Face-to-face fundraising

Why do charities have face-to-face fundraisers?

STREET FUNDRAISING – QUICK FACTS

Street fundraising helps charities reach supporters they may not otherwise be able to contact

There are strict rules governing how fundraisers may approach people

Street fundraising is the ‘shop front’ for many charities so it’s important they send the right impression – they will want to know if you have had a bad experience

Face-to-face fundraising is important for many charities because it helps them reach potential supporters who they wouldn’t otherwise contact. It has been very important in helping charities to recruit younger donors.

Charities find that people often have strong feelings about issues that they work on, but haven’t found a way to support what they believe in. They may care strongly about a cause like mental health but it’s only when someone asks them if they’d like to donate to a mental health charity that they start doing so. Very few people start donating to a charity without some form of prompt.

A lot of charities’ face-to-face fundraising now is done more professionally than it used to be. That means the people doing it are often staff working for the charity or an agency. This helps the charity reach more people than they could with volunteers alone.

Like all fundraising, there are costs involved in finding supporters in this way. But the benefit of finding a committed supporter outweighs these costs.

Street fundraising has strict rules.

Charities know street fundraisers represent their organisation and they want to create a positive impression.

There are strict rules around what face-to-face fundraisers can and cannot do, to help ensure that the public are always treated respectfully.

If you’ve had a bad experience with a street fundraiser, please get in touch with the charity because they will want to know about it. They’ll be concerned and will want to make sure it does not happen to anyone else.