Sheep magazine Archive 2: issues 10-17

30
Fundraising has been widely criticised since
the death of Olive Cooke, who was hounded
by charities. Yet despite the moral backlash,
people on the doorstep are broadly
sympathetic. On the rare occasion that I’m
greeted with hostility or verbal abuse, I try
not to take it personally. You don’t know
what’s going on behind that person’s door.
On the whole, the people I meet are friendly.
Sometimes a bit too friendly. Over the years,
I’ve had hot meals, been given books and
had all the Jaffa Cakes I can eat. I was even
flashed at once and – more than a few times
– propositioned.
The interesting thing about my job is being
allowed, however briefly, into people’s lives.
For a moment, I’m a friend and confidante.
I spoke to a lady recently who was in the
middle of recovering from an operation on
her stomach. She came to the door holding
a carrier bag with a tube that disappeared
up her jumper. Before I knew what was
happening, she lifted it up and showed me
her stomach which was being held in by a
plastic sheet. She was scared of visiting her
friends, she said, because she leaked and she
had to sit on a plastic bag wherever she went.
What’s more, the financial rewards are there
to be had. I have known fundraisers to make
£1,500 a week in bonuses. It’s obscene. But
to put it in perspective, they will have raised
over £15,000 that week (projected over three
years, which is the average amount of time
someone donates). This is one of the most
effective ways there is for charities to raise
the money they need.
However, the job isn’t always easy, and
the £7 hourly basic is scarcely enough to
live on if I’m not earning any bonuses,
especially when I get paid for only five hours
of what can be a nine- or 10-hour day.
The problem is being able to impress your
positivity on people in a job that naturally
elicits rejection. Essentially, fundraising is
no different from sales. It’s all about being
able to build relationships – people sign
up not because they like the charity, but
because they like you. Most fundraising
organisations outwardly disassociate
themselves from sales strategies, but they
operate in the same way as any company
selling something. The business model relies
on acquiring a specific quantity of donors
on behalf of the client, and so fundraising
is necessarily results-focused. And in most
cases, fundraisers are not motivated by the
cause, but by their commission. The main
reason I continue fundraising is because of
the earning potential. These underlying truths
often undermine the ethical integrity of the
clients, the fundraising companies and the
fundraisers themselves.
SHEEP IN THE ROAD : NUMBER TEN