Chris Niarchos. Its mlm that screws its own workers aswell. Around 10 years ago or so i found out that practically all of the big non profits use them. I call red cross australia to inform them and enquire, and was told by the person there that a significant portion of management were ex cobra group (ie still happy to be associated) Its like a cult, and f the red cross and others. Theyve sold their soul to the devil. There should be prominent awareness of this. Maybe a year later i found out that my brother in law knows the head of red cross, and i had the chance to have dinner with both of them. I purely wanted to go so i could verbally throttle the cnt. Totally unleash. i didnt bc i considered my bro in law. Part of me wishes i had to this day
The best idea is to boycott any charity who uses chuggers: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-22/young-workers-launch-class-action-against-appco-marketing-giant/7954586
This is from 2016. Wonder where the suit landed.
I remember this, that company punished workers who failed to meet periodical targets by doing "sluggies" where they had to move while only using their back. This resulted in staff damaging their own clothes. I felt really bad for them.
I stupidly signed up for one of these after being told I couldn't do a one off, and went to cancel it a couple of weeks later. It was almost as difficult as cancelling a gym membership, I had to trawl the website to find out how — it could only be in writing via the post, using very specific language addressing a very specific team and if it wasn't received at least 5 business days prior to my next scheduled 'donation' then fuck me it was going to be taken out anyway.
I used to donate occasionally, but this exact scenario happened to me with guide dogs payment plan (they got me in a weak moment). I ended up having to contact the bank to stop the payments. There didn't seem to be any actual way to get out of it via the company. Never again will I donate to a single charity.
It gets so annoying when they arear your local shops or workplace. I had some chuggers hone in on me recently. I stupidly let it progress to the ipad details stage. They are really forceful. Pushovers like me: Pretend to be on your phone or something.
Have done the "pretend they're invisible" for years, i'm now old enough and cranky enough to use a new tactic: Lock gaze with them, don't change direction, expression or respond in any way, and carry on maintaining eye contact right as you pass them by. If they get in your way don't slow down or change direction.
>Pushovers like me: Pretend to be on your phone or something. If you talk into your phone and walk past they'll almost never try and stop you. Another good trick is to get a look at the t-shirt to see who they're collecting for. Then when they try and stop you, you smile and ask them "\[x charity\]?", and they're like "yeah!", and then you just say you're already a member. Of course, the best thing to do is to just learn to not be such a a pushover and say no.
BuT iTs OnLy A dOlLaR pEr DaY In all seriousness, I think they've made the calculation that they'd rather try upsell people at the risk of losing others. It's much better for them to have recurring payments.
Annual Recurring Revenue from subscription based services has permeated every corner of the market. Everyone from Netflix to farmers (veg/meat boxes) to charities wants to get in on the predictable revenue and lazy tax benefits of the subscription model.
Veg boxes from single source farms are understandable as they need time to plant for future produce. The others, not so much.
There's a farm in my area that does vege boxes, no subscription needed, just order whenever, the quality is excellent and all organic, the catch is you get what you get, there's no ordering specific stuff.
We’ve got one like that nearby, and they try to sell excess at local markets (which are pretty small). The one I buy from does a quarterly subscription and grows for you. You still get what you get to a large extent, but they take into account preferences and also take requests (in advance!) for the next growing season. They also try to grow stuff you can’t normally get at the supermarkets, so can save a trip to Melbourne and the ‘big’ markets. I don’t mind a quarterly subscription - particularly since it’s all proper organic, generally tailored to my likes, and delivered to my door! (I don’t know how they stay in business, but that’s another issue).
Our local vet has just made it a subscription service if you want access to after hours access to a vet + a callout fee on the night + the already inflated medication and accomadation fees.
They id that at our local vet after one of the corporate vet chains bought them out. The ex practice vet who left and started up a practice across the road is doing very well with the small animals and the horse vet 20 minutes up the road has had a very healthy upswing in clients too lol! Sad to see the practice with forty plus years of history in the area slowly die but well, it's not that practice anymore anyway.
