Those charity envelopes through the door.....

[lushy86]

My OH is a Lifeboat volunteer so we regularly do collecting, particularly at the moment as we are raising money for the Shoreham Harbour Lifeboat Appeal which will pay for the much needed new boathouse.

I collected at a Brighton football match recently - the posh lot in hospitality were all really tight but the fans were really generous. 

We also collect each Christmas and people regularly hide behind their curtains especially on posh Shoreham Beach, which is a joke as they are the people who own the yachts my OH is often called out to resuce!

Lushy x

[lushy86]

[SamLouise]

^ Yes but in all fairness, these people might donate tens, hundreds or even thousands to charity that nobody else is aware of??

I also think Asbean made a very good point of giving spare time being just as important as giving cash (sorry, I'm deviating a little from the original topic) I volunteered full time for social services before I got a substantive post and I think that's just as important in some circumstances.  Some have more time than money but are equally, if not more, generous :)

[CotswoldLass]

I think the point re time v money as giving is very relevant, as is the donating online re tax incentives, which is what I tend to do now since get so many appeals for sponsorship which goes straight to the charities .
The problem nowadays for door to door appeals is that people just aren't used to unknown vistors knocking on the door, and most of the time it is not welcome, nor convenient.
In our previous home I knew most of the people in the village but even so, someone knocking for however good a cause was not, I must admit, very welcome. Where we are now we are a little off the beaten track and frankly, if my husband were not at home, I would not answer the door if I was not expecting anyone.
Times have changed, sadly, but that should not mean people who don't open the door are defined as ungenerous.

Best to all,

CLx

[posie]

Sorry but i find it VERY embarrassing when i cant afford to give !! and to be forced to open my door and explain would make it worse  :(
I give when i can and and sit and feel very bad at the adverts for 'its only a £1 a week'  if i had the money i would give it, but i do object to being made to feel bad about it !

I have to say I agree with you on the embarassement factor, I do give to charity when I can.  If I buy the Big Issue then I make sure that I always give the vendor a little bit extra.  But...I had a well known animal charity at my door several times in the last 12 months, as I have two springies who shout a lot when someone's at the door it's not rocket science to assume I have dogs, they're opening line is usually "so you obviously love dogs then" then continues into a major guilt trip, followed by raised eyebrows when I explain that it's as much as I can do most weeks to keep the house going.  I do donate by giving any old bedding to them or donating the odd tin or bag of food to them, but I object to being made to feel guilty because I can't give them cold hard cash.  Unfortunately this kind of attitude has led me to not answering the door to people collecting now, I know they're not all like it and I don't envy them trying to raise money but unfortunately a few spoil it for the rest.

[CotswoldLass]

Yes, quite Posie,
And there is a problem with people posing as charity collectors (when they or not) or being paid to collect, in which case you get (or suspect) this pushiness.

For guidance see
http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/sgc.asp

You can see the problem this raises for well meaning collectors like the original poster, but this situation is sadly a fact of life today.

Clx

[Hector]

..I had a well known animal charity at my door several times in the last 12 months, as I have two springies who shout a lot when someone's at the door it's not rocket science to assume I have dogs, they're opening line is usually "so you obviously love dogs then" then continues into a major guilt trip, followed by raised eyebrows when I explain that it's as much as I can do most weeks to keep the house going. 

I won't give a penny to a certain major animal charity as they don't spend what they already have. No-one should use marketing/guilt trip to get charity money, it's offensive.
I wont be in on many occasions to answer a door and feel more comfortable with direct debit as then I can give what I can afford and there's tax benefit to the charity too.

Also, with redundencies around I wouldn't assume people in nice houses have cash :)

[Garden Manager]

My bugbear about charity collections are the plastic bags that we frequently get through the door asking us to fill it with unwanted goods to raise funds for the charity. this is all well and good but whenever we put stuff out in these bags they rarely get collected the day they say they will collect.

Also if you cant donate anything you are encouraged to leave the unopened bag on the doorstep to be collected and reused. in my expereince the unused bags hardly ever get recovered, leaving you stuck with a load of plastic bags emblazoned with the charity name. the only use for them then is as bin liners!

I dont mind giving stuff to charity, but this practice just seems a dreadfull waste, not only of time and resources but of the charity's money as well.

[Ninnyscrops.]

Lots of interesting replies, and thank you for taking the time.

All the best too, to those collecting this year and good luck to collectors that are having their knuckles bitten by letterboxes  ;D

Linda