Charity requests
Posted by: Izzie
20th May 2025 05:24pm
Do you find that when you give to a charity, they keep bombarding you with requests for further /ongoing donations? Especially in these times with the cost of living crisis, how do you deal with these requests? And do these requests make you feel guilty if you can't afford to give the same amount, less, or not at all?
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Comments 18
Jude30693100
Yes, I find that if I can aiming for a one off donation, they don't get that's all I have to give right now. I understand the need for outreach and to be proactive but being pressured puts me off.
MumAils
I hate it when they do that. I also find it a bit intimidating when they are at shopping centres and bombard you, stop you in your tracks. I tell them I can't afford to donate, which I can't. If there is something that I want to donate to I will, but it will be a once off payment, when I want to do it. I will never commit myself to monthly payments etc with charities.
Ellessri
I only give what I can afford and tend to do it in cash at things like the biggest morning tea and greatest shave
CheekyMinx
It would depend on the causes I believe in or how strongly I feel about that particular organisation.
I tend to donate to existing charities that I already give regularly to and if they deal with animal rescues.
As a personal choice, I am less inclined to donate to charities that helps people.
s
I just tell them I am unable to at the moment.
Last time I told them I am not working at the moment which is true because of an accident
Cazz 2
I certainly do. I was donating to a well known charity, then they send follow up letters saying "We know you recently donated $X amount of money, we'd appreciate it if you would see your way to donating $XX next time. When I moved to a new address, they continued to send letters, even after letters were sent back to them marked "Not at this address". I just gave up. I will donate instead to people who don't badger me.
harry31626210
Yes, many charities keep sending repeated requests after a donation. With the cost of living rising, I set a budget, give only what I can afford, and politely ignore or unsubscribe from extra requests. I remind myself that saying “no” doesn’t make me a bad person.
squeekums
I dont sign up to anything
Never direct debit
Avoid eye contact to the ones in the shops
ignore unknown numbers - no cold callers then
Use cameras to see who at my door - no random doorknockers
I have no issue saying no, im just not always nice about it if they dont respect the first polite 'no' and keep trying to push
bubbles
Yes the Charities keep ringing me. It has now got to the stage where I do not answer phone calls when I do not know the number. We should be able to give when we can but not be hounded.
elsp
100%. I already donate regularly or have in the past and stopped. Either way, don't call me and ask for me! If I wanted to give more I would. Don't make me feel bad about not being able to continue or to do additional.
cafegal
yes they and other charities ring all the time. I have to tell them I just can't afford anymore
Yqsymnx
I have a standard response for any callers: I have already committed my budget this year to Guide Dogs
Which I actually haven't, but does allow me to get out of conversations relatively quickly.
These days, my donations are generally non financial. I will buy food and chat with the homeless. I will go to op shops to buy or donate. Going through a bit of minimisation in the house and getting rid of knick knacks and things I haven't or don't feel I'll use in the future.
I'm doing my bit for the community with other services too; I am a JP for instance. I don't feel guilty
jtmorri
I haven't engaged with charities per say for a long time. I do remember when I did you would continuously receive further requests for donations. So, yes, I did find them frustrating and annoying in the past. I would ask them to take my name off of their database and not contact me again.
I am also very mindful not to take a survey or play any form of game associated with a charity, as all they want is your contact number and email so then they can call you or continuously email you to ask for a donation. In this way I avoid the annoyance of requests for donations today and going forward.
The causes I do give to are The Lord Mayor's Appeal for disasters that are local to me. You don't get hounded by them ever as they realise you are donating to a specific cause to immediately help your community and people.
I would never feel guilty about not donating. I also don't have an issue with saying no to someone. In the past I have found the person on the other end of the phone stunned and taken back by me saying no outright and can't they stop as I don't wish to listen to their spiel. We all have the choice when, how, why and to whom we donate, the frequency and amount. If I wish to donate to a cause I can find the information myself and undertake it without someone pressuring me into doing it for a specific cause or a time that suits them.
AdelaideM
I find the requests incredibly frustrating.
With cost of living being what it is, giving anything is a fair sacrifice. To then constantly get calls and emails suggesting that we should find even more to give is, I believe, fairly tone deaf.
They make me less likely to give. Nowdays I choose who to donate to entirely online, and if I get calls I tell them that while appreciate they're just trying to do their job, I don't want any more calls. I have chosen to stop giving in the past to specific charities who wouldn't stop calling or emailing.
They don't make me feel guilty, they make me angry that while I have the strength to say no, they may be pressuring other people to give more than they can afford. I believe it's incredibly important that we all donate what we can, but putting pressure on to people is not a kind way to do it.
jtmorri
I agree totally.
cazter
These days with the cost of living in Australia being so high, it's even harder to have money to donate to any charities. Also, I don't like how a lot of the money donated goes to the CEOs of the charity rather than to the people or cause the money is actually supposed to help. I am not feeling guilty at all because I am finding it hard to pay my bills.
cazter
What you mentioned about the CEO's makes a lot of sense!
jtmorri
I totally agree with your sentiment about charities. There have been previous chats, and my opinion is that there are too many of them for the same cause which is inefficient with funds and like you believe it is wasted on CEO's etc who sometimes start a charity themselves to create a job for themselves.