35 years ago, I was a sales rep for a printing company. Delivered some (heavily discounted) brochures to the Kew offices of a well-known, worldwide charity. Most opulent offices I've ever been in and a car park lined with prestige vehicles. I have not donated to mainstream charities ever since, instead giving to local food banks, women shelters, etc.
Doctors Without Borders vibe here
You can. But the problem is the "chuggers" in shopping centres that want your details and a recurring donation. Any legitimate charity will gladly accept one off donations. For example - [https://www.foodbank.org.au/support-us/make-a-donation/donate-funds/?state=wa](https://www.foodbank.org.au/support-us/make-a-donation/donate-funds/?state=wa) [https://www.redcross.org.au/donation/tax24/SVW1/](https://www.redcross.org.au/donation/tax24/SVW1/) [https://donate.vinnies.org.au/appeals-wa/winter-appeal-wa](https://donate.vinnies.org.au/appeals-wa/winter-appeal-wa)
Important for people to be aware that chuggers are largely for profit contractors hired by charities. These private companies often receive the first 2 years of your donations as a commission before the money starts getting to the charity. In some of the worst cases for it then to be largely swallowed up by bloated charity admin and revenue raising consultants. This was the case in the early 2010’s anyway and I’ve seen no evidence things have improved. I was a backpacker in that era and it was a common job backpackers would be targeted with. To do for a month before they often quit due to realising it’s a terrible way to make a living. The realisation made me very jaded towards big charities and their corruption. Smaller charities are much more worthy in my eyes.
Backpackers are expensive these days Plus the charities don't care about your spending efficiency. The charity getting $1 after middlemen costs when you donate $10 is still a win to them.
Because the Chugger (charity mugger) company typically gets 100% of the first 6 month donation, and a 10% trailing after that.
If you want to give them cash and they want to sign you up, take your cash back and walk away, fuck em..
That’s exactly what I did this arvo
It because now it’s a business.. those aren’t people donating their time, they are people doing commission only work.. the company they work for take the first couple of months payments and the people signing you up are taking a cut if that
I got "trapped" by people doing that before in a shopping centre, too socially awkward to say no so I signed up and just called up to cancel later. But I dunno how the hell you'd feel comfortable making a living like that, taking a cut from *charities.* Until I found that out I'd assumed they were volunteers or doing it for religious reasons or something and thought good on 'em.
I just make a zero off donation.
Don’t donate at all, you’re propping up a broken system that needs to be fixed. Your donations literally make problems worse not better
Regular giving helps them plan ahead. But I agree, beggars shouldn’t be choosy.
They now want an annuity payment for life. I can't see how it attracts anyone
The people wanting to sign you up for a charity subscription are not actual members of the charity. They work for marketing companies that keep over 90% of your donations as management fees and commissions. I used to work for one under the AAPCO group, I think they go by the Ascenta group now.
Don't donate to door knockers or people on the streets. Find the charity you want to support, wait til the wave of generosity and bonhomie rolls over you, make a big one-off donation, subscribe to nothing, feel good about yourself, move on. True story about when giving cash to backpacker charity collectors near Town Hall station, Sydney. One of them gets a $50 note slotted into the collection tin. What a moment, eh? She dashes into the toilet at the station and uses two paddlepop sticks to extract the note. (Yes, she never starts work without two paddlepop sticks.) Gets EXTREMELY pissed off when she finds that it wasn't a $50, but a NZ $5 instead. Thinks it's the worst thing that happened all day. Oh, woe is me. This story was told to me by backpacking flatmates. They had no shame, saw no ethical problem. She knew that the company that employed her was gonna take 20%, the charity was gonna take a further 30%, so why shouldn't she take 100%?
Yea that gives me the shits
This post says it all. I get sick of being brow beaten to go into a payment plan when they come knocking. I'm happy to make a donation but always say no when they want to sign you up for direct debits. Sorry but no.
