View Full Version : When charity pushes their luck.
I was told by a friend earlier that The British Red Cross were out in the city centre getting people to make a regular donation by direct debit every month.
The minimum they said was £8.50 a month, or anything you want as long as it was higher than £8.50.
Isn't charity about giving what you want or can afford, and not what you're told, anymore?
I was told by a friend earlier that The British Red Cross were out in the city centre getting people to make a regular donation by direct debit every month.
The minimum they said was £8.50 a month, or anything you want as long as it was higher than £8.50.
Isn't charity about giving what you want or can afford, and not what you're told, anymore?
Most tv ads for charitys always ask for just £2 per week so nothing surprising there, we had the RSPCA sending people around our houses on Tuesday trying to get people sign up, must have been on commission as they knocked twice, which we ignored each time as we could see their vests.
Most tv ads for charitys always ask for just £2 per week so nothing surprising there, we had the RSPCA sending people around our houses on Tuesday trying to get people sign up, must have been on commission as they knocked twice, which we ignored each time as we could see their vests.
The Red Cross site says you can do £2 a month.
I'd say the collectors were just pushing their luck and will probably get a load of cancelled direct debits anyway.
dilli-theclaw
11-06-2009, 19:54
If you or anyone have been told it is a minimum £8.50 the person should be reported to the Red Cross as they are not doing their job properly.
fireman328
11-06-2009, 20:48
The people you see in the streets accosting people are on commision, and I never give to them as I consider it to be begging.
LondonRoad
11-06-2009, 20:52
I consider myself to be quite charitable but never give on the street and never at the door. I like to know that the vast majority of my donation will be used for the correct intentions.
Now I am no skin flint by any stretch of the imagination, and have several direct debits set up to various charitys.
The thing that is bugging me big style at the moment, is all the tin shakers at supermarkets, and the high ammount of bag packers at the end of the tills on a Saturday and Sunday at my local supermarket collecting for the local footy team, or school off to Peru etc.....
I am a debit card person at supermarkets, but now feel I have to carry cash as well to pop in the boxes, or I end up feeling guilty!!!
Is it just me????
Lucy, take an old debit / credit card and some toe nail scissors so when they rattle the tins / buckets etc just snip a little corner off the card and enjoy a guilt free shopping experience...
And yes we all know about the extra packet of Jaffa Cakes in the bottom of the trolley for Lucy time..
Cobbydaler
11-06-2009, 21:35
Sometimes around the Arndale centre in Manchester you can't move for people canvassing for direct debit charitable donations. I'm sure it discourages people from donating casually i.e. money into a box...
With the city centre trams down I actually walk through the Northern Quarter from Victoria to Picadilly for train connections to avoid being delayed by them!
Sometimes around the Arndale centre in Manchester you can't move for people canvassing for direct debit charitable donations. I'm sure it discourages people from donating casually i.e. money into a box...
With the city centre trams down I actually walk through the Northern Quarter from Victoria to Picadilly for train connections to avoid being delayed by them!
I just completely blank them. If i want to donate, i will do so of my own accord.
Hmm! The OP is based on hearsay..and now so is the whole thread...Where is the evidence that the Red Cross have any knowledge of this? :(
Hmm! The OP is based on hearsay..and now so is the whole thread...Where is the evidence that the Red Cross have any knowledge of this? :(
Hearsay of the minimum of £8.50?
She doesn't lie to me, there's no reason to. I think it's probably because of the commision side of it for why they asked for so much.
AndyCambs
11-06-2009, 22:35
Strange amount. I can understand the minimum being £8 which with GiftAid comes to a round £10 - and £10 could be considered a minimum amount for them to process efficiently each month - but £8.50 works out at £10.63 which is an odd amount - unless the amount includes 50p commission perhaps?
I had one of these reps come to my door this week. They were after £1.50 a week - which (in the grand scheme of things) would not normally be a problem - however (the catch) they had to set up a direct debit straight away - which meant giving the rep my bank details - no no no no no I don't think so!
Needless to say one didn't sign up!
Shame really, nice chap - terrible halitosis though, enough to knock a skunk over at twenty yards.
Si thee. :Sprint:
AndyCambs
12-06-2009, 05:10
I tend to direct my charity to one group fund as it were, which is then distributed as seen fit.
