Charity Phone Harrassment

[Clara Bow]

Now I'm going to be real clear here in the beginning: There are charities/political organizations that I give money to. I have nothing but the deepest respect for those who dedicate their lives to the service of those who have no voice and little hope. It's one if the reasons I'm going into nursing, to help those who need aid.
That having been said, when you call my house at random, and interrupt my evening and I tell you that I am not interested, please say thank you and good bye. Or swear at me and hang up, or just hang up. Do not try to make me feel like a heel for not having extra money for your cause, or for not agreeing with it. I have had more charity workers get huffy with me for refusing them, both on the phone and in public and I find it infuriating. The two groups I give money to do largely mail solicitation which I vastly prefer anyway as there is no way they can guilt you for not contributing.
I don't mean to sound grinchy, and I have had some lovely people call me (the woman from NARAL who spent an hour on the phone with me talking and sharing opinions was a jewel, as others have been). But the bad ones ruin the whole experience...so what is the best way to say no thank you and not get pressured or made to feel like the Antichrist? Also, does anyone know how to check whether or not a charity is legit? Tis the season and all...

[kkl123]

Hm.  Well, I don't ever hear the guilt trips, because in this household, the response is, "No thanks, we don't give over the phone.  Bye!" <click>.

To help you evaluate national charities, try:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm

I'll take a flyer on donating to a local group, especially an ad hoc group, on occasion, like the committee to replace failing shelving at the local food bank, or such.  But mostly I like to check 'em out pretty well.

[FoxPaws]

I say: "I don't donate to any charities that solicit by phone. Please remove me from your call list. Thanks." Lather, rinse, repeat. Click.

Be especially leery of groups claiming to represent law enforcement, firefighters, etc. This was such a problem a few years ago that the Police and Fire Departments where my Mom lives actually issued a press release to let people know it was a scam.

[gjcva1]

I say: "I don't donate to any charities that solicit by phone. Please remove me from your call list. Thanks." Lather, rinse, repeat. Click.

this works very well.  also, by October, i also start saying "my charitable dollars are already committed for the year.  please remove me from your list."

Be especially leery of groups claiming to represent law enforcement, firefighters, etc. This was such a problem a few years ago that the Police and Fire Departments where my Mom lives actually issued a press release to let people know it was a scam.

what we usually say is "we contribute directly to our local police (or fire) department.  please remove us from your list."

one semi-amusing story on this subject:  one call i got stressed repeatedly that my donation would be going DIRECTLY to my local police department (so the above spiel really wouldn't apply).  so i asked, just out of curiosity, which department would benefit; it was an incorporated township on the extreme western side of our county (we live just barely in the county on the eastern side) that is easily 45 miles away from our home, there is NO WAY on earth that i'd ever see an officer in case of emergency.  the guy tried to argue with me that contributing to this little self-contained township would free an county police officer or county sheriff's deputy to assist me in times of trouble.  hello?  the county police department doesn't patrol there since they have their own police force, and the department they were soliciting for didn't even have jurisdiction outside of their town limits!!!!

so i summed it up for him:  "lemme get this straight, you want me to contribute money to a police department 45 miles from my house, in a town i have never lived in, who i will never see unless i'm passing through the town and they give me a ticket, to a department who would never come to my aid if i needed them, INSTEAD of my usual direct contribution to the department that DOES protect me?  does that really make sense to you?"

slight pause:  "Have a nice evening, ma'am?"

i never heard from them again.

[Pixie]

I replied to one very snotty caller, "I have already donated to your cause this year. I have politely asked your organization not to call me again.  By your doing so, YOU have just assured there will be no future donations to your charity. I hope you're proud of yourself."

The next day he called back, I spoke to a supervisor and told her the same thing. 

CLICK.    They have not called back.

[Alida]

"I don't give to solicitors.  I already contribute to charity.  Have a nice day."  CLICK.

I usually hang up on them mid-protest.

[lastonetoknow]

"Thanks for the call, but please take me off of your list.  Have a great day/evening"

Repeat as necessary.

[JeanFromBNA]

We already have our giving plan in place for this year.  If you would like us to consider your charity for next year, then please mail us the information.

[freakyfemme]

I actually worked for my school alumni office for the first semester of last year, calling former Bishop's students and encouraging them to donate to the annual campaign.  Our boss actively encouraged us to be "politely pushy" as he phrased it, and try to get non-donors to donate even a small amount, and push small-amount donors into giving more, etc.  He was a nice guy, but a bit clueless......I don't think there's such a thing as being "politely pushy," being pushy is RUDE.  So, I didn't push, but I still managed to get at least a few hundred dollars worth of donations, and about four credit card numbers, in an average shift.

[That Anime Chick]

I had one heck of a time trying to get the Fraternal Order of Police Officers to stop calling me. I asked them to take us off their list. I requested supervisors to take our number off their list.  I even went as far as speaking to the manager of the call center to take the number out of their system. All had assured me that it would be done.

The final straw was when they called 4 times in one day. After the 4th call, I requested to speak to the highest person there. It didn't help that I was suffering from a horrible head cold with a throbbing migrane.

Me: I have asked repeatedly that you not call this number. We are not interested in donating nor will we ever be considering that you've resorted to harassing us.

Mananger: It's not harassment. We just want a donation.

Me: It IS harassment when you call 4 times in one day, nearly two hours apart. Do you harass other people or are you trying to get your jollies off of us because we're the only people who have said no? If you're not going to take us off your list, then I will be contacting the Mr. Jay Nixon, the Attorney General of Missouri. We'll see what he says about this.

Manager: You can't! We're a charity and --

Me: And I've asked you numerous times to remove us from your list. I have your phone numbers that you've called from, as well as the address of your organization. Don't. Call. Here. Again. If you do, my next call will be to the police department to file a harassment case against your organization and a complaint to Mr. Nixon. You might be a charity, but you are supposed to remove those who request it. Which you aren't doing! So which is it? Harassment case or removal from your system.

We were supposed to be removed, but they called back a day later and I did file a harassment case with the police and I did report them to the State Attorney General's office; so far no calls, but I did catch a blurb a few weeks later where the Attorney General had fined some non profit organizations for harassment.