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AIBU?

Phone calls from charities after you've donated by text message

156 replies

CruCru · 08/05/2013 21:52

I have recently donated to some charities by text message (super convenient and I don't have to talk to a person). However, the salespeople charity donation people keep ringing me to try to get me to donate more. It puts me off donating. AIBU? Today I had four missed calls on my mobile and when I called them back, it was a recorded message from a charity.

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Binkybix · 08/05/2013 23:14

*sell

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RussiansOnTheSpree · 08/05/2013 23:16

This happened to me too, after doing a text donation to UNICEF. :( So I won't be doing that again. I've also had Macmillan phoning me continually over the last couple of weeks. I ran a half marathon for them a couple of years ago, raised about a grand, and I had a DD to them too. Apparently that's not enough. And they feel the need to tell me so in the evening typically when I'm in the bath. So that DD has been stopped, and I've set up another one with a similar but different charity. And if they start badgering me, then the same thing will happen. I don't mind them emailing me. I seriously mind them phoning me.

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eccentrica · 08/05/2013 23:50

MaryMotherofCheeses I would be so pleased if someone could show me an overpaid charity job.

Here you go:

jobs.guardian.co.uk/jobs/charities/senior-executive/

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eccentrica · 08/05/2013 23:55

Oh, and
So gap year students shouldn't be employed? confused

No, not using money which has been donated in good faith to go to good causes. If it's such a great cause they should work for free. Plenty of people do. It's called volunteering.

All I think is: well, the 3 quid that's been added on to my phone bill has just been used up to pay for this twat to ring me up for 30 minutes. That was a huge waste of money. At least if I give money to the bloke begging on the tube I know it's going straight to him (and if he wants to spend it on heroin, special brew or fags that's his choice). At least it's not going towards the fabulous 'remuneration package' for a 'strategy development manager'.

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RussiansOnTheSpree · 08/05/2013 23:56

Doesn't look overpaid to me......

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Sunnywithshowers · 08/05/2013 23:58

Charities are allowed to call, and it's in the terms and conditions. However, they should stop as soon as they are asked to. (I used to work in charity fundraising and we organised this kind of thing.)

I prefer the method mentioned above, where you get asked every month and can either STOP the donation completely, or SKIP a month.

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eccentrica · 08/05/2013 23:59

Oh really, you think people who give to charity want 80,000 pounds of it to be spent on one person's salary?

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Monty27 · 09/05/2013 00:03

I've stopped all of my direct debits because I'm skint. They should target utilities/conglomerates etc for donations (which they probably already do), personally I'm fleeced and can't afford financial charity any more. I wish they'd fuck off out of my face really . And I know I'm not the only one. If I could I would.

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Melpomene · 09/05/2013 00:06

Yes, it is very annoying. I have been harassed by repeated calls from several charities even after asking them not to call me again.

Last time I sent a text donation (to British Heart Foundation) I immediately followed it up with a 'STOP' message, and received a text in reply saying they wouldn't contact me again. The following day they phoned me.

As pointed out above, it is frustrating to think that much of the money being donated is wasted on the cost of pointless phonecalls.

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WafflyVersatile · 09/05/2013 00:13

''No, not using money which has been donated in good faith to go to good causes. If it's such a great cause they should work for free. Plenty of people do. It's called volunteering.

All I think is: well, the 3 quid that's been added on to my phone bill has just been used up to pay for this twat to ring me up for 30 minutes. That was a huge waste of money.''

you couldn't do the work if everyone had to work for free. People should be paid for what is their main employment. You can't run large charities on the unpaid labour of well-meaning pensioners.

It's not a waste of money. Charities do these fundraising campaigns because they help get more regular and continuing donations. They pay for themselves and more over time. If they don't work then they don't do them.

Wouldn't it be lovely if people just donated magically to your charity even though you've done nothing to advertise your existence or ask people for donations.

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NadiaWadia · 09/05/2013 00:14

I sent £3 by text recently to the TV Syria appeal. I know its not a lot, but money's tight at the moment, and I aready give montlhly small DDs to Action Aid, Amnesty, and local hospice.

£3 would pay for a blanket for a refugee apparently, so I thought it was a good idea! More likely it paid for the umpteen calls on my mobile I received afterwards. Which I didn't answer because I don't like to answer calls from unknown numbers. After I googled the number I found out what it was and next time I did answer and explained I couldn't afford a regular payment. To be fair, they were very polite and I've not had another call.

BUT I will not be donating by text again, which is a shame as it seemed so convenient.

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HoHoHoNoYouDont · 09/05/2013 00:21

I know they can seem annoying and may inconvenience you but at the end of the day it's a charity. A charity that you or your family may call on one day. So, to those who really get pissed off with them, just be assertive and tell them you're not interested in a polite way. Most of you don't mind doing it on this thread so extend it to the charity next time they 'pester' you.

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eccentrica · 09/05/2013 00:25

Waffly No one has complained about charities advertising. I've given to many smaller charities who seem to manage to send the majority of their donations to the good causes they were intended to fund, who don't pay chief execs upwards of 70k or employ teams of wannabe TV presenters to hassle people in the street or to harass people with unwanted phone calls.

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eccentrica · 09/05/2013 00:30

The differences between different charities in terms of what % of donations actually go to the good causes is very interesting:

www.smallcharitydirectory.co.uk/what-percentage-of-donations-go-to-charity

The NSPCC only put 75p out of every £1 towards their stated goals of stopping cruelty to children. A quarter of donations goes on their overheads.

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WafflyVersatile · 09/05/2013 00:38

by 'overheads' you mean what, employees? charming. rent? electricity? stationery? Charities have to pay for these.

