Tory Shepherd: It’s time we give chuggers the flick
If you’re the kind of person who can walk past those flagging you down to help starving children, more power to you. But many of us are conditioned to do the opposite, writes Tory Shepherd.
YOU can put your phone on the do-not-call register and you can stick a “No junk mail” sticker on your mailbox.
Now, Australia, we need some kind of “No to chuggers” badge.
Something that is shorthand for: “Hey, you overly enthusiastic charity mugger (chugger), I know your game. You’re working on commission for that charity and I’m better off giving directly to the good guys. So sorry, but it’s a ‘no’ from me”.
If you’re one of these cool cats who can walk on by with nary a smile as a chirpy young dolt shouts out to you about the starving children, more power to you.
But many of us are conditioned to be polite and when you hear this wheedling call for donations to the endangered Michoacan pocket gopher you can’t help but make eye contact.
Then they know they have you.
And they’re not above sleazy shenanigans to hook you in. A mate of mine says bearded chuggers always ask him about his own fine face hair; or they appeal to his vanity about his highly polished RM Williams boots.
Fairfax journalist Mary Ward catalogued some of the catcalls she got from chuggers.
“Hey babe, aren’t you looking absolutely gorgeous. Come here, come here,” said one who then physically stepped into her path.
She was called “sexy” and “beautiful”.
Shudder, chuggers.
Older people are also targeted because they’re richer. The Wilderness Society said this week, as it confirmed it paid fundraisers a higher commission, to hook them up.
Back in the day I was a fundraiser for the Wilderness Society.
It involved donning a daggy koala costume that reeked of the former occupant’s body odour, and a whiff of patchouli oil.
The eyes sat at odd angles and there was no padding so I looked like a marsupial Holocaust survivor.
Kids either squealed or screamed. Adults were mostly sympathetic to my plight in the summer heat, although there were occasional punches and boob grabs.
I was paid a straight (miserly) hourly amount with every single cent I then raised going straight to the society.
No incentives to harangue or harass people, and no chance that more money was going to me than to the charity. The ideal situation would be to have a volunteer out there.
Now, though, they’re young guys with good hair, hailing you as you rush to get your lunchtime sandwich.
On average they’re about 22, and they’re mostly backpackers or international students, according to a report commissioned by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
They’re probably lovely people, but they take commissions that can add up to more than the amount that actually gets to the charity. Here are some facts about chuggers that might help you serenely sail past the next time one tries to guilt you into giving them your credit-card details.
They’re trying to fool you. The ACCC’s Research into Commission-based Fundraising in the Australian Charity Sector found almost half of fundraisers said they worked for or volunteered for the charity.
Only 5 per cent confessed that they worked for an agency, on commission.
They say they work ‘on behalf’ of a charity.
Most donors then assume that no part of their donation would go towards a commission.
They can earn up to 17 times the amount of monthly donations they earn for the charity.
The agency sector has grown rapidly and continues to grow despite negative PR around pushy chuggers.
There are stories of immense pressure for them to meet sales targets — including one Adelaide marketing company that forced chuggers to simulate sex acts if they didn’t hit their goals.
There’s been a range of negative stories about chuggers. Enough bad PR to make some charities think about alternative fundraising strategies if the method is turning people off altogether.
There are rules about charity fundraisers; where they can operate and how they should conduct themselves.
Many of them are probably fine, and most others just mildly annoying.
Of course charities need to drag eyeballs towards their issues.
But every donor needs to be fully aware about what’s going on, about how much of their money will go towards commissions; about how chuggers are treated, and so on.
All of which should make it much easier to just give directly to a charity, cut out those jolly bearded middle men. Unfortunately guilt is a big motivator for giving.
The chugger model works, and we’ll never know how many people would pass them by then get online and give anyway.
Maybe the cost of getting a badge that says “No to chuggers” should be proof that you’ve already dedicated a proportion of your wage to that Michoacan pocket gopher.
And if you’ve done your bit then you can tell them to chug off.