Yep. Its damn annoying. And once they get your details? You are never left alone again. I admit. It has actually decreased me donating or buying a ticket or such things. It's decreased me donating😟 easier to just ignore these days.
I only deal in sausage sizzles when it comes to charity groups.
Bunnings for the win!
I stopped all regular charity donations and now I only contribute one large one-off donation to a charity per year, and my rule is it only goes to a friend who is engaged in some sort of fund raising activity and they directly ask me.
ANY pushy sales tactics, ANY unwanted direct debit set ups, and, I cannot believe that I am even saying this part, but ANY small print that allows them to increase the deduction at their discretion, should all be banned. 100% openness and accountability with clear graphics (showing where every cent goes) at point-of-sale, as it were, should be mandatory. No ifs or buts and no coconuts. Capisce?
Totally agree. My dad was sick last year and I donated to the hospital and the cancer council. Now they keep sending my letters, like monthly (feels like weekly) asking for donations. It makes me not want to donate at all
When they won’t take a one off donation and say it’s just a small amount each month I ask them how much they donate? They just stare blankly, and I walk away.
I was so happy to see Cystic Fibrosis WA outside the shops the other week. They were selling roses for $5 each (roses are a symbol for CF). It was an easy decision. Five bucks as a once off donation, and got a lovely rose that lasted for ages!
I refused to sign up with a door knocker for Doctors Without Borders. Promised and delivered on a once of $100 donation. They charged my card agin a month later - phone call put a stop to it, but then the bastards sold my data. Arseholes!
Even when you make a one-off donation, they will use your contact details from that donation and spam you for eternity seeking another one.
And pass the details on to all the other charities.
The people I work for take one off donations and 100% of those donations goes straight to the people. Wages are covered by large philanthropic donations (angel investors) and government grants. We do not use a single $ of donations from the general public to cover wages. Edit: corrected some info
What charity? Can I donate online, and will they send me an invoice so I can claim it on tax? I wish to send them money.
1. The NFP prefers regular income to haphazard donations. Helps them plan ahead. 2. The NFP kinda hopes you’ll forget you signed up for that monthly donation. And if you do remember they kinda hope it’ll be too much effort to cancel. At least for a few more months. 3. The spruikers get paid in residuals. That five or ten minute convo that got you to sign up keeps them getting cash many months later. And the agency that hired them, too. Your one off donation means fuck all to them.
Cant believe they aak for a donation at mcdonalds. Surely Mcdonalds is getting paid to ask this question....
I only give cash now. I'm sick to death of being spammed after donating to anything online. They do themselves no favours.
Because the CEO wants to spend winter in the south of France. That’s it.
I always told them I’m never giving my card details to someone who came off the streets, nope. I offered a one time donation, but was told they can’t accept cash or something stupid. I miss the old days when door knockers would just have a bucket for cash… At least get with the times and offer a one time only eft donation with tax invoice supplied???
You can. Just donate directly to the organisation. by a one off donation. If the organisationation you want to donate to relys on paid "pan-handlers", then i'd revaluate that organisations worth. Simply google of the charity/organisation of your choice and give a one off donation. If its a local mob you feel deserve a hand just walk right in and give to them. Rule of thumb: If they want a recurring payment straight up, they are corporations. Do not give.
The problem with some charities is that you really don’t know where the money is ending up, I would prefer to do a nice deed once a day and directly help someone.
Stop donating
I did laps for life this year and raised over $1000 and reach out called me yesterday asking for monthly donations. Like I raised money? Leave me alone. I could’ve done nothing. It stated out as can you do $40? … no.. how about $20.. no.. what about $10… NO!
Guide Dog Australia accepts a single donation. They are very nice . RSPCA does not , they are really pushy.., I ended up arguing with them .. ridiculous. I don’t know why they behave like that .. after that I stop donating to RSPCA…. It is sad ..
