Home Fundraising

I notice a thread about home fund-raising has closed, shame !!!

I worked there briefly last year for a few months ,my career there ended when i left because of a manager saying i was always full of excuses for everything after i made the comment my fathers funeral may have resulted in low scores for that week.

It was not an excuse but more a comment about why i had dipped for seven days.

At that point i handed my notice in.

Don`t know why i took the job really its embarassing and not something i have aimed for in life.

You have to worry about many things like we were told to pay own travel which would be returned ,so £80 in a week sometimes.

Which rarely came back, then there was always dodges on why you do not earn what you should.

I met some great friends but the organisation was crap ,we got texts the same day telling us where we were and where to meet to travel there.

Another dodge for them to get out of paying you for longer distance travelling is that you would not get paid anywhere else for travelling to work.

Its all absolute rubbish from them and a big mistake most of us learned from, as for the apparent happy chappies who posted ..love to know who they are because i do not know one happy employee.
In fairness though i think charities will realise sending a 1000 people on a run 3 times a year will earn more than these guys get for them.
Another issue not disclosed is they take £3 of every £8 for themselves.
They will also realise being dived on in town by desperate guys trying to keep their jobs by signing them and knocking peoples doors ..totally pees them off and gives the charity a bad name.
Where`s the old days of shaking tins and asking for support without trying to force the issue ?...
A donor donating £8 per month a year £5 max which goes to the charity ,thats £60 ..
Send one guys out to be sponsored 3 times a year ,he will match 500 donations annually.
Its a scam i do not buy into and only feel sorry for desperate pressured very often young folks who have to hit targets or lose their only income.
In some charity jobs ..the red cross for instance ..they sack after 3 days if not scoring even if its a new job....
I have a business so embarked on a sales job search and sort of ended up there it was a second income.
12 hours a day ,crap pay all weathers ,to be sh***t upon from a great height and to have your efforts totally unappreciated.
Mind i don't care it was not a job i wanted.
We should campaign to end these guys operating and not just home they use people.
Like i said though they run out of workers and the charities get wise ..they don`t need them tens of thousands will get out and fund raise for free.
In case your interested i now have a top good paying second job.

Reply 1

ddds

You treat people that way constantly in addition you soon run out of people who will work for you ,and gain a reputation that follows you around ..so let them be that way ..
Its their failure long term..
You all work in bars and avoid charity work top up your grant that way even McDonalds is a step up.

Reply 2

mr orchard

I have a job interview with this company today i did however do door to door charity before i did 1 day and quit because its the way you have to hassle people to get them to sign up and i felt it very degrading and i felt i was begging for money.

I spoke to the person who is interviewing me and he said it was £7 an hour but was in the office after reading comments dont think ill bother as i like a job for stability wages wise.

The first company i worked for were very angry that i didnt go back after the trial day they even called my mothers phone and spoke to her like **** this is a main reason i didnt want to do door to door sales again im only considering home fundraising because its a basic wage aswell but i am very unsure.

Reply 3

ddds

Original post by mr orchard

It may be ok for you mate .. don`t let me put you off if its what you want to do ..
As i said in my post i had lots of good friends but a very ill comment after my fathers funeral left me very annoyed.
You do get basic but end up spending a lot on travel which can take an age to come back ,and as with many sales jobs especially charity sector you get extreme pressure to hit targets.
Not for me mate i am older and wiser.
personally i still do not understand the benefit to the charities ,they spend fortunes setting it up and the average donation is £8 per month.
How £96 per year is worthwhile i do not know at the costs involved.
They could send a runner off to do a sponsored run and raise a £1000 a time.
Thats ten yearly donors per run.
Doesn`t make sense to me and is a waste, you will also find targets have to be hit mate but you could be OK ,we had bad organisation and Pissy managers in manchester ,so don`t worry too much.
Depends what you are seeking in life ...
I don`t know many happy former colleagues mind and its tough in winter 6 hours in all weathers walking miles.

Reply 4

ddds

I am not here to cause harm to a company you understand i had it done to me years back for no reason ,just expressing my feelings on things ..
I am not that vindictive a person to be honest..
Nothing stacks up to me about charity fund-raising full stop ,i used to do loads including martial arts demo's years back and loved it.
Seems these companies make £3 off every £8 .. put on top marketing costs and product productions to carry out the work ,tax and all kinds else ...
Then each operative earning £7 per hour signing what is an average of 2 per night some do better and some worse on average i know i have done it for months.
Cannot see how that does anything but drain the charities money.

Reply 5

username418231

I applied to this job once (unaware that it was door to door) and when I went for the group interview I realised that the whole thing is a sham

It's not just Home Fundraising, some so-called 'marketing' companies act the same way as well.

Reply 6

username418231

And I'm very shocked to hear your former employer's remarks in response to your dad's funeral. That is absolutely insensitive and disgraceful.

Reply 7

treehugger2013

Please do not work with Home Fundraising!!!

I'm currently working here and I had job a meeting with the regional manager for my office today about keeping my job or not.

