# Chuggers

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/classifieds/chuggers/
- Published: 2016-11-09T12:34:38+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

### About chuggers and chugging

A ‘chugger’ is defined as “a person who approaches passers-by in the street asking
for subscriptions or donations to a particular charity”.

Chugging, or face-to-face fundraising, has been used by charities around the world
since the mid-1990s when it was introduced by Greenpeace. In some ways it returned
fundraising back to its basics – one person talking to another is regarded as one
of the best ways to ask for a donation.

The practice has now been adopted by many charities who use it as part of a range
of methods of fundraising.

Chuggers operate in public spaces, usually on the streets of town centres. A small
group of them will invite passers-by to stop and hear about the charity that they
support.

Some chuggers are employed by the charity they work for. For many charities though
this is a substantial risk in terms of a commitment to staff salaries, so they choose
to outsource this practice to experienced face-to-face or street fundraising companies.

Street fundraising is regulated and there are detailed agreements signed between
charities and fundraising agencies. Local authorities also require agreements with
fundraising agencies operating in town centres to ensure that there are never too
many fundraisers operating at once, competing charities, or fundraisers being active
every day of the week.

Chuggers are not volunteers. They are trained fundraisers. They are either paid 
a salary or work on commission. This is of course deducted from the amount that 
the charity receives in terms of the donation. Nevertheless, enough charities find
that, given the tax-efficient element of giving (many donors sign a Gift Aid declaration,
adding 25% of the value to their gift at no cost to themselves), and it’s multi-
year duration, street fundraising is still a valuable and effective form of fundraising.

## Different forms

‘Chuggers’ can be engaged in different kinds of fundraising, depending on the location.
These can include:

 * face to face fundraising
 * door to door fundraising

The latter should not be confused with house-to-house collections where, for example,
a volunteer collector will post a donation envelope to homes during the charity’s
annual fundraising week.

 

Should you have any further questions, **please contact us on 0845 094 8033** to
advertise your street fundraising company details at the top of this listing.

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