Guide Dogs' marketing strategy ... what do you think?

http://www.guidedogs.com.au/shop/DefaultShop.aspx?PageID=10

And it’s cheaper online too – she gave you good advice!

(I’ve bought stuff from them online before…no hassle, no complaints.)

Many of the supermarkets have a collection box for groceries that will go to families who will be missing out this Christmas. If you can afford to slip a couple of extra items in your trolley then you can leave them in the box with a guarantee of no annoying follow up or being placed on an email list.

It isn’t nice being ‘chugged’ or charity mugged as they call it in the UK.

Bigfeet has the right idea in buying a few bags of food or some toys (my father sends all manner of treats and toys to the RSPCA for their cats). The chuggers are doing the charities more harm than good in their aggresive requests, almost demands, for money.

miz said :

Actually I am also a bit annoyed that red cross (whom I admire) are hawking at the hyperdome at present. Not for donations though, which I would be happy to provide, but for sign ups for regular direct debit.

This one is a particular bugbear of mine. They are just so insistent and in-your-face pushy, wanting credit card details on the spot.

Peachy said :

I’m friends with a blind lady that does a lot of work with the various blind societies and she recommended donating dog food, old towels, blankets and things like ice cream containers for food and water bowls to the guide dog kennels (wherever they train them) over monetary donations.

Peachy, where can we drop these sort of things off? I quite often drop a bag of dry dog food off to the RSPCA, and would happily do the same to Guide Dogs if I knew where.

I’m friends with a blind lady that does a lot of work with the various blind societies and she recommended donating dog food, old towels, blankets and things like ice cream containers for food and water bowls to the guide dog kennels (wherever they train them) over monetary donations.

I hear you, Ant. I did some door knocking for the Heart Foundation a few years ago and was subsequently beseiged by telemarketers for at least a couple of years. Charities are exempt from the do not call register. I decline all phone sales now – on a ‘house rules’ basis.

And because those awful calls from India come up ‘unavailable’ on my phone number display, I can just not pick up.

Actually I am also a bit annoyed that red cross (whom I admire) are hawking at the hyperdome at present. Not for donations though, which I would be happy to provide, but for sign ups for regular direct debit. If they knew how much CPS credit union are hitting me for monthly service fees, they would not ask for direct debits!

I prefer charities to door knock or advertise through the media.

buying stuff from charities leads your address and phone number to become the property of every telemarketer and spammer in the universe, it seems. It’s such a shame, and makes people very cynical about the charity machine.

I stopped giving “money” to charities a long time ago. When I “give” to the particular charities that I choose to support, I offer my personal time and expertise (so long as it in itself is not directly for the purposes of raising money from others). This way I know that the whatever effort I personally give to the cause will go directly to benefiting the intended end recipients.

Unfortunately many of the charities just want money.

Big error by the Guide Dog people. Seriously, how many things with labradors on them can one person [grandmother or otherwise] tolerate?