Speaking as a person who has been a member of the Red Cross, helped run one of their shops, and stood in all weather conditions with a collection tin in my hand I can categorically state that the people with the tins are NOT on commison, they aren't even employed, they hold a collecting tin on a voluntary basis, and also do so under a permit issued by the local council of that area.
The £8.50 minimum is at odds with the BRC's website and their TV adverts. I think you need to report this behavioir to either your local council or your local BRC branch HQ.
When walking round near where I work, I often get people come up and ask if they can do a survey. Nine times out of ten, it's a charity and usually it's Amnesty International, the Red Cross or one of the charities helping the disabled.
They do irritate me slightly, as I do give money regularly to charity.
Actually the nicest one happened a few months ago. A pretty young blonde woman came up to me and started to give me the spiel about how Amnesty international was helping mankind and obviously needed cash to do so.
Now, I actually do believe that AI are a very important charity (not that I am saying that any charity is unimportant), as they do work hard to protect the oppressed both in this country and others. It is important that we have an organisation to protect our rights that is independent of any government control.
I told the woman this, she slapped me on the back and said "Good man!".
As for specifying a minimum, the Red Cross do not do this. Nor do any charity I know of. I suspect a charity that did wouldn't last long as people do object to being told how much to give.
Personally I try to ignore these people as they are little more than cold callers. I won't give my bank details to a complete stranger under any circumstances. However at least I acknowledge there existence.
I do support charities which this year is WaterAid (I've done the trail 100 challenge and am doing a 10k run later in the year). I might be like this :tired:after that! Followed by :D
I also support a local hospital charity by donating some of my time to teach children (seriously sick children at that:() computers basics.
STONEISLAND
12-06-2009, 12:36
I just completely blank them. If i want to donate, i will do so of my own accord.
You and me both! Nothing worst IMO. :td:
fireman328
12-06-2009, 14:50
The only charity I subscribe to by direct debit is The Fire Services National Benevolent Fund.
Recently there was a report of the company which collected money for the air ambulance service was taking 50% of all money collected.
Here's the letter which the DD has since been cancelled.
Download Failed (1)
STONEISLAND
12-06-2009, 15:45
Its not right being bulled into somthing like this.
Its not right being bulled into somthing like this.
People can always say no.
http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77076
No mention or indication that a direct debit has to be a minimum of £8.50.In fact the minimum seems to be £2.
As Jefferson T and Jon T have both suggested that your concerns Gary should be addressed to the Red Cross directly.
As Jefferson T and Jon T have both suggested that your concerns Gary should be addressed to the Red Cross directly.
Well they must have a few £8.50 sign ups that day so they will be aware of it. they've probably got a few cancelled DD's too.
Here's the letter which the DD has since been cancelled.
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/1776/redqsr.jpg
Fancy blanking out your addy Gary, I could of sent you some junk mail or .................
Fancy blanking out your addy Gary, I could of sent you some junk mail or .................
I'd very much want the or........ please :)
I'd have to give you my address though, as the one on the form isn't mine :D
Well they must have a few £8.50 sign ups that day so they will be aware of it. they've probably got a few cancelled DD's too.
No I meant about the insistence that £8.50 was the minimum allowed..At least give a respected Charity a chance to see if someone is conning the public in their name or to actually clarify the situation. :erm:
No I meant about the insistence that £8.50 was the minimum allowed..At least give a respected Charity a chance to see if someone is conning the public in their name or to actually clarify the situation. :erm:
It was the minimum they were saying can be paid on that occasion. as has already been said, their site says otherwise.
it was probably the people that were doing the sign ups that day that decided it was £8.50 minimum.
but as I say they will have had a few £8.50 DD's gone through the system for someone to see, instead of random amounts as it should be.
It was the minimum they were saying can be paid on that occasion. as has already been said, their site says otherwise.
it was probably the people that were doing the sign ups that day that decided it was £8.50 minimum.
but as I say they will have had a few £8.50 DD's gone through the system for someone to see, instead of random amounts as it should be.
So maybe the title of this thread is somewhat inaccurate?
So maybe the title of this thread is somewhat inaccurate?
