Why your supporters are wealthier than you expect. Course details.

Is sympathetic face to face fundraising the way to go?

Recently, I’ve seen some of the most fun and thought-provoking blogs and debates on face to face fundraising for a while.  Check these out as just a sample:

Ken Burnett; Craig Linton, The Fundraising Detective; Jonathon Graspass at Flat Earth Direct; Phil Heffer at St. Mungo’s; Gordon’s (Hudson) blog.

There are always two sides for every argument of course and whilst personally, what we feel about being approached by face to face fundraisers in the street (different to doorstep approach) might be negative, there are lots of bottom line statistics which show that for some organisations it is a worthwhile activity.

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Why your supporters are wealthier than you think... Course by Catherine Miles. Background photo of two sides of a terraced street of houses.

I want to add something to the debate if I may, based on some personal experience of a trip to London last Friday.

That was just 10 minutes of walking!

The return journey that evening was different to the tune of:  no Teletubby, more beggars, a band instead of the clarinet player, the Help for bucket shakers albeit restricted by a table off the main drag and a group of seven or eight face to face fundraisers working around Monument tube station.  This last group seems to be in that spot regularly, raising funds for a different major charity each time.

I was approached but was in a hurry and so said “no thanks” three times before I felt the need to be more assertive.  At which point I was told that he was only doing his job and that he was really surprised I didn’t care about the cause in question.

So, here’s my point to add to the debate:

If face to face fundraising is to be successful in the future, I believe it needs to be carried out sympathetically.

Not sympathetic to the cause or the charity, but sympathetic to the public.  Like all my fellow commuters that day, I had places to be and things on my mind.  This is amplified for the return journey when people are thinking about home, family, friends etc. after a typically busy and often long working week.  Add that to the fact that it cannot be sensible to expect people to engage with more than 14 different groups in a 10 minute walk!

I don’t want to see laudable causes reduced to street furniture but I’m afraid that’s what they were.  Now imagine being a regular commuter and seeing what I saw every single working day… how much sympathy with the various causes are those commuters going to have?  How long will it take for them to just switch off completely and ultimately treat every cause that rotates through their route with indifference?

Motorists and haulage companies are joining forces all over the country to demand that utility companies organise themselves to stop roads being dug up every other week and causing environmentally damaging and expensive congestion.  Perhaps it’s time for councils and street fundraisers to work together to be equally sympathetic to travellers, commuters, tourists and the public in general around busy spots

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