to be annoyed at people trying to stop you in the street to sign up to charitys??

[mummyloveslucy]

It's just really annoying, I hate shopping anyway and find it a bit stressfull. They always pounce on you and when I say "no thankyou" it makes me feel really mean.
We already sponser two children in developing countrys, give to sight savers, water aid and NSPCA. We really can't do any more. We don't earn alot. It just makes you feel mean for saying no when in fact we are very generous to charities.
I usually try to avoid them, make no eye contact etc but they always get me. I'm always very polite as I know they are working for a good cause etc. I am very shy usually and don't feel comfortable with it. The charities we give to are ones that we've researched ouselves and chosen, usually after seeing an advert on telly or something in the post.
I'll probubly be slated now, but I'm sure other people get annoyed with it too. (it they're honest)

It annoys me too.

And who on earth wants to give a random person on the street their name address dob and bank details ffs.

exactly.

I get very annoyed with this also, I give to children in need, comic relief
but my budget does not leave me much at the end of the week to give to charities on a regular basis which sometimes I feel mean about

they are called Chuggers

I don't like them and i work for am a fundraiser (i would never, ever use them)

a lot of them don't actually work for the charity itself

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yes - some of them do although the regulations are being/have been tightened up because of public and industry feeling

I am probably being totally unreasonable, but I hate the way they drag you in, they're always really friendly and say, "Hello! Lovely day isn't it!?" and because I'm essentially a friendly person I smile and say hello back and then I'm sucked in and have to extract myself somehow! I find the best way to avoid it is to be rude from the off, and I hate doing that.

As I've said elsewhere, I say to them, "I'm not in the slightest bit interested" and keep walking. I don't feel I'm being rude, just honest - as a literate adult, if I wanted to know more about the charity they represent, I would go to a library or go online at a time convenient to me (ie not during my lunch hour), find out all I wanted to know, and then contribute if I decided that was the right thing to do. Even if I could afford to give money to every good cause I heard about, I still would not do it via these RADA rejects.

When I start accosting strangers in the street, taking up their time without any prior indication that they might be interested in what I have to say, and then asking for money, I will accept the accusation that I am rude or inconsiderate.

Until then, they can shove it.

When I get particularly aggressive ones, I just tell them "If you think I'm going to give my private banking details to some man/woman who has come up to me in the middle of the street you're barking mad".

That really throws them!!!

I once said, yes I am interested, can you give me the forms so I can fill them inmyself, think about it and send it off. They refused!!!

So I said "why on earth would I give my bank details to someone on the street?" and walked off!

When I was at uni half the drama department did this as a weekend job. They made good money, but I think it's wrong.

I tell them that if they join the charity I'm involved with (£25 per year), then I'll sign up to their charity. Never failed me yet .

It used to be the case that if you didn't give money to the charity for a year after you'd signed up then the charity would actually lose money, due to the commission. Hopefully the chance in the rules has helped, but why should I give my money to a company to "help" me give to charity, when I can go online and all of the money goes to the charity.

...

YANBU. Chuggers are not employed by the charities themselves, but through an agency. They can "represent" a different charity each day of the week. They have targets to meet, and some behave as badly as aggressive door to door salesmen.
The best/worst line one of these chuggers came out with to me was an accusatory "dont you care about children with cancer?". I was livid. Since then, I am blunt to the point of rudeness, and dont feel gulity for it.

If you gave a one off donation, then the money that you gave wouldn't be enough to cover the commission of the company and the chugger themselves. The charity relies on you forgetting about the direct debit and not cancelling (or genuinely wanting to give for a long time) in order to make any money at all!

There's a BBC article here.

Anyway, the point is - don't feel guilty!

I useually look at their jackets and say that I already give to that charity.
I also feel it's an invasion, it happens all the time in my quiet little town where I've lived all my life. It's a shame I don't feel relaxed walking through the town anymore.

Oxfam are bad for this in Brussels where I live, so my stock line is that I already donate via my UK bank account. However, I cancelled my SO to Oxfam when they rang me after a year and told (not suggested to) me that after 12 months my circs must have changed, and that they felt I should raise my donation. They also didn't like the fact I had an SO, not a D/D. Needless to say, the SO was cancelled 10 minutes after that conversation, and I will not donate to them again.

Very interesting. I don't feel so guilty now. We already do what we can, and don't want to be harrased.

YANBU I make a point of avoiding charities that employ high pressure sales techniques, it's completely inappropriate

I'm glad everyone feels the same way and it's not just me. It always made me feel a bit bitchy when I said thank you, but now I realise it's the right thing to do.