# Donors Eleven: who gives to charity bucket collections

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/04/24/donors-eleven-gives-charity-bucket-collections/
- Published: 2017-04-24T09:42:20+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**nfpSynergy has published a quirky look at the types of people who donate (or don’t)
to charity bucket collections, identifying eleven main types.**

 

The list came about as the result of [nfpSynergy](https://nfpsynergy.net/) staff
collecting donations for [Plan International UK](https://plan-uk.org/) for a day
at London’s Liverpool Street station.

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These are the types they discovered:

 

**The passionate one**: clued up on the issues, passionate about the cause and annoyed
that others aren’t donating, these people generally give larger amounts – notes 
are not uncommon. However, they are very rare. They can be slightly worrying for
the collector as these people will often know more than them about the issue.

 

**The smiler**: happy to give and glad that you’re giving them the opportunity to
donate, these people are full of thanks and encouragement. They make the collector
glad that they are volunteering and give them heart to carry on for another hour.

 

**The sympathetic sceptic**: these people want to give, but will make sure that 
the charity, your t-shirt, identification badge, the bucket and/or cause are above
board. Will donate after inspecting your badge closely.

 

**The furtive one**: they get their money sorted out of sight; they then return 
to put their money in the bucket with a very serious face, with no eye contact, 
without saying anything, and don’t respond to your cheery ‘thank you’. Surprising
and slightly unnerving for the collector.

 

**The ‘digesters’**: it takes them a while to process the message that the collector
is shouting, and realise or decide that they do want to give. They then stop in 
their tracks (making those behind them a little annoyed) and search for their purse
or wallet, return to the collection point, and give.

 

**The apologist (1):** earnest and slightly furtive, this group scrambles around
in their purse or pocket for money and pops whatever they can find into the bucket
with a muttered apology about it ‘not being very much’. They don’t realise that 
whatever they are giving (apart from the man who gave 3p) warms the collector’s 
heart as they’ve been ignored for the last 10 minutes.

 

**The apologist (2):** these people apologise for not having any money to donate
and hurry on. Their feelings of guilt about not giving can make the collector feel
awkward for asking, and may result in an apology in turn.

 

**The tease:** they make eye contact, smile, nod and encourage the collector but
walk on by with no donation.

 

**The virtue signaller:** they’re already doing lots to help the world, and don’t
want to give – but they still want you to know that they’re ‘doing their bit’

 

**The rushers:** these people are too busy to stop and give, and unfortunately comprise
the majority of people.

 

**The active rejecters:** for this group, charity begins at home, and this fact 
must be stated very loudly and slightly aggressively.

 

Which ones do you recognise, and, dare we ask, which one are you?

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