Chuggers not so bad according to Irish survey
Howard Lake | 12 October 2005 | News
Chuggers have come out of a survey of people in Northern Ireland relatively favourably according to research conducted for the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action. A significant number of people, however, are concerned about where their donations go.
The survey, called ‘Chuggers – are they a cause for public concern?’, found that 57.7% of individuals considered on-street professional fundraising a convenient method by which they can give to charity. Furthermore 59.1% of individuals believe on-street professional collectors help raise awareness about certain issues and causes. Less than one fifth of individuals (19.5%) believe they do not help raise awareness of issues and causes and a further 19.8% of individuals do not hold an opinion on the issue.
There has been some criticism in Northern Ireland as elswhere that asking someone for their bank details on often busy streets is too intrusive.
Interestingly less than four in every ten individuals surveyed believe this form of fundraising is intrusive.
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Over half (55.5%) of individuals surveyed have concerns about the final destination of their monies. This may be partially attributed to the changing face of the on-street fundraiser. In the past on-street collectors were usually older women who stood with a plastic or tin box. Today professional on-street fundraisers are usually in their twenties. This may raise the suspicions of the potential donor to ask why are they doing fundraising. Is it because they are dedicated to the particular cause or is it just a way to make money?
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.