h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have three tactics:

1) Walk past them going "I have a portfolio of charities I give to via the Gift Aid scheme".

2) Stop and let them do their spiel and then say "But in the first year most of the money I would give would go direct to your agency, so I think I will give directly to the charity. Thanks any way!"

3) If they are a cancer charity I say "I am sorry, but having used to work for a medical charity I know cancer charities are some of the best funded charities around so if you don't mind my tenner is going to Oxfam."

Aren't I cruel?

Not advice, but something which did happen to me... One time, I had just finished my day on a neurology ward, and was walking to the train station to me asked by the very same people that Abi speaks of, 'Do you have some time to talk about stroke?'

'Erm - I've just finished a shift on that ward... so no...'

What I do find useful to the cancer charities is the reply 'yes - I do know, you fund my research....' which of course, though I don't do reserach, I have many friends who do.

The type of charity collection that really inserts itself into my nasal passages is the 'envelope-that-we-leave-with-you-and-will-come-and-collect-later' type of charity collection.

Proper, ethical charity collecting (which I have done) should not involve people actually being *asked* for money - did you know that a Charity collector is not allowed to even rattle the tin? If a tin rattler *asks* you to donate, then they are behaving unethically, and I actually took a collector to task for it on one occasion when they shoved their tin in my face and asked me if I would like to make a donation (it was for a legitimate charity and he had a permit on display - and yes I did make a donation).

On top of this, I was told the first time I went tin-rattling (for Scope when I was in the sixth form), that asking people for money in the street (even for a charity) is begging and you can therefore be moved on.

The whole principle of tin-rattling is to give passers by the opportunity to donate *if they wish to* and if they don't, they can just carry on without being made to feel like a lower grade slug-type creature for making a perfectly legitimate choice (like either donating their bus fare to the charity or walking thirteen miles home in the pouring rain - I know which would be my choice - mainly because I've forgotten my umbrella again).

I worked for a charity for a while as a paid member of staff (and stood around like a lemon waiting for people to put money in a tin on occasions as a volunteer as well), and I refused point blank to do the envelope thingy because it puts an implied obligation on the person receiving said envelope to stuff something into it - which I consider to be completely unethical for a charity. That's another thing - if you refuse to do the envelope blackmail routine, they go all offy with you as well!

The point of charity is that it's something someone gives out of generosity (it doesn't have to be money - it could be time given to a community initiative or something). That's a nice thing, and I'm really glad people do it. I do it too.

But.

Handing an envelope to someone is basically saying, "When I come back for this envelope, if there's no money in it I'm going to look at you all pathetically and sadly and make you feel like a total rat for not giving to this charity. So you'd better get in there and open your purse/wallet/piggy bank/safe."

How many people out there would be prepared to stand there and hand back an empty envelope? I'm far too much of a chicken.

I think the appropriate smiley at this point is

i don't know if you guys over there in the uk have this sort of chuggers but -

here we have chuggers who go about in public trying to sell stuff like charity seasonal greeting cards and coupon books for charity. i think the idea is that both you *and* the charity profit from you doling out your dough. the thing i hate about it though is - they've made charity *commercial*. i, frankly, would not mind giving money to a couple of kids rattling a salvation army tin. i, however, violently oppose the idea of *selling* charity.

what i absolutely cannot stand is the fact that these chuggers won't leave you alone even when you say no. they cling onto you like limpets, and when you repeatedly tell them, no thanks, they say stuff like, 'but this poor girl needs help! don't you care at all? won't you feel good if you just help out for once?' - you know, trying to get at your conscience. the idea being that if you don't instantly fork out some cash, it means that you are a bad, bad, heartless person who deserves to burn in hell for refusing to help poor mary-ann or the endangered animals.

i usually try to get them off my back by saying very courteously but firmly, 'no thank you'. this usually scares off the more timid ones (i must say, i'm very loud). however, there are those who are not put off by my demeanour, and persist... these people, of course, i think, deserve no courtesy, because they themselves have failed to extend *me* any courtesy. if they try to get at me through my guilty conscience, then they end up having to deal with my wrath. (i once told one chugger off, saying, 'i don't like the way you're trying to sell your charity!' and stalked off. i was being nice)

I support 3 charities that i agree with by direct debit beyond that i tell chuggers that i already support the charitys i want and if i want to suppot theirs i would be doing it already. I know it's a bit in your face but in dublin especiall on grafton street during a 100m walk up the street you could be asked by anything up to 7 differrent people to support their charity. thanks but no thanks

It is better to support charities by Direct Debit as most chuggers are supplied by agencies. As it is the money you contribute in the first year tends to be used to cover the agencies fees.

