The Institute of Fundraising policy on the use of the telephone to recruit collectors for public collections recognises that the telephone is an important tool in enabling the general public, who otherwise might not do so, to participate in charitable activity.
Where used appropriately, the telephone is a positive and effective method of recruiting volunteers to raise funds for charity.
Charity aims in recruiting collectors by telephone or otherwise, should be to find the appropriate number of honest and reliable collectors as cost effectively as possible.
The use of the telephone to recruit public collection collectors may prove more or less costly than alternative methods of recruitment for different organisations operating under varying circumstances.
In every instance, charities and other voluntary organisations seeking to recruit collectors should be able to show evidence that they sought to recruit collectors in the most cost effective manner from the broadest range of recruitment options open to them.
Charities should ensure that all other methods of recruiting collectors have been properly and prudently analysed before any cold calling is commenced.
