High Pressure Donation Tactics Undertaken by the Red Cross in Civic

i only help animals, peterh… ; )

medicins sans frontieres, as pointed out earlier, indulge in these guerilla tactics and lost my regular support. i used, for years, to give a lump at xmas on behalf of my siblings and parents in the stead of a gift and did a gig for them as part of assuaging my guilt for my self-indulgence one year for a significant birthday, but now i shop round different charities each year, mainly ’cause of the angst of hassling me. pity, i like msf.

I give money to the salvos and the John Maclean Foundation. Don’t need to donate to any others, I do first aid training at St John Ambulance, they get their money from me that way.

I do, however, buy a snag from the bunnings bbq when it is a charity or association running it that I support.

BTW, if you have no idea who the John Maclean foundation is, have a look at this site:
http://www.jmf.com.au

very worthy cause – and it is helping australian kids.

My sister started working for a charity/aid organisation recently and for the first serveral months she just couldnt get aclimatised to the culture of the place. It was only after she worked out that the organisation wasnt as altruistic as they perception they liked to project that she understood that it wasn’t her.

It’s a huge scam and a sad state of affairs.

The people collecting money appear to work for a given charity – but they actually work for another, private company. They are professionally trained in extracting money from passers by. Only a percentage of what they collect is passed on to the charity – who really can’t afford to say no. The rest goes to the private company, for the life of the contract!!

The jobs are very popular with working holidaymakers such as British people, etc because of its short term casual nature.

Best thing to do is to tell the collectors you prefer to donate directly to the charity involved and not provide a ‘cut’ to their employer.

Check it out:
http://www.cornucopia.com.au/

“JOB PAYMENT:
Usually works on commission if you are signing people to monthly payment plans, with bonuses on top. Collecting using collecting tins often pays a percentage of how much you have in your tin at the end of the day, which you receive in cash. So again, depends entirely on how good you are.”

Whatever happened to giving at the proverbial office and never at the door (or, case be it, street or supermarket)?

Websites & such make it quite simple to select who and when to give to, and to make said donations without needing a guilt trip.

I think the Mormons shy away from asking for your bank details on the street.

They only ask for 10% of your money after they’ve got your soul.

I became very used to this happening in London, and sadly now it’s happening in little ole’ Canberra. It’s called Charity Mugging, and I urge everyone not to have anything to do with them. It badly represents all Charities and it;s an approach which should only be kept for Amway and Mormons!

bubzie said :

Bungle said :

I’ve heard that these ‘volunteers’ are actually on a commission.

sorry for being ignorant, but how the hell are they ‘volunteers’ if they’re on a commission? when you volunteer, you dont get paid! arrgh!!
(yeah, who gave grandma the internet, haha)

Yes bubzie, thus the parentheses.

Deadmandrinking said :

1) No-one should be making money off other people’s suffering.

Do you include the Government and public service in that?

Bungle said :

I’ve heard that these ‘volunteers’ are actually on a commission.

sorry for being ignorant, but how the hell are they ‘volunteers’ if they’re on a commission? when you volunteer, you dont get paid! arrgh!!
(yeah, who gave grandma the internet, haha)

I always give to the salli man after what the salvation army did for ours boys on the kokoda track and down through the years and the wars that followed. I always try and say thanks for the support and thanks for kokoda. The salli man coming out to the range would be the highlight of the patrol, stuffing my cam pants full of biscuits and lollies, scoffing down hot coffee, ahhh the before times indeed.

Pandy thus far I have got 2 numbers and had a couple of nights out with them a while back. They were good fun and just looking for some aussie friends to hang with. They rotate around the cities fairly quickly because the charities contract out to other companies that have these recruitment lists of students and overseas guests. So no official “score” but a couple of fun nights out with good people. Sorry to disappoint, I shall do better I have sworn it. In fact next week I might hunt one day if they are about, I’ve been inspired… report to follow…

I give to the salvos sitting there with their card tables and box. Every time. Why wouldn’t you? They’re affable and inoffensive. There was a bloke in Manuka for years, it was mandatory to put money in his box. People would line up to do it.
there’s often one at teh bottom of the escalators in Riverside Plaza (qbn), who seems to do very well indeed.

That bloke from the Sallys thats been in Civic for years would probably collect more money than those backpackers just by being so old and friendly, his box is always very full.

sleaz, ever score with one of the pom chicks?

lux said :

I believe in giving when you can, but not to everyone, and not to the point where you have trouble paying rent. Call me selfish, but i think it’s just sensible.

