wesser LTD

I've been a fundraiser at Wesser for about two months now. I've had a my ups and downs but overall it's been a good experience. Firstly, I'll clear up all the commotion about wages/commission etc. You'll get a basic wage for 6 hours work a day. (About £5.10 if you're under 21 & £6.30 if you're over.) When you're due to be paid you're commission (from sign ups after cancellations) will be added up. If you've earned more in commission than you have in minimum wage (most people do) then you'll solely receive your commission. Which for me, was about £1500 and I like to believe I'm pretty good at what I do. The basic wage is merely used as a safety net so there's no financial risk to you.

You also are as they say "Well taken care of". I live in a spacious house in a nice area,. And so far I've not needed to pay any rent because I've hit my targets. (18 sign ups are easy enough, but you want to be aiming for 20-22 at least in case of cancellations/invalid bank details etc.)

When I travelled down to Letchworth for my training day I met some fantastic people, one was a bit weird but he got sent home after they realised he wasn't on the spectrum. It's been a couple of months now and we still all get on well. There isn't usually a problem as long as everyone does their bit to keep the place respectable.

Overall, I've really enjoyed myself. I feel a little homesick sometimes and I'm hundreds of miles from home, but we've got broadband so it's all good. I've noticed a lot of things when it comes to the ethics too, so I'll explain all that.

Charities don't operate how most people imagine they do. I personally work on behalf on St John Ambulance and know myself that in order to raise money it takes investment. Now I'm not going to go into all the nooks and crannies because I'm not sure what the policy is on talking about information. BUT, sending canvassers door-to-door is a LOT cheaper than running an ad on TV. For a decent channel at a decent time an ad would cost the company a six figure sum. And because of giftaid, the fundraising costs are recovered from an average supporter anyhow.

Any questions, feel free to ask me (within reason).

Firstly I would like to make clear who I am, so that there can be no misunderstandings of my intentions- as you may have guessed from the name I currently work for Wesser (incidentally in the recruitment department).

Of course people have all kinds of mixed experiences of working with us, that’s only natural considering the amount of people we take on every year and despite our best efforts not everyone is right for the role and enjoys the experience. Also, despite how hard we work in the recruitment department to explain the role through our advertising and our recruitment process there is still a lot of misunderstandings about what we do, how we do it, what we expect from our fundraisers and what they can expect in return. I believe forums like this are essential in giving a diverse range of experiences and can only benefit people who are looking at working with us as we want people to start with us with their eyes fully open to the challenges they will face. I do regularly hear from current and previous fundraisers about some of the posts and so naturally I have a look every now and then.

I have no problem with people expressing their genuine concerns and experiences of working for Wesser and I try and not get involved. Despite what issac says, I believe people are intelligent enough to work out its mainly people with strong negative views that gravitate towards forums. There are, however, a couple of commenters that have misunderstood our policies or are just factually wrong and I would like to set the record straight.

1) How Wesser get paid: We do not take any upfront fees- its only when donations enter St John Ambulances account do we get paid back our fees so there is no financial risk to the charity. We also do not charge a flat rate for the supports we bring in, we only get paid depending on the quality of the work that we do. We are the only fundraising company in the country that can make these claims. This, and the quality of work that we provide, is the reason that St John Ambulance have only worked with Wesser for the last 13 years- if it wasn’t making money for them they would have stopped years ago!

2) How our fundraisers get paid: We pay our fundraisers based purely and fairly on the results that they bring in. The pay is based on the number and quality of the supporters that they bring in. For each supporter that our fundraisers bring in they can expect between £11- £40 plus additional bonuses for reaching targets. Most of this is paid upfront with an additional bonus paid once the donation has gone through. In fact, we have recently increased the amounts our fundraisers are paid (our ‘Supporter Fee’) to help boost the earnings of those that are underachieving their targets. Average earnings are approximately £1,200 per 4 week pay period.

3) How the accommodation is ‘paid’ for: If our fundraisers achieve their targets the accommodation is free (on an essentially self-catering basis). If this target is under-achieved then we do not charge our fundraisers, however their commission payment is downwardly adjusted for £60 to cover some of this cost. This is not a charge as it is would only be taken from money earned. If the fundraiser has not earned any money, there is nothing for it to be deducted from and so it will not be paid. We never ask for this money, it will not be chased and we would not accept it if it was offered. We have also recently adjusted these targets (or more specifically broadened the criteria of valid supporters) this is making it much easier for more of our fundraisers to achieve this target.

4) Training Fee: Previously we have been deducting £100 from fundraisers who leave within their first 6 weeks. Again this is only deducted from money earned and so if no money was earned, we would not expect this to be paid. We have taken on board feedback from our fundraisers, past and present- and from feedback from forums such as this and its seems this fee has been misunderstood and so we have decided to drop it all together. From now on, we will not be charging this to any fundraiser no matter how long they work with us.

I know this has been a rather long winded response but I think some of the criticisms have been unfair due to their factual inaccuracies and I wanted to set the record straight. We are constantly looking at how we are working and looking for areas for improvement as I hope some of the changes outlined above demonstrates. We know people have had negative experiences with us and have the right to air them. We also have the right to respond to ensure that there is a balance of views as it should only make forums like this stronger.

I was also offered a job a couple days ago after passing the interview. i really like the way Wesser looks; the charities they work for and their teamwork-focused mantra. However, i to do this job on a commission only basis would kill me. i'm trying hard to save up money for the 2nd year of uni and i'm trying to get some decent work experience. Wesser seemingly ticked both these boxes for me but i was under the influence that i would be paid minimum wage regardless (i can be open and persistent but i still may not receive donations). the previous comments on this thread make me think otherwise. i can survive the long hours and can remain committed and hardworking as long as i know i'm getting paid. Is it certain that i will get paid at least minimum wage if i stick it out?