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[Baldrick]

Somewhere Along the line we seem to have lost the plot on this.

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Perhaps it's because the world is not the same warm soft cuddly place it used to be when we only had Adolph to worry about

[Colin Bishop]

Re the above posts, I have finally got totally fed up with the constant stream of 'begging' emails from the RNLI. Plus the frequent adverts for their shop.They just don't let up so I have now unsubscribed. I will still maintain our quite substantial annual membership donation but that's it I'm afraid.

Colin

[canabus]

They must think money grows on trees !!!!!
But we cannot water the trees at present.


Harry

[Peter Fitness]

Unfortunately, a number of well respected charities here are doing the same thing, Colin. I make monthly donations to one in particular, yet regularly receive emails asking me to increase the amount. It seems that the primary targets are existing donors, something I find rather distasteful.


Peter.

[Colin Bishop]

Yes, you are right Peter, the easy option is to target those who have already shown support rather than seek out new donors. Ultimately it is counter productive though. Years ago I quite admired the RNLI's polite but effective approach to encouraging donations but the current team seems to have gone down the hard sell route like so many other charities. The management ethos appears to have changed too.

Although not applicable to the RNLI, a lot of 'charities' these days are often little more than outsourced contractors for Government work which blurs their role considerably.

Colin

[tigertiger]

I think a lot of charities have outsourced their collection efforts. If so they will have a fixed term contract, and the collection companies, I am guessing, would also have asked for exclusive rights to collect on behalf a charity, and some charities would have given it to them. It is the over assertive collection companies that are the problem, and RNLI has no control over them, until contract renewal.
I can understand charities doing this outsourcing. The treasury side of things (counting and banking) is a huge job, with a big overhead. All electric banking is more secure, and minimal chance of 'irregularities'. I am living in China now, and even the beggars have a card with a QR code on it, because most people no longer carry cash.

[Mike S]

Charities these days have been re-badged as the NFP (Not For Profit) sector, and have become just another career option for middle class middle management types, who seem to think that their 'mission statement' is to 'raise awareness' as opposed to actually helping less fortunate people.


I too, as a lifelong donor to the RNLI, am becoming increasingly irritated by their pestering. This of course is justified as 'maintaining a relationship with our supporters'.


One charity, which has just celebrated it's centenary, to which I donate, is the Royal British Legion, and they behave in an exemplary manner. I receive only a nice letter of thanks for any donation.




Mike