Don't feel sad I know one person who left them her entire will, it was a house worth $700k, one of my wealthy clients plans on leaving them about 1/3 of his networth as he has no kids, and he's worth many millions. I try to donate to the smaller ones that are local and basically never solicit ever and just talk about their work instead, or I kind of feel bad for all the pets being fucked over in Ukraine right now, but that requires a bit of research into which companies are legit and less corrupt or at least not total scams, even if I'm only sending $20, I rather it go somewhere less corrupt.
They get a commission
Things were a lot different when I was growing up. Decades ago, as a child, I did: * the MS Readathon and pestered family members to donate * door-to-door asking for donations when I was a teenager As an adult, I still do: * create a Facebook post asking and ask family members for donations * occasionally dress up as a Star Wars character either directly for a charity event and sometimes hold out a bucket, or do an event where the business owner makes a charity donation in our name Unfortunately, chuggers are the ones generating a steady stream of income. I hate chuggers. I hate how they will do anything to try to get you to stop.
At least some of the time the people at the shops are paid to be there collecting donations, so some of what you donate goes to them instead of the cause. I recommend researching charities and donating directly the amount you want to.
The charities are likely at arms length and only a small amount of your donation goes there. Essentially there are a number of "marketing" companies that specialise in charitable collections, and they will offer the charities a service to collect on their behalf. For a charity, its an easy choice to make, as it is low effort and potential cash. The risk is that it can dilute the brand or irritate potential donors. Unfortunately many NFPs and charities are run by well meaning people with not a lot of clue, and as they get bigger, the drive to keep solvent is very very high.
The payment plan guys are mostly scam organisations and it's incredibly difficult to get off of the payment plan
Bc it’s not about charity. It’s about making money. Everything under capitalism is for profit, even when they say it’s not. Just google the salaries for these supposed ‘charities’. Ever since they started ‘Movember’ and similar schemes, the costs to actually get help have skyrocketed. Sure, there’s plenty of hands at lifeline but anybody wanting to get mental help better have some cash ready to spill.
What can you donate to a children's charity? $70 No problem, fill in these docs. Wait, $70 a month?? Works well
Can someone explain charities who do lotteries? Usually a million dollar house, gold bullion or some crap. Can't they sell the house cash the gold and use that money? I can't tax deduct the lottery entry.. I'm confused.
If you donate directly to the charity via their website (so that you know your whole donation will actually go to the charity) then you will almost certainly find you can make a one-off donation. I tell chuggers that I will donate online and ask them for a brochure or card to remind me. They're not happy about this but too bad.
Reading all these bad experiences so I want to put a good one out there. Care Flight 100% let me just make a one off donation after I rejected a direct debt option. Super nice through the whole process. Went direct debit for 6mths when I was able to and when I wasn’t, they took me off with no fuss when I asked. Great experience.
Literally MLM scams, it's big business.
I think that every charity that engages in aggressive marketing and targeted donor drives along with engaging chuggers actually negatively impacts the whole sector. The blow back of unhappy and dis-satisfied donors/potential donors must reduce the overall amount of donations. I know that Vision Australia is in my blacklist for engaging cold callers seeking donations. The precipitating event was when my partner took a call and agreeing to the donations to get the calender of guide dogs. Never getting the calender but then getting a demand if payment was insulting. After following it up the cold caller wrongly recorded our address with someone else in the block of units getting a free calender. We did after much angst get the demand for payment waived. Knowing how the industry works I know that cold caller had no connection to Vision Australia, worked to targets - both call length, refusal conversion and signed up donors. So this is the opportunity cost that Vision Australia embraced by outsourcing donation drives. And it affects the whole sector. Now I never donate to anyone.
When those people stop me I just say “cost of living crisis” and walk off
Yeah fuck that i just stop em in their spiel and say don’t waste your time tell me if i can donate one off or its for the rest of my life. In which case, i don’t do that. Since the cancer arsehole made me cry in the mall after my dad died, all those chugger cunts can fuck right off.