There are many many charities and I agree that some are a bit of a swizz, but as I already said to be able to continue they have to fundraise.

75p in a £1 sounds reasonable to me.

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RussiansOnTheSpree · 09/05/2013 06:11

Eccentrica I give to charity. I want them to employ decent people at decent salaries. One of the problems with charities is they often don't employ the best people because they can't get them.

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quirrelquarrel · 09/05/2013 06:50

This happened to me and the guy kept pushing me to set up a regular donation- "I'm a student, don't have that much cash"- "oh really? actually, I've spoken to several students today who made whatever donation they could"- "well, maybe I'll see next year!"- "yes, or you could think about making a small donation now, anything counts"- I already did!
And then if they sense you're the slightest bit hesitant...."sorry, it sounded as if you were trying to get rid of me?" and you have to be all polite and say no, no, not at all.

I do feel sorry for them though!

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Bunbaker · 09/05/2013 06:56

That is why I never give my mobile number out to charities or businesses. I either give money to collection boxes or donate anonymously in those envelopes that get pushed through our letterbox.

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MaryMotherOfCheeses · 09/05/2013 08:45

Eccentrica, thanks for the link to the Guardian jobs website. Now try looking at similar level jobs in the private sector, at those levels and for organisations which are as big and with as many staff.

I really don't understand why people expect Directors with organisations with multi million pound turnovers and huge responsibility for both employees and "clients" (for want of a better word) to be paid peanuts. There is a ridiculous expectation that charities should be run by people doing it for the love of it, but as soon as there's evidence that a charity is run unprofessionally, not surprisingly there is uproar. You simply cannot have it both ways. Charities which are spending millions of pounds of money given by the public simply have to be competitive to get good professional people. When I give money to charity, I want to know it's going to be well used, handled efficiently and by staff who are paid, across the board, a decent wage.

As for the percentage which goes on the charitable cause, 75p in the pound is ok. That link you give also shows the British Red Cross which spends 85-90p in the pound on the charitable cause. That's amazing, that's really high and a sign of a very well run charity.

"If it's such a great cause they should work for free". This simply isn't realistic. I have heard of volunteering, thank you for that. Incidentally, the costs of recruiting, training and managing volunteers would come under the overheads costs you object to.

"At least if I give money to the bloke begging on the tube I know it's going straight to him (and if he wants to spend it on heroin, special brew or fags that's his choice)."

You're happy to give money to be spent on heroin???

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JessicaBeatriceFletcher · 09/05/2013 08:54

I don't give to any charity that employs chuggers. I also don't give to any charity where less than 80 pence in the pound goes to the actual cause.

I do have a few charities I support but I always send by cheque and I never do any spur of the moment responding to TV appeal texts or phone calls because I know what happens - constant flooding. I understand the budgeting issue from direct debits but I like to be in control of what I want to send and when without pressure or feeling guilty.

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SirBoobAlot · 09/05/2013 09:18

I had three phone calls a day, for over two weeks after doing this. After explaining - three times - that I was not in a financial position to donate regularly, them making me feeling like shit for not being able to, I stopped answering.

I then picked up and told them exactly how their phone calls were making me feel - like I would never donate via text again. And that I wanted them to remove my contact details.

It was like fucking harassment. Seriously, it was horrible.

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eccentrica · 09/05/2013 10:26

MaryMotherOfCheeses

I'm totally aware that some (not all) private sector jobs pay more than charity jobs at the same level. Of course that doesn't apply to public sector, education, health, or most other jobs which people like to think they are doing for partly altruistic reasons. Which are generally paid at the same or a lower level than equivalent charity jobs.

2. You must be earning an awful lot of money if you think that it's a simple choice between paying people 75, 80, 100k or paying 'peanuts'. My partner and I both have PhDs and we both work (him full-time employed in the private sector, me part-time self-employed) and we bring in a grand total of approx. 28k a year before tax. You can pay a decent salary at a much lower level than these jobs. They are overpaid. People are not just getting by, or being paid a fair wage for their efforts and skill, they are getting rich off the back of charity donations.

3. "As for the percentage which goes on the charitable cause, 75p in the pound is ok. That link you give also shows the British Red Cross which spends 85-90p in the pound on the charitable cause. That's amazing, that's really high and a sign of a very well run charity."

So if the British Red Cross can spend 85-90% of its income on the good causes, why is it OK that the NSPCC is creaming off another 10-15%?

4. "You're happy to give money to be spent on heroin???"

Given the choice between that and contributing towards the company car, international travel, or private health insurance of a charity executive, absolutely. At least it's going to someone in need and in pain. At least it's going where I think it's going.

5. As an overall point i think it's crystal clear that everyone in this thread who doesn't work in the charity sector finds those phone calls very harassing, intrusive and upsetting, and that they are counterproductive in that the majority (incl. me) will not donate by text ever again.

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PatPig · 09/05/2013 10:28

Charities know that existing supporters are the best targets for more money, so many will harass the fuck out of you.

Shame.

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DeepRedBetty · 09/05/2013 10:35

You may add the RSPCA to the list of shame for aggressive unsolicited phone calls.

The small dog rescue in the next village down is getting my donations now instead.

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RussiansOnTheSpree · 09/05/2013 10:38

Eccentrica - they really aren't overpaid. You may be underpaid (or maybe not, you didn't say what your Phd is in or what you do) but the sort of jobs you linked to were not offering even the going rate for that sort of job.

I think that many people have no idea what running a large multi-million pound organisation involves. Fair enough, that's not surprising - but if you think about it for a moment, surely you should appreciate that, if you were a donator to a charity, you'd want them to make the best possible use of your money to further the aims of the charity. Part of that is having really good people to run the thing.

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