Does not sound selfish at all, sounds like an eminently sensible system.

Give to charities that you believe in, when YOU decide that you should…..

I was bullied into giving money to Save the Children and also Mecicins Sans Frontiers a few years ago. They both accosted me in Manuka, within a few weeks of each other, asking for regular monthly donations. Both times i was in my lunchtime haze, and like BerraBoy, i suddenly found myself with forms and credit card numbers. I felt all warm and fuzzy for a few days, before i realised that these combined monthly donations were sucking my pathetic first-year-childcare-worker-wage dry. I believe in giving when you can, but not to everyone, and not to the point where you have trouble paying rent. Call me selfish, but i think it’s just sensible.

Pfft. Belinda Barnier is running again? When’s she gonna realise that the people of Canberra are never going to elect her to anything?

Most of these aggressive charities are easy. “Is it for children?” “Yes! It’s for the Children”. “I don’t give money for children. Only animals.”. They give up, beaten. Every time. All their sales techniques are based on the assumption that everyone loves children. The fact that there’s a need for so many charities to help them proves that actually, quite a few people don’t love children, and many of them are the parents.

BerraBoy68 said :

bigfeet said :

good on you for being on the marrow donation list. I have been on it for a few years now. I dread the day I actually have to give, but of course will.

Yea, it’s a feel good thing to know you can so easily help another person but I hear it’s bloody painful should you be called up!

They rang me once…”Hello is that ####”…..”Yes”….”It’s **** from the bone marrow registry here”

She must have heard the sharp intake of breath on my end of the phone because the next line was “Oh..no, dont worry we are just checking our records are up to date.”

Like I said, I would not have signed up if I was not prepared to go through with it… but it was still a shock when I thought they had called me.

I work in civic and there is different groups there all the time. What you experienced was a very carefully crafted script to get you to give the right answers and move you steadily towards giving out your bank details and no matter what question you decline on there is another question just waiting. It’s called cold selling and happens everywhere if you don’t like it don’t talk to nice young people (normally poms on work visas who are actively recruited during their gap years or similar) wearing a charities/causes/whatevers tshirt. They are trying to sell something just like all the merchants in civic who you buy your coffee/clothes/food from.

When I have time I like to amuse myself by chatting up the cute pom girls, they even approach you, they are here for a limited time looking to work and have some fun along the way, they have cute accents, mostly, and they are fun and outgoing. How much better does it get? You can even use their lines back against and it’s a fun challenge to see if you can get their number before they try and get yours.

Enjoy your day good sir, just enjoy your day noone cares.

What a rotten experience, and now there’s a bunch of us who are less likely to give to them as a result. I basically just say “sure, but I already have a number of charities that I’m committed to” and keep on walking, walking by.

I reckon it’s worth doing your research on charities before signing up anyway – annual reports are generally available online so you can see how much they spend on admin as compared to actual dollars going in to actually help. I’m not sure that a healthy six-figure plus salary package with car for an executive is the best option for some charities, for example.

I often see the same sales staff at Woden Plaza and Coolo – doing a different charity every few weeks. Favourites are the Red Cross, Mission Australia, some children’s charity and a heart one. They are always up for a chat, usually getting people in by talking about some worthy work of the charity-of-the-week. Every time I’ve been stopped I say “you want me to sign up for a regular direct debit donation don’t you” to which they (thankfully) always say yes and so I say I’m not interested and keep walking.

A very smarmy female pommy backpacker wearing a Red Cross T-shirt tried to engage me in a handshake and convo at Woden on Tues lunch time but I told her I didn’t have time to stop (well I did, but I wanted to spend it reading magazines at the library).

I wish they had to wear big ID badges that say I GET PAID ON COMMISSION because then it would explain alot about their technique.

They never get any of my $$$ – I usually wait for the door knock appeals which are always conducted by volunteers.

bigfeet said :

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

Amnesty are easy to get rid of…. “Look, I believe in a lot of what you do…. but in some situations I think the death penalty is warranted”

GOLD! ABSOLUTE GOLD I TELLS YA!!! (puts quote in frame, sends directly to Poolroom)

bigfeet said :

good on you for being on the marrow donation list. I have been on it for a few years now. I dread the day I actually have to give, but of course will.

Yea, it’s a feel good thing to know you can so easily help another person but I hear it’s bloody painful should you be called up!

