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I have a serious problem saying No. I get calls all the time from charities seeking donations and I cannot for the life of me tell them No. It's not that I don't want to donate, it's just sometimes I don't have any extra money to donate.

Am I the only one with this problem?

You'll find it hard to believe, but in England there are professional collectors who stand on busy streets and talk people into signing debit agreements to support charities. They wear a shirt with the charity's logo and make it sound as though that charity has been their sole love since they learned to read. Each week the shirt logo changes but the faces stay the same. They take... who knows? Your first year's worth of donations each time they sign someone up?

As with phone solicitors, the only way to deal with it from a socially responsible perspective it to talk to them until they give up first, but to sign or agree to sign nothing. That way they'll end up with a loss-making business and decide to get a real job.

So, talk to them but practice saying "no thank you" at the end of the calls. If you do it once and enjoy it, do it some more.

Sometimes I just hang up on them, but the charities such as St. Judes, Childrens Miracle Network really tug at my heart, so I usually donate.



Wow the people on the street corner though does sound disturbing, do they represent legit charities?

Sheryl wrote: Sometimes I just hang up on them, but the charities such as St. Judes, Childrens Miracle Network really tug at my heart, so I usually donate.



Wow the people on the street corner though does sound disturbing, do they represent legit charities?Every one of them.

I bet the phone callers get paid commission too. What are they good at? Tugging at listeners' hearts. I'd feel as much sympathy for the caller as I would for a lizard. I'd be annoyed at the charity for giving so much of their income to go-between agencies. I'd salve my conscience by giving regularly to a charity I supported at my own initiative, knowing the money went to the cause and not the collector.

I never thought of the fact that the folks calling are go betweens. Thanks for enlightening me.

Sheryl wrote: I have a serious problem saying No. I get calls all the time from charities seeking donations and I cannot for the life of me tell them No. It's not that I don't want to donate, it's just sometimes I don't have any extra money to donate.

Am I the only one with this problem?


You need to get a handle on this. Your inability to say no could get you into a lot of trouble after the Saturday night dance.

spot wrote: You'll find it hard to believe, but in England there are professional collectors who stand on busy streets and talk people into signing debit agreements to support charities. They wear a shirt with the charity's logo and make it sound as though that charity has been their sole love since they learned to read. Each week the shirt logo changes but the faces stay the same. They take... who knows? Your first year's worth of donations each time they sign someone up?




I got caught like this. I paid into Barnardo's for several years assuming my money was helping children in poverty. Then I read that the collectors earned about £30,000 a year! Now my money goes directly from my salary straight into The Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Fund instead.

For quite few years we have been contributing to the Sherriff's Department sports league, but this year we just didn't have enough money.

You should have seen the trouble we had trying to get them from calling us. Even when I told them I couldn't contribute this year, they still kept calling!

I finally found out it wasn't really the actual Sherriff's department, but some company they had hired. And get this, if someone says "no" they go on a "recall" list. To be recalled over and over again until they say "yes."

Sheesh!:-5

I have a hard time walking past a charity rep shaking a bucket under my nose,

it makes me feel very guilty and mean if i dont donate.

I mainly make donations through my bank on a monthly basis, i do buy the Big Issue, but let them keep the mag.

You're meant to take the first, Abbey - they're well written and they cover topics that rarely get a look-in elsewhere in the press. I enjoy reading them.

spot wrote: You're meant to take the first, Abbey - they're well written and they cover topics that rarely get a look-in elsewhere in the press. I enjoy reading them.It's just my way of giving them a little without taking off them.

If i'm in the city i do take one and carry it because there are so many vendors i feel guilty walking past them all.