Eric Phail

I used to work for a "tele-fundraising" company (i.e. chugging in the privacy of your own home) so I know full well that even if you do decide to give £5 a month to Mencap because the girl who asked you way quite pretty, this is only the beginning. You'll be called at least once every six months asking you to increase your donation, as if to say "What, you're only giving a fiver? Cough up Scrooge!". Needless people aren't too pleased about being told their generosity isn't generous enough, especially when it's by the charity themselves!
I would raise one point regarding wasted resources: these chuggers are usually employees of third party agencies, who are in turn hired by the charities themselves. The charities decision to go down this route is a calculated risk as opposed to a stab in the dark, and charities do see a return of investment on this (last time I checked it was about £4 for every £1 spent). So it does work, it's just really annoying! 8 months ago via web