Another charity?
You just phoned here a few days ago!
Look I have no time for you now.
Why don't you go to the government?
Telephone charity fund raising is on the rise in our country of Canada. Or as some would put it, telephone solicitations, money grabs, and yes, even begging. There are some 5,000 charities in Alberta alone. At any given time, there are about 700 charities in the city of Edmonton alone actively seeking charitable funding. To put it mildly, they all, it would seem, are in need of your money.
WHERE DID ALL THE MONEY GO?
As far as charities go, their funding that goes towards keeping them up and running is, well, running dry. So where did all the money go that kept them comfortably functioning?
In the last decades, government funding has been slashed considerably.
Allocation of funding has also been diversified as more and more charitable organizations arise to meet the population's growing needs. I am not going to go into that too much (as that would require an essay in itself) but society's evolution into the new millennia has created a new awareness and discovery of social problems and issues - medical technology and education has shed light on old illnesses and new illnesses; our ability to deal with these; and the need to further research.
A rise in poverty brings the complications of an affordable social structure for the average person to deal with the unemployment issues, the disabled, and the uneducated. Food banks are overrun with people in need of daily requirements and understocked in terms of food itself, not to mention the cost to run the service. Medical procedures and treatment are often over-filled and expensive thereby requiring advocates to speak for those who cannot afford nor have the resources to have access top these programs. The rise of charities in Canada is proportional to that of the needs of society - and each are struggling to keep their heads above water.
WHERE WILL THE MONEY COME FROM?
Okay, the brunt of the matter is, where will all the funding come from to keep each charity alive? The government grants and allocation programs are running short. Personally, I do not see it improving, as our federal, provincial, and municipal governments' deficits grow. Therefore, it is up to the charities to keep themselves alive via private and public donations.
Keeping in context with the telephone issue, I will just touch upon other ways charities can make their funding goals. There are ways - some work; some don't.
The size of a charitable organization does matter. Worthwhile and well known organizations like MS, The Heart Foundation, or The Heart and Lung Association will have more recognizable impact on the public than say, local charities such as (for example, here in Edmonton) the ACCD (Alberta Committee of Citizens with Disabilities) or Crystal Kids. A well known reputation does help.
Let's talk about the charities I've mentioned as an example. The ACCD is an advocate society that essentially is a resources and education center for and run, primarily, by the disabled in Alberta - they who those helping themselves integrate into society through education of the public. Crystal Kids is a kid's charity focused on helping the less fortunate kids through programs and drop-in centers. Ask anyone on the street, though, if they have heard of either organization. The ACCD and Crystal Kids are suffering from a publicity dilemma - allocation of funding going towards their cause rather than a publicity campaign - priorities. Crystal Kids has been basically delegated to an old store front run by a couple of volunteers and even had to close their doors for a time. (I might add as a personal note, that unless you're a "fresh-freckled" kid a la "Opie", no one wants to help. I was once given a hard time by a man who said he did not want to help those kids who smoked in the schoolyard and did not live a Christian lifestyle. Go figure. I thought the Christian lifestyle WAS about helping those less fortunate and in need of education in whatever form.) Point is, none of these organization reflect the multi-agency, multi-employed agents of national charities.
These is nothing wrong with being a large and well known charity but nor is there nothing wrong with being a small charity either. Both have their places. That is not what I am getting at. The point is, the public need to be aware that, large or small, each charity has its function and respectable place in our society. Does being a store front office or being corporate wide does take away from legitimacy or need? As you will soon see, though, it does seem to be the case in the public eye.
SOLUTIONS TO A GROWING PROBLEM
Awareness and education is probably the common goal of most charities through programs and resource referral. For some, to be able to give to the needy relies in how much they can rely on the "un-needy" (to put it succinctly). The public sees their money going in and expects to see a visible and tangible application thereof. Most of the public is unaware of the cost of office supplies (paper, furniture, computers, writing utensils, etc.), rental expenses, among other expenditures. They are also unaware of the actual cost of fund raising itself - which is ironic in the traditional sense that it takes money to make money. Awareness and education costs.
PRIVATE FUNDING
The private donation is alive and well, thank God. The annual giver allocates a certain amount to his favorite charity, or perhaps sponsors a fund raiser event at their own expense.