You could always use the direct approach and just say "F*** off" when someone shakes a tin in your face and asks for money. This generally gets you left alone...

I contribute directly from my salary to the charities I think deserve it and give what I feel I can afford. I find it annoying and offensive that even when I go shopping I get hassled inside the local supermarket for money, often for causes I don't particularly believe in. Wish the supermarket would ban them!

Interestingly - the chuggers vie for the same spot near the exit that is often used by the double-glazing salesman. Wonder what that says about them?

PS: Double-glazing pests in the supermarket can easily be politely diverted by using the "Sorry, I live in a tent" line. If you don't want to be polite use the same response as suggested for chuggers.

Nottingham is frequently staked out by many, many charity people. I've never quite seen the like of it before - it's like they take a street or two streets per charity, and you have to run the gauntlet to get past the numerous people from Oxfam, Christian Aid, the NSPCC, and of course the endless Big Issue sellers, of whom there are lots.

When shopping I get asked so frequently if I can spare a moment for this charity or that charity or some other charity that I have taken to ignoring them. It's not nice, I know, but when you get asked about seven or eight times every single shopping trip it gets extremely tedious extremely quickly. In my opinion they're just hurting their causes by blanketing the city centre like that.

When I have a steady income I will most likely, after some careful consideration, choose to donate to one or more charities directly - but that won't give me a halo that will keep all the people on the streets off my back. I appreciate that they're trying to do good work, but if we're concocting a guide to modern ettiquette, I think that charities engaging in that kind of persistant begging are committing a serious faux pas.

Although I think next time I'm approached by Christian Aid I might be tempted to say something very pointed about how if I want to give to a charity I won't give to one who will spread religious propaganda with their aid. That goes to anyone else who smells religious too. I'm a Pagan, and I don't appreciate anyone attempting to convert anyone else to any religion.

Oh, and those envelope people - that feels to me like the ethical equivalent of armed robbery. Especially when they send their little children to do it. I hate little children calling at the door, but I doubt it would be wise to threaten to roast and eat them, even if I didn't really mean it.

Talk to the hand...

Talk to the Furby!

I should get a Furby and use that for conversations with these people. Yes!

one way to get them away is to tell them that you work for a charity...

maw, i feel i must comment on this:
"Although I think next time I'm approached by Christian Aid I might be tempted to say something very pointed about how if I want to give to a charity I won't give to one who will spread religious propaganda with their aid. That goes to anyone else who smells religious too. I'm a Pagan, and I don't appreciate anyone attempting to convert anyone else to any religion."

first off, i don't work for christian aid, but i do work for the catholic equivalent, CAFOD (the catholic agency for overseas development). we're the official aid agency of the catholic church in england and wales; in a similar way, christian aid is linked to the anglican church. this doesn't mean that we'll only help people who are, or profess to be, catholic. the first of our three goals in our mission statement is to "empower people in need ***regardless of their race, gender, religion or politics*** to bring about change through development and relief programmes overseas" (my emphasis). we aren't interested in proselytising but in helping people to help themselves. we don't just support catholic communities; we give assistance where it's required, whether that be in iraq, albania, ethiopia, rwanda, or any of the other 80+ countries that we work in around the world.

as i said, i don't work for christian aid, and i'm not trying to be their spokesperson (though if you look on their website they clearly state that they work "wherever the need is greatest, irrespective of religion"). but i think that it might be worth your time finding out a bit about organisations such as ours, rather than just making assumptions based on a name (which is the way it appears to me). admittedly, if you have actually had a christian aid collector trying to convert you, that's a different matter altogether... but they would have been well out of their remit.