I wouldn't say so. they are Red Cross representatives if you like. so as a charity they are pushing their luck.
Unless you want to call it when a charity, or when Red Cross?
So maybe the title of this thread is somewhat inaccurate?
I don't think it is - as far as I'm concerned, the chuggers that plague every city centre in this country are all pushing their luck, whether or not they ask for a minimum amount on the direct debit, and they are all there officially as representatives of charities.
I make my charity giving decisions in my own time, not while I'm trying to make the best of a short lunch break or trying to herd three children round the shops. And I never give permission for total strangers to collect my bank details and my signature on a street corner, no matter who they say they work for.
I don't think it is - as far as I'm concerned, the chuggers that plague every city centre in this country are all pushing their luck, whether or not they ask for a minimum amount on the direct debit, and they are all there officially as representatives of charities.
I make my charity giving decisions in my own time, not while I'm trying to make the best of a short lunch break or trying to herd three children round the shops. And I never give permission for total strangers to collect my bank details and my signature on a street corner, no matter who they say they work for.
But as the accusation appears to be targeting the Red Cross who are probably unaware that this is being done in their name...
Perhaps the title should include charity in the plural? i.e. Charities pushing their luck?
But as the accusation appears to be targeting the Red Cross who are probably unaware that this is being done in their name...
Perhaps the title should include charity in the plural? i.e. Charities pushing their luck?
It doesn't matter whether they're aware or not. the representatives of the charity were collecting money for them (on their behalf) Red Cross are getting that money. so as a charity they are pushing their luck. it doesn't matter if it wasn't the boss of the Red Cross out there doing the collecting himself. the people that were there doing the collecting is the charity themselves.
dilli-theclaw
12-06-2009, 20:20
Of course it matters. If these people are not doing the 'job' they are supposed to how are the Red Cross supposed to sort it out if they are not told.
Anyway I'm still waiting for some evidence that anyone was pushed into signing up for this direct debit.
I've seen a letter saying it was set up, but not evidence of being forced to.
Why didn't your 'friend' say no to this?
Of course it matters. If these people are not doing the 'job' they are supposed to how are the Red Cross supposed to sort it out if they are not told.
That's not the same as what Maggie's implying.
Anyway I'm still waiting for some evidence that anyone was pushed into signing up for this direct debit.
You didn't ask for evidence?
I've seen a letter saying it was set up, but not evidence of being forced to.
Why didn't your 'friend' say no to this?
Because of being told that the minimum was £8.50.
dilli-theclaw
12-06-2009, 20:38
That's not the same as what Maggie's implying.
You didn't ask for evidence?
Because of being told that the minimum was £8.50.That doesn't tell me why she didn't say no?
Surely if she thought it was too much she should have? If she didn't have a problem with the amount then what's the problem (for her).
I'd still have put in a complaint in if I'd been told this.
As for evidence I doubt there's any point - it would most likely be hearsay from your 'friend' or yourself, which is hardly proof. If I knew where this person was (the collector) I'd have put in a complaint about them myself.
That's not the same as what Maggie's implying.
Actually it was....I'm sure that was what I said...
That doesn't tell me why she didn't say no?
Surely if she thought it was too much she should have? If she didn't have a problem with the amount then what's the problem (for her).
I'd still have put in a complaint in if I'd been told this.
As for evidence I doubt there's any point - it would most likely be hearsay from your 'friend' or yourself, which is hardly proof. If I knew where this person was (the collector) I'd have put in a complaint about them myself.
Thomas, there isn't a problem as such. it's only since I posted a copy of her letter stating the £8.50, that it's become a problem. people are on the defensive about it when there's really no need to be.
Turkey Machine
13-06-2009, 22:01
I got stopped by somebody trying to get me to sign up with the RSPCA in Nottingham town centre. He said "do you love animals", I said "I do, and I'm already donating to the RSPCA." Which was a rather white lie, as I believe it's the Dogs Trust that "we", as in the family, donate to. :) My mate had the perfect response to it. He said "I don't have an account that takes direct debits", at which point the RSPCA guy backed down!
Funny thing is I never get stopped by these people and asked to do DD there and then...they don't even shake a tin under my nose..which as a collector to the Poppy Appeal I know is absolutely forbidden to do as it get people's backs up.
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