Yet it is a nail biter for the charities due to the fact they have to wonder if they can depend on that annual donation. The answer is, "no", in no uncertain terms. Charitable donating can vary from year to year in favor of a new organization for one reason or another: a major company can switch charities in the blink of an eye (hell, they can go bankrupt as well); a prominent person dies; or new diversifications make a donation smaller. Charities can never every say they can rely on private funding. Times change, people change, minds change. Therefore, charities have to act on the assumption that funding will not be there.
Goals and target programs have to be made carefully and that is not without some sort of planning. To achieve this goal, the charity has to formulate a set goal and then all-in-all go for it. In the sense of private donations fund raising is suddenly turned into a , more or less, dog-eat-dog, promotional campaign.
THE RAFFLES, THE TICKETS, AND THE PRIZES
Go to any mall at any given time and see what I mean. The new home. The new car. A boat. A weekly TV bingo. It's okay for charities when a financially secure major company sponsors a charity with the donation of a car, home, or occasional home entertainment unit. Yet what happens to those charities who are less known, yet no less important? "We'll put you on our list for consideration next year" is usually the answer given to these charities by big firms. Big companies demand large publicity returns in exchange for their charitable act. Sorry, but lesser charities just do not make the grade and probably never will. It is a fact of life the public is usually not aware of.
So the smaller charity is left with coming up with a prize to sell their own tickets. Hopefully the returns of the tickets will outweigh the expense of not only the tickets, but the actual prize amount.. Recently one charity in Edmonton made the news because they had to reduce their prize amount due to having only sold 40% of their tickets.
THE GAMBLE
The casino is getting more popular these days as a way of making the funding goal. Sponsoring a casino is no small deal though and you have only one shot in a year to make a go at it. (It's law.) Yet again, we come back to time and expense. Getting down to personal ethics for a moment, some charities nor their supporters, believe in gambling and negate the idea of one before it is even considered. Yet for some, the casinos do offer that chance to make money. If they can get over the rental price, the need for volunteer staff, and over the publicity hill, it can be a profitable function.
Still, it is beyond the scope of most smaller charities and that once a year shot may not be enough to keep them going anyway.
BAZAARS, SALES, AND FLEAS
Sales of old household material, homemade wears, and baked goods is always an idea for the smaller charity provided you can find an inexpensive place to hold one. (Flea markets sometimes are generous and will sponsor a charity for free). Markets and bazaars, though, rely heavily on volunteer time and effort to be a success. It is unfortunate but local charities and groups can probably only find the resources to hold one every six months. Someone has to make baked pies and quilts, and the time and personal expense is not always there. So while this may work for the local church working to earn mortgages or a new organ, smaller charities could not support themselves long on markets and bazaars. When you think of a charity's expenses you begin to realize how much they need in terms of their office space, utilities, insurance, maintenance, and, yes, even paychecks (you do not think those office workers have worked 20 years, eight hours a day for free, do you?).
DOOR-TO-DOOR CANVASSING
Everyone knows them - usually with a clipboard, nametag, and a spiel. It is getting popular - real popular. So popular, volunteer numbers are getting slimmer and slimmer. No one can go day to day for around four hours only to get chased by dogs, having doors slammed in their faces, and rude remarks tossed at them, or just keep getting those plain no answers (even though a face peeks from behind that curtained window. No, canvassers are not blind and their only thought is usually, "how childish".) In the summer, volunteers are a maybe. In the winter time, it is a no-show.
Volunteer canvassers are hard to find if not impossible to find. So do not even bother to ask a canvasser if they are paid because chances are it is a job for them. Larger charities are even starting to use paid canvassers. Some like the Heart and Lung Association still use volunteers but only after a long volunteer recruitment campaign using paid callers. Yes, that is how tough it is - months of calling to have the majority say "no", or slam the phone in your ear. The volunteer is simply not going to put up with the rudeness and rejection. When was the last time you refused to canvass or was rude to a recruiter on the phone? The act of volunteering is simply not full filling anymore for the volunteers themselves.
