Good piece on BBC News website about Manchester restricting chuggers http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12525580 12 months ago via web

Chugger on highbury fields on saturday pretended i had dropped something to get me to stop and look for it before after a while admitting he was fibbing. not a great brand image for the red cross...which is a v good cause. almost 2 years ago via web

A chugger from Oxfam decided to hug me today. Now, I'm all up for public affection but certainly not from a stranger. They should act a bit more proffessional if they expect us to part with £2 a month. almost 2 years ago via web

The Guardian on why we hate chuggers so much:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/video/2010/feb/01/chuggers-street-fundraising
about 2 years ago via web

The chuggers today for Oxfam on Tottenham Court Road were far pushier than I'm sure the people at Oxfam would be happy with. Far too pushy. about 2 years ago via web

I admit I have lied about my age to get out of signing up with a chugger. I used to say I was under 18 but I'm not sure I can get away with it now! I don't like being rude to them but some can be pretty persistent & lying about my age seemed easier. Its not that I don't want to give to charity but I would rather do it on my own terms like buying a poopy or red nose or doing charity fun runs. I also don't want to end up on mailing lists about 2 years ago via web

You think our chuggers have it bad: one of my friends chugged in Canada and was often out all day in -20. Apparently her team got more sign ups on cold days because the punters felt sorry for them but she ended up with frostbite! about 2 years ago via web

I used to work for a "tele-fundraising" company (i.e. chugging in the privacy of your own home) so I know full well that even if you do decide to give £5 a month to Mencap because the girl who asked you way quite pretty, this is only the beginning. You'll be called at least once every six months asking you to increase your donation, as if to say "What, you're only giving a fiver? Cough up Scrooge!". Needless people aren't too pleased about being told their generosity isn't generous enough, especially when it's by the charity themselves!
I would raise one point regarding wasted resources: these chuggers are usually employees of third party agencies, who are in turn hired by the charities themselves. The charities decision to go down this route is a calculated risk as opposed to a stab in the dark, and charities do see a return of investment on this (last time I checked it was about £4 for every £1 spent). So it does work, it's just really annoying! about 2 years ago via web

I used to work for Shelter: the average pay for a street fundraiser is £9ph. Considering the cost of training, uniform and wages (approximately 100 chuggers spread out in teams over London) for 9 hour shifts, paid wages alone are in the realm of £8100 per day. Considering how few people sign up and the cost involved, it seems like a total waste of charity resources. I could understand why people hated us at the time, but if we were 'underperforming' we were encouraged to use more aggressive sales tactics.
Charity organisations have become more about business than charity: after all, given the head office location, all the behind the scenes staff and 'fundraising' events, I'm surprised any money went back to the people who needed at all. about 2 years ago via web