“If you want my credit card details, I want yours”
I gave one off donations to two separate charities earlier this year and have received an email every few days and mail every month or so asking me to give more.
This! I have my regular charity payments set up. The ones I believe in. And I would have no problem with a fiver or twenty here and there if that was accepted. But it has become ridiculous. It's not even just the chuggers. I got a call from the place I adopted one of my cats 10 years ago. He had just died from probable feline AIDS. I suspect he was born with it since he was an indoor cat. But it is always about setting up a direct deposit. I'm sorry, I'm not going to give you my credit card details over the phone or on the street. And, then when I ask them to email me information - Oh, no they can't do that. Well, in that case neither can I.
I always answer the door while jacking off so they don't come back
I once got harassed via a cold call by some random charity after signing a petition on facebook. I refused to donate out of principle and she tried the "well why did you sign the petition then" card which didn't help her case. Can't do shit without strings attached these days and everything is a business with quotas, kpi's and deceptive marketing.
I find it even more annoying after you've said that you're not interested, so they try to guilt you and play head games. I tell them to rack off if they pester me. Every time I shop in an op shop, I'm giving to charity. I also support ovarian cancer research since many women in my family have died from it, and possibly me next. I give when I can afford to.
I worked for one of the bigger charities a few years back, after that I swore to never give any of their ilk a single cent. The waste was terrifying and the lack of support they gave to the supposed beneficiaries was little to none. I am happy to give to small grass roots direct action groups though.
Best solution for when you see a chogger- cross the road
Because charities have become sneaky and greedy like corporations. They especially love to pray on older Australians and get them locked in for eternity. They also make it very hard to stop those AUTOMATIC payments. I’m going to name two charities to have done that to myself and my mother: Save the Children and Red Cross. Shame!
I used to love buying tickets when the Lifesavers had their stands. Now they want you to sign up for monthly payments and - this is the worst part - they usually use fit young men and get them to flirt with you. I find it actually predatory and insulting because it's like they're thinking "oh here's an ugly bitch who probably never gets attention, let's reel her in!"
Fuck donating to charities. There are millions of people out there with money 99% of us will never earn. Let those fuckers donate to charities. Gina Rinehart has a net worth (yes it's net worth, not liquid cash - but whatever) and if she gave 0.001% of her net worth to charity it would be $300k 0.001% of my net worth is $3. I'd have to donate my entire net worth to equal Gina's 0.001% - a one thousandth of her worth. She's probably spent 300k on a single dinner or bottle or champagne.
I think it's honestly in part to discourage theft / scams, and excess accountancy fees for piddly little sums.
Because they hope you will set the CEO up for life with a regular subscription. If they won't accept a one-off donation they get nothing from me.
Charities are a glorified scam at this point. Probably only 10% of what you give actually ends up with the people you're trying to help, rest ends up in the exec salaries.
Charities are scams, 90% of what you donate doesn't make it to the cause you're donating for. It goes to administrators who pay themselves 200k a year to go to fancy dinners and parties.
You can at Red Cross shops
Those aren't charities they're sales companies which offer their services to charities and hire uni dropouts to sign people up for commission The charities get almost nothing - enough so they sign up because they don't have to DO anything for the free money
Basically they need you to sign up long enough to justify paying the third party collector.
Most of the time, these are companies that collect for the charity and skim off a percentage. Getting you paying them regularly is a great source of income. Make sure 100% of your donation gets to the charity.
No1 volunteers anymore so its too expensive. Cheapest way for charities is online credit card these days
It’s crazy, I very happily buy the latest copy of big issue when I see one of their people around.
I just say I only give out gold coins.
I know! It’s so frustrating!
It’s the Netflix model
I agree that having the option for one offs would be nice. I have a few monthly payments going but that’s about the limit I can handle. So if I get approached now I have to tell them that to sign up with them is to give up another. A bit like streaming services.