So a paid canvasser is offered 15-17 % of contributions given. If you think this is outrageous, go to the phone right now and ask the United Way how much they take toward expenses; or ask a telemarketing company how much they take (about 30-50%). It may not be fair, but fund raising costs and unless you volunteer or donate, that cost will remain a fact.
I think aside from being one of the latter big companies, this method of fund raising is just not feasible. The expense of paper, office space, printing, time, and postage can only be afforded by big charities. How often have you tossed a charity envelope form into the oval filing cabinet?
THE TELEPHONE FUND RAISER
Thus, we finally turn back to the last frontier in find raising (unless the internet has a surprise awaiting us).
If you think for one moment that any phone campaign will be overrun with volunteers you can forget that whimsical thought. I do not think any charity would last long would it rely on volunteer phone raisers. Why? Good question and I am glad you asked. It is because phone fund raising is a god forsaken hell on earth reserved only for those who are qualified to take four or more demonic hours being verbally, mentally, and emotionally abused - with a dash of ethical and morality assaults thrown in for good measure. If you think any volunteer could stand more than hour without being reduced to tears and/ or anger, I fully invite anyone to try it out for an evening.
A phone fund raiser makes more than 200 calls an hour - 400 if they receive busy signals, no answer, get an answering machine, or get the phone slammed in their ear. In four hours that makes around 800 calls. Time is money. Literally. There is usually a quota to be reached of about $200 plus a night for each phone canvasser. Easy? Think again. A fund raiser is of no use if they cannot get these donations. Again, if you think you could do this, I dare you to ask a charity to give it a try for one evening. Think of the good mood you will be in after making 200 calls in one hour with nothing to show for it. You will only have to deal with each of these statements about 25 times each an hour:
"That doesn't interest me."
"I don't take solicitations over the phone."
"How did you get my name?"
"Take me off your list."
"Don't ever call here again."
"Again? Stop calling."
"I'm old and not interested anymore."
"I could use some money to."
"Goddammit, stop fucking calling here you assholes!"
"Why don't you go to the government?"
"Another leech?"
"I give at the office."
"I'm eating."
"I'm on the way out."
"I'm on the other line."
(You can add a slam after each comment. Nevermind the people do not stop to think they are usually referring to handicapped children, disabled people, and terminal illnesses as "leeches".)
Phone fund raisers are not angry sarcastic people by nature, no. Quite the opposite in fact. A sense of humor, a positive outlook on life, and a nice disposition is usually the only thing between them and insanity. They like their jobs because they interact great with one another and sometimes get to talk to nice people on the phone. So their occasional temper tantrum over that last call is mostly overlooked but cannot always be avoided.
So who are you talking to? Well, in spite of their image, these phone fund raisers are usually older people who have been laid off due to their age, younger people trying to get through college/university on whatever part time job they can attain, the uneducated whose means of support is this job, single parents trying to cope on their own (usually with this income and school in the day), and sometimes even disabled people themselves. What they are not, are bloodsucking leeches deliberately trying to ruin your day.
So who are the telephone fund raisers. Some charities have to pay for the services of an agency due to the fact they have all ready tried to make a go at fund raising themselves and have failed. The charity themselves came to the agency not vice versa. Do not bother lecturing a phone canvasser because they are not even in contact with the charity itself. Their job is to make the funding required by the charity.
A telephone marketing agency cannot send you material on behalf of the charity because they are not the charity. They can give you general information over the phone (charity or federal number, mandate, directors) but they will ask you to phone the charity itself or give you an address where you can write. They are not trying to hoodwink you.
A telephone fund raiser cannot send you a blank invoice so do not even ask. It is against the law.
Do not ask for a tax receipt if you are buying anything - such as a ticket for a fund raising event - because, by Canadian law, a tax receipt cannot be legally given for an exchange of product or service.
For those charities that choose to run their own phone fund raising campaign, the latter also applies. Yes, chances are, the canvassers are paid as well. Only in this case, the charity can supply you with a better amount of information and firsthand information.
CONSENSUS
Telephone fund raising is probably the last viable way of attaining financial goals for a charity. The government has usually given them insubstantial funding or their funding has been cut by as much as 30% due to the rise of other charities and government cutbacks in general. Telephone fund raising would not be there if there was a better way of raising money.
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