Charity does not begin at home as survey finds half of people ‘very annoyed’ by doorstep fundraising

• More than half (51%) of people are ‘very annoyed’ by doorstep fundraising, half of all respondents (50%) felt the same about telephone fundraising (slide 2)
• A third (32%) get very annoyed being approached on the street by a fundraiser (slide 2)
• More modern fundraising methods are still very annoying to people, with 29% saying that about text message giving and 22% for email (slide 2)
• Despite resistance to being approached on the street, 33% are happy to be asked to donate to collection tins (slide 2)
• Advertising is a useful way to spend charity money, with 15% happy to be asked to donate through an advert with a phone number to call and 17% by newspaper/magazine adverts
• But more than a third (38%) feel they get too many appeals or newsletters from the charities they support (slide 6)
• More than half (51%) agreed that charities strive for professional standards (slide 5)
• Only 13% feel their wishes aren’t taken seriously by charities (slide 7)

nfpSynergy’s Driver of Ideas, Joe Saxton, said:

‘At least half the population find door step and telephone fundraising very annoying. This puts them a long way ahead of face to face in the aggravation stakes, which annoys far less people and also has over 10% who are happy to donate this way. The big issue for the fundraising community is whether it wants to take action to reduce the level of annoyance that fundraising causes. The balancing act is between fundraisers’ ‘right to ask’, and the public’s ‘right to say no’, not just to each request but to being asked in the first place.’