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What it is and how it works
In doorstep fundraising (or ‘door to door’) a fundraiser will knock at your door and ask you for a cash gift, or to sign up for a regular gift to charity by standing order or direct debit. They may be representing a single charity, or a number of different causes.
Some doorstep fundraisers will be volunteers collecting cash or one-off gifts, but those asking you to sign up to a regular gift are likely to be employed by professional fundraising companies, which are contracted by charities to do the work.
The costs of doorstep fundraising come at the start - the charity usually pays a fee per donor to the fundraising firm – (typically £40-60) while the benefits come in over the longer term.
This means that someone who pays a small amount by monthly direct debit for a year may not donate much more to the charity than the cost of signing them up, but by the second year, and over the full period of their relationship with the charity, their regular donation makes a significant difference.
And doorstep donations tend to be given under the Gift Aid scheme so they are tax efficient – every £1 given is worth £1.28 courtesy of the taxman.
This type of fundraising is covered under the same sort of guidelines as Street fundraising