Basically, I haven't been to work lately, as this is anon I have no problems speaking about it.

I suffer from an eating disorder and these past few months its improved in leaps and bounds but lately I've had some terrible personal problems with being made homeless and such and I promised myself this year I wouldn't let things get in the way of work but things have been very difficult lately and I havent made it in to work I obviously didn''t tell them about my problems as I can't face even going to a doctor I'm just helping myself gradually. I didn't want things getting worse so I plucked up the courage to go in to the office to speak to one of my managers who is down to earth and I trust her, this was a very big step for me and I was genuinely terrified I just wanted someone to talk to, open up to and maybe get some help, (I live in a city with no family and little friends as I'm new to the place) anyways I said to my manger whos a guy if I could speak to the female manager I had some things to get off my chest and I wanted to speak to someone about things I was told to come back tomorrow as she wasn't in, as you can imagine this added to my worry as I had worked myself up to tell someone today and after suffering from an eating disorder for years this was a huge thing to nail it on the head, I wasn't looking for sympathy or attention, I just wanted to be honest get some support and get back to work. The office knew things were bad with me as a team leader had noticed a changes in my moods (although this hasn't effect my scoring I'm pulling in 10-13 sign ups a week). So I went back in to speak to the female manager and I was faced with the regional manager she took me into a room and started telling me I was immature and I'd have an attitude if things weren't going my way she was a harsh bitch and I was almost brought to tears, I felt like I couldn't stick up for myself and I was almost reduced to tears. I was told and I'm still awaiting wither or not I still have my job. I bring in the sign ups so I'm hoping this is enough to make me stay, as I have rent to pay. But I'm looking for another job. The office has knocked my confidence in trying to reach out to people.

I understand it's a job and I can't let personal things get in the way but I was really bad for a while there all I wanted to do get some support in making it to work and not letting things hold me back any more after all these people work for charities with people who suffer from all diseases so I thought communicating with them about it would be easier for me.
No I was not looking for attention or sympathy but I wanted support,

The company is terrible in other ways too, you will be asked to give up your free time for unpaid training at least 3 days out of five. If you are off sick you will need to attend a back to work meeting at 10am which lasts no longer than 5mins which is a waste of a day for someone whose busy instead of getting them in 5mins before shift. There is so much pressure put on people to get sign ups, yes it costs the charity money to pay people but it doesn't cost the team leaders to be more friendlier and supportive, I realize not all offices are this bad but in general the company is a joke!

Reply 8

Komakino

Home Fundraising seem to take on a lot of staff so the odds of someone on this board beginning work for them soon is very high. With that in mind I'll give my insight as a person that has worked there a month.

There's good and bad points to working. I like the people, they're generally pretty fun and I've already made some good friends. The hours suit me - I don't like getting up really early, and I intend to do some volunteering alongside the job soon. I like being outside (not so much when it rains). You get paid to do exercise. I enjoy talking to people. We are making money for charity, even if the company take a cut: most of the money will go to the charity.

That's the good, now the bad. You don't get paid for travel unless it's long distance. You have to turn up an hour and a half before you start getting paid and are 'encouraged' to turn up 3 hours before on Wednesday's for a weekly motivational training session. It feels very salesy. So much positivity and motivational jargon is shoved down your throat. Most people who work there probably don't give much to charity if any at all so the hypocrisy irritates me; I do by the way. The pitch is a little pushy but it could be much worse, some people are pushier than others and it's usually those people that get the most sign ups. I often feel genuinely guilty about trying to get people to sign up due to their circumstances. The rich people (most of them) really irritate me with their condescension.

All in all I do like it, I find it morally questionable but the job itself I enjoy. I can't really afford to be too picky because I've spent plenty of time out of work. I've worked many worse jobs though.
To do this you need to be thick skinned and hard working as well as very comfortable dealing with people. Don't let the salesiness get to you, I never bring it home with me even though I often feel frustrated at the end of the day.

Reply 9

Komakino

Original post by Dee Leigh

I don't see how it's a sham. What exactly do you mean?

Reply 10

Komakino

Original post by ddds

Where'd you read this? That's disappointing if true. To me it makes more sense for the charities to do this themselves but I can only assume this suits them better.

Reply 11

username306617

My friend works for Home Fundraising, and he has to turn up for work between 12 and 1 but doesn't start getting paid until 3, pretty ridiculous. He's looking for a new job asap.

Reply 12

StudentSmasher

I work for home fundraising, I start at 3:30 and meet my team at 3:10 , I have never been asked to and would never go in 2 hours before I start getting payed

Reply 13

heckles

I worked here several months ago.

Job stability
Home have about 100 fundraisers at any one time (in my area). They interview around 3 times a week, with roughly 20 people in each interview. From the 60 people interviewed that week, 6 people got the job- and 6 seems to be the average number.

So every week, 6 people are getting employed but the number of employees remains stable. So that means every week, a LOT are either quitting or getting fired.

Job stability here is terrible.