Because it's a business and not a charity by classical definition. Businesses need a certainty of revenue.
Like all companies moving to subscription services its better to have a regular known amount of income based on membership numbers. Easier to forecast, manage cashflow and expenses and make plans for outgoings.
Because chuggers don't make commission off one off donations.
Hi - I work for a charity. Most of our work is long term and requires long-term funding, hence why ongoing donations (pledges) are so important to keep a) our costs down, b) our projects solving systematic issues. Donations cost money to acquire and the more we need to go back and raise the higher the cost (and the less we get to projects). So we generally try to ask for pledges first, however donations are and always will be welcome. Ultimately we just want to fund the work we’re doing, and unfortunately it’s hard to plan long-term if we’re constantly running out of funding. Just some two cents and thank you very much for contributing to areas of our country which are often neglected or struggling.
It’s been like that for a long time. Those “charity collectors” are on commission. You need to donate for a couple of months before you’ve even covered their fee for signing you on. If you want to make a one-off donation go straight to the charity and cut out the middle man.
Charities used to turn to volunteers to collect donations. Over time people became less and less interested in volunteering, and charities found that the chuggers provided much better fundraising value than their own volunteer doorknocking efforts. As a result we now have high pressure sales tactics and dark patterns applied to charitable giving. It's always about the money.
You can. Just don’t give them your details unless you need a receipt for tax purposes. A lot of charities have a tap and go system or bank details you can transfer to. Find a cause you are passionate about and contact them directly with your enquiry. They won’t turn the money away and if they do simply ask for an info@ email address to lodge your complaint. Chuggers don’t work for the charity directly. The charities pay an agency. I don’t donate via chuggers. Volunteers rattling the tin, charity gets it directly. Volunteers selling tickets at an event on behalf of charity, charity gets a portion of sales.
You can give a one off donation to a small breast cancer charity that provides support to breast cancer patients. We are not government funded and rely heavily on donations so every little bit helps. https://www.bosombuddies.org.au/bosom-buddies-donate
because the companies that employ the chuggers make their money by signing people up to direct debit plans.
I signed up for a regular payment to an Ethiopian charity when I was in Uni, and they only wanted one payment in the end. I was like okay, you do you.
I donate to charity by shopping in their op shops. Or rounding up my total at maccas. Or I have donated directly to a cat rescue or bought something off their wish list. But I'm not in the position to donate more than $10..
At my Iga, they do it for a week with a different cause everyday...first couple of days I try and ignore them but by the end of the week I get quite grumpy...I really don't like it...do the supermarkets get paid...? Why do they risk alienating their customers?
I know a few heritage Railways that are happy to take one off donations 🤣
As others have said - don’t give on the street to chuggers. Find who you want to support and do it online. Get receipts too if it’s tax deductible.
Just do it online. Less likely to get scammed and you'll get a receipt you can claim at tax time
I suspect that the people taking your donation. (ie the chuggers) get paid higher commissions on monthly sign ups than they do for on the spot donations.
Anyone who approaches you in public for a charity donation can safely be ignored. If it's a cause you want to donate to, go to their website and throw some cash at it. My wife and I donate to https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org.au/ when we can as it focuses on "bang for buck".
Because the charity aren't running those people. They are employees of a third party which collects the first twelve months of contributions before any more goes to the charity. The charity eventually gets ongoing recurring income ,(eventually) without any costs.
These systems exist. Buskers use them here in parts of North America, (the smart one do). You like their music? Then just tap and select an amount. It’s brilliant. Otherwise these guys are going out of business in the digital era.
the people at the shops make huge commissions. if you sign up for a $25pm donation the person may make $100 commission from the charity so it takes up to 4 months for the charity to see anything at all. i almost want to tell people this directly who i see signing up in shops to sign up online instead of through the salesman if they actually want to support the charity
Consider just keeping track of the total amount you'd like to donate each month/year and then do research online about what the best charity is to give your money to. That way you're not suckered into giving money to bad charities.