# No face to face fundraising here, thank you

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2010/09/17/no-face-face-fundraising-here-thank-you/
- Published: 2010-09-17T08:51:23+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

That’s the message in the MS Trust’s comment in the fundraising news section of 
its website last month. On 28 August it published a short comment item entitled 
[Is the MS Trust losing money to high street fundraisers?](http://www.mstrust.org.uk/fundraising/news/article.jsp?id=4014).

It raised the issue in response to [BBC Newsnight’s ‘revelation’](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8946145.stm)
that face-to-face fundraising companies actually charge charities money to carry
out professional fundraising services on their behalf.

The charity proceeded to try to put its supporters’ minds at rest by informing them
that “smaller charities like the MS Trust do not use the services of such companies”.
As a result they can “rest assured that the money you raise/donate is coming directly
to the MS Trust to fund our work!”

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I don’t like seeing one charity criticise another for choosing to use another fundraising
channel, one that is legal, established, profitable and self-regulated. By all means
choose not to use it yourself, but don’t suggest another charity is wrong to choose
that method.

I particular dislike straw doll logic. The implication from the headline ‘Is the
MS Trust losing money to high street fundraisers?’ is that other charities are losing
money to high street fundraisers. No they aren’t. They are paying high street fundraisers
to generate substantial, regular, tax-effective income. If they were genuinely losing
money, then such charities would be daft. But they aren’t losing money.

The other implication from their final paragraph is that other forms of fundraising
don’t have a cost. Yes, they do. Professional fundraising costs money. Just looking
at their web page I can see that the web company IDnet created the website for them.
Did they do that for free? MS Trust are also a member of the Fundraising Standards
Board. Did they get free membership? Does the charity employ only volunteers to 
fundraise?

MS Trust are not the only charity that flies the “no chugging here” flag, so it 
is just unfortunate that I came across their page.

But this tendency to criticise other charities for their choice of fundraising methods
worries me – particularly when it is inspired by bad, partial and ill-informed journalism.

By all means highlight illegal, fraudulent and misleading fundraising. But otherwise
have a thought for the charity sector as a whole and don’t try to pretend that your
fundraising has hardly any costs.

 * **[New legislation to regulate face-to-face fundraisers in Ireland](https://fundraising.co.uk/2011/02/21/new-legislation-regulate-facetoface-fundraisers-ireland/)**(
   21 February 2011)
 * **[Gift Fundraising enters voluntary administration](https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/02/19/gift-fundraising-enters-voluntary-administration/)**(
   19 February 2012)
 * **[Hodgson review of Charities Act calls for stronger self-regulation](https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/07/17/hodgson-review-charities-act-calls-stronger-selfregulation/)**(
   17 July 2012)