You are expected on average to get 1.5 donor sign-ups per day (4 signups if you work 3 days, and disproportionately more if you work more days). A LOT of people get warnings and get fired because of this. People get fired or have performance reviews in their first month. It is not unusual for someone to get fired after 2-3 weeks.

Management
The people are nice, but a lot of people give off an certain slant of despair... Because this job really does get to you mentally (no matter how much you 'care about charity' or 'how tough minded' you are).

The management make this job seem a lot more jolly than it is though. And they are management- you aren't always going to like them, as with any job. But they are very nice.

Pay and Satisfaction
This job is WEIRD. As mentioned, you are in a very unstable job. It is very stressful... People get a lot more stressed than they should on a job which pays a very basic rate.

Further, you are expected to pay for your own travel. If in London, expect to pay 13 pounds a day for peak hour travel during training. 8 pounds a day when you are working as a fundraiser. You work 5 hours a day on 8 pounds an hour. But with 8 pounds down the train, you are only really getting paid for 4 hours per day.

Furthermore... They do not care how far you have to travel. Most days, I was travelling 2 hours to get to the fundraising location, and 2 hours to get back. So on top of the net pay of 32 pounds per day (after travel), it is common to take 2-4 hours per day to travel there and back. This ultimately comes in at about 4 pounds an hour if you were to take everything into account.

You are not paid immediately for training (training=second selection process), which is very intense, stressful, and long. You do get paid after 30 shifts- a LOT of people either quit or get fired before this.

The job will be at times very degrading but also very rewarding during other times. You will work even when it is snowing, raining, or scorching.

The job itself
During your interview, it is very cult-like. The manager/interviewer, in the group interview, has a VERY VERY sensationalist approach to this. The way he advertises it- you feel like you are in one of those American "How I got rich from this very simple tip" seminars.. if that makes sense. He puts up a big slideshow where one of them shows the amount for charity raised. No one cares. But he goes "now if that doesn't deserve a round of applause, I don't know what does" exhaling exaggeratedly in stilted disbelief. He does the same with some guy who raised a huge amount for charity- they made him a certificate and put it really high up on the wall as to glorify it.

You'll hear the word "signups" at least 50 times a day. That word, and the actual signup, is so glorified. Like a cult. I don't know how else to describe it.

You will eventually feel like you are in any other sales job. You become desensitized to many things, such as making people feel guilty about not donating.

At the end of the day, you'll be so tired that you do not have the time or effort for anything else. And you'll be so tired that you cannot wake up early enough the next day to get anything else done. In this aspect, this job definitely suits the younger generation.

If you get put into a good team, you'll enjoy being with your team. You'll like the confidence this job gives you. And the odd things that happen, such as a 5 year old making death threats at the door. But the reasons above may or may not counter these positives... depending on who you are.

PS the 12-1 thing where you go without pay is an optional training thing. They call it 'breakfast club'. Although it is optional, you are obliged to go especially if you are not hitting your targets.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 14

iwanttoact!

Can anyone who works in the Birmingham office tell me about their experience? I had an interview today and got through to the assessment stage and was really excited, but now I'm not so sure...

Reply 15

jasonlu

iwanttoact!, its the same thing regardless of what office it is... How can it be any different? The nature of the job is depressing and so they need strict, mean managers to get us to do work that they don't want to do themselves.

Also, for reviews see:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2879691

Reply 16

stupot65

I currently work for Home Fundraising in Scotland and have to say it's the most exploitative organisation I've ever had the misfortune to work for. Not only does it encourage people to 'objection handle' three times, which usually just makes people hostile and likely never to support a charity, it is prepared to go back to the same area within days and do it all over. People (the public) are getting wise to the fact this kind of charity fundraising is exploitative, pressuring and totally unethical. Why do they (the charities) not make an advert that is informative, emotive and gets to virtually the whole population and avoid using such organisations as HF? The reason, I guess, has to do with how people react when coming face to face with the issue and having it expressed by another human being on their doorstep or in the street: it becomes something they have to deal with there and then. If it's done properly and with integrity it can be an effective way to fund raise for worthwhile causes. But in my experience most of the fundraisers are so desperate to reach bonus, so they have a living wage, that they often go too far.

This brings me onto the matter of how the organisation treats their staff. We are expected to attend 'training' sometimes several times a week without being paid. This usually involves going into the office two or even three hours before we start getting paid. We are paid £7 per hour from 3 pm to 9 pm but that means being at the location by then which can be fifty or sixty miles away. We then stop knocking on doors at 9 pm and then have to walk sometimes miles to a train station and travel home. This means we are often doing 11 or 12 hour shifts and only getting paid for six. This is how HF avoids paying the minimum wage to its workers. Very few people in our office reach bonus and fewer still on a regular basis. You have to be prepared to be unscrupulous or be lacking the basic human awareness skills that tell us what is acceptable. Unfortunately I can't afford to leave this job until I find another one as I would then not receive any JSA. Of course if I simply stop signing people up they will make me redundant, which I feel is my only way out of this nightmare job. My advice to anyone thinking about joining HF is to think very carefully and consider what it might do to your mental health. It's driving me crazy!