I do have a habit of jumping to conclusions on matters like that... but yes, I have had someone from Christian Aid mixing proselytising into their charity work, which I didn't appreciate.

Again I find myself doing many of the things Pagans as a group accuse every other group of people in the world of. Is that an insight into the human condition, or is it just a sign to me that I need to work better at it?

But still, because I'm paranoid I would rather give to a secular charity.

speaking of christian aid and all (and going completely off-tangent), i have an example of people who seem unable to adhere to the etiquette of evangelism.

the way i see it, decent, moderate evangelism is allright. i can live with it. i can understand how people would like to go out and share their faith with others and all. but there are just some who completely cross the line.

near my university is this rather popular night spot, see. the problem with this place is that there's a cult church in the area (danger bells are ringing), and wherever there is one such cult church there are truckloads of evangelists.

now, i really don't mind evangelists coming up to me and giving me a pamphlet and saying, 'if you have the time, please come to our church. it could change your life'. well, actually, i hate people giving me brochures 'cause i'd have to dispose of 'em and all, but what i'm saying is that this is *acceptable*. of course, in cases like this, you'd probably go, 'oh, allright, thanks' and find some excuse to get away. with these people however... they go right into this talk thingy about how sinful your life is, and how empty your life is because you're subscribing to the wrong faith, or do not have one at all, and that *they* are the only purveyors of the truth, and then they launch right into a heart-rending account of how miserable their lives were until they started going to that one church, and how they were now all light-hearted and happy and stuff. and when you tell them firmly, 'no thanks, i'm not interested', they go right into stuff about how you don't understand and all because you've never been touched, and continue with their sickly-sweet tales. of course, the one thing i hate the most about them is that they ask, 'do you know where you're going after you die?' and before you can answer, they say, 'i do', etc. until you are just about ready to kill them all on the spot.

(oh, by the way, did i mention that they attack you in droves?)

i'm sorry. i know i sound mean and all, but there's only so much i can stand when you try to push your brand of faith on to me even when it is obvious that i'm *not interested*, and say that what i believe in (or do not believe in) is wrong.

it got to the point where a couple of friends and i sat down one day and wrote *our* own cult brochure. we made one up (we called it asceism) and thought up a couple of deities, made *sure* that its teachings were completely 180 degrees from the teachings of *that* one cult church, and printed a stack of them out to be handed to these evangelists. (would anyone like a copy?)

but i have led the conversation in the wrong direction. please carry on with the chuggers!

Well, when I get asked for money by some religous organization, it seems to work if you tell them that you belong to a different faith. I know, it seems like your denouncing your religion, well, it does to some people, but it works. There are some charities that i wioll give to, like those who ring bells on corners, to stop the incessant ringing for a couple of seconds so that I can make a quick exit. Of course, that's usually just a few coins, not really a lot.

And, I give money to the United Way directly from my paycheck, which is better, because now I don't have to pay any taxes on that at all. Also, I give to environmental groups(something I consider very important) in a nice check every month. It's better I believe, to have proof of this around tax-season, because there's nothing wrong with getting a little extra out of what you give.

Another thing, not quite chuggers, but these religous supremacists who hand out little story booklets on the corner across from the grocery store where I work, really annoy the f*** out of me. These little story books, my favorite, "The Death Cookie" just rips apart Catholicism. These (Mormon?) wannabe-radicals really just make me so ERGHHHHH!!!!

Sorry, didn't mean to get so off topic.

-Craig

ah, well, everybody needs to grouse sometime. and this is the perfect place for it too.

take a leaf out of my book - go print your own leaflets! that's the only thing that will work with 'em - you can't shake some of them by telling 'em you subscribe to a different faith.

have a cuppa

Not common in the UK but used to be in South Africa where I grew up. The worst aspect was that if you said you didn't want to buy their charity Christmas cards, they would hit you up for a 'donation' instead. Which never got anywhere near the charity they were selling on behalf of