April 4, 2012 | Read Time: 1 minute
Soon the fundraisers who solicit passersby on the streets of the world’s big cities will go high-tech.
Some groups are experimenting with using iPads to get attention and speed donation transactions. Charities are also seeking donors’ cellphone numbers so they can instantly thank the donors via a text message minutes later.
Daryl Upsall, a consultant in Madrid who advises nonprofits on the technique, said at a session of the Association of Fundraising Professionals annual meeting, in Vancouver, that street fundraising is growing more common and is now used in 35 countries.
But as the approach has become more popular, it has also spurred a backlash. In London and elsewhere in Britain, the solicitors are often called chuggers, a compression of the term charity muggers, Mr. Upsall says.
Because complaints about harassment have been on the rise, nonprofits have formed a 160-organization self-regulatory body to restrain street fundraising. Members space out their fundraisers by location and schedule them evenly. Still, some British towns have banned all solicitors from the streets.
People in different places use different approaches. While young people often take to the streets in the United States, in Spain nonprofits hire women in their 50s and 60s and ask them to wear pearls and nice suits to solicit potential supporters at expensive stores. The fundraisers also work at airports, where they tend to bring in a lot of money because they can reach out to passengers who have time to kill while waiting for flights.
While the approaches may differ, one thing is the same—causes that are emotional and easy to pitch quickly do the best, Mr. Upsall says, because solicitors must get their message out as people rush by them.
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