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

Reminds ome of the time the Amnesty International guy wouldn’t leave me alone. The comment “no thanks, I’m already free” left him sufficiently gobsmacked for me to make my escape…

Amnesty are easy to get rid of…. “Look, I believe in a lot of what you do…. but in some situations I think the death penalty is warranted”

I once tried to give a one off donation to one of these guys, but they insisted that unless I committed my credit card details for a regular payment, they weren’t interested. End result: they got zero.

Reminds ome of the time the Amnesty International guy wouldn’t leave me alone. The comment “no thanks, I’m already free” left him sufficiently gobsmacked for me to make my escape…

Oh yes…..Oh yes…… I have just moved up to Hooligan!!!!

Well I was going to just call the Red Cross number and ask to speak to someone from something like “collections management”. But now you have given me a name Johnathon I will and ask for her direct.

Will report back.

I’ve heard that these ‘volunteers’ are actually on a commission. Not sure about the red cross but I know others are – read the fine print on the doc’s they give you.

If a charity feels that they need to spend money to raise money I haven’t got a problem with it. I guess it’s just like spending money on advertising. Aggressive tactics just won’t work with me. I’ll put up the barriers straight away.

Why not just ask Belinda Barnier – Liberal Candidate for Molonglo.
She is listed as the Manager – Marketing, Fundraising and Communications for Red Cross ACT

http://www.redcross.org.au/act/aboutus_keypeople.htm
http://www.voteforbelinda.com.au/

1) ‘I’ve already signed up. You did it, remember?’ – this will get confused faces and enough time to make an escape.

2) ‘I would, but I’m a junkie. Do you have a smoke?’ – Is advisable you do not shave beforehand.

3) ‘I’m sorry, I would like to donate, but at the moment, I am not prepared to sign up to a monthly donation plan. If you would like a single donation right now, that I can give you, if not, may I take some information home with me for further consideration please, as I am not prepared to make a consideration right now. Thankyou.’ Said calmly and assertively, not aggressively, this should work.

I’m not sure about the Red cross, but I know the save the children fund is actually contracted out through a private sales group, which means the people trying to get money from you are getting commissions – which I think is wrong, since it’s supposed to be a charity. No-one should be making money off other people’s suffering. There are plenty of other organizations that ensure more money gets to the children in need.

I know this because I worked for a company doing door to door when I was about 19 that had the save the children people in the same office. They were just about as slimy and money-driven. I quit, partially because I couldn’t be excited about phone plans and partially because I was sick of every conversation turning into a motivational ‘money money money’ speech. The save the children people are just salesmen, don’t trust them.

Yeah, the Mission Australia people do the exact same thing. Its quite annoying. They do it to the point where they walk alongside you while you’re trying to walk away just talking at you when your body language clearly indicates that you are not interested.

Before you know it they’re getting your account numbers out of you.

One of the women collectors came toward me yesterday and as she approached, I said, “Hi, thanks, but I already donate blood and am registered, I think I’m due to give again in about 4 weeks”..She said, “Its not about blood, it’s more important.”

I was running late and said so, and also said I would look on the website for details of the appeal they were running and donate then.

I was polite and did not dismiss her out of hand. As I walked away she YELLED behind me “Oh right, too busy to help the homeless, not the first time I have heard that today. Typical. Nice suit.” (or very similar)

I paused for a second, but as I was due at a meeting, I kept going, intending to speak to her on my way back, but they were all gone 45 minutes later as I headed back.

I do intend to ring Red Cross to let them know her attitude. (and I do intend to keep donating blood, and money to them because they do good work)

Berraboy – good on you for being on the marrow donation list. I have been on it for a few years now. I dread the day I actually have to give, but of course will.

Yeah, they were out in force, and they were pressing very hard. I think I might have chatted to the same guy, from Melbourne and with a very polished routine and sales pitch. Like berra, I regularly give blood and am fully behind what the RC do, but this was basically harassment.

Not the Red Cross, but I’ve had similar treatment from a children’s charity in Belco Mall. This trend of charities directly accessing your bank account is a bit on the nose, IMO.

why was a melbourne group doing this? there are many volunteers in canberra who could have done the same. I would not be surprised to find that it is a scam, especially when it is school holidays. (and the red cross goes to great lengths to advertise these sorts of events, so to prevent any confusion)

Earlier this year there were several Red Cross representatives basically harassing people on Mort St. They seemed to be focusing on young female office workers, and were being very agressive. I was going to cancel my regular donation to the Red Cross if I ever saw this happening again, and might do so now.