Some schlub called me last night, at 9:30 PM. he was asking for a donation-$30.00 ,$40.00 or $50.00 amounts accepted! I cheaked with the MA Atty General Website (of approved charities)-I could find no into on this “charity”.
I didn’t give him anything-was this a scam?
Even if not a scam doesn’t seem particularly reputable to use these marketing tactics.
See also
So are they for cancer in children or against it?
Tell them that all solicitations for their charity must go through the US postal system, and that you never donate in response to telephone solicitation. They will tell you that they’re legally allowed to telespam you, but just stick to your guns. They won’t send you anything by snail mail unless they are legit, because mail fraud is a mess of “We don’t want to deal with that” for scammers.
And what if they ask for my mailing address? Do I give it to them?
Cheerfully provide the address of either your state’s AG office, or the FBI. 
It’s illegal for any phone solicitor to call you after 9 PM (your local time). So the call itself is in violation of FTC rules.
You know something? None of them have EVER asked for my mailing address. They always want me to pledge an amount before they’ll send me literature, and I always insist that I’ll need some literature, along with a statement of how much of the money they raise goes to the charity and how much goes to telemarketing services, before I’ll make any sort of commitment, and eventually they figure out that I’m not a sucker and end the call before taking my address.
Better yet: “I’m not interested. Goodbye.”
Much less of your time & energy wasted.
I’l bet you a dollar to a donut that call was from Charitable Resourse Foundation…they do chartity calls for various charities, and that sounds like one they call for. I worked there for a year and a half. did the call begin, “Hi, this is So-and-So, CRF, I’m calling for The Children’s Cancer Coalition…”? They are legally bound to say CRF within so many seconds of the phone being picked up or it’s a BIIIIG fine.
Anyway… I know all about how these call centers that call for charities work. Whatever money you send… the actual charity gets 2-12%… The rest goes to the ‘overhead’ for the call center.
If you want them to stop calling, the magic words are ‘put me on your do not call list’. Then, you ask for the caller’s name, the company they work for, and the charity name. Jot this all down, and put it in a safe place. If you are called again by this company, call the FCC and file a report. First offense is an $11,000 fine for the company. Tell them calmly this is what you will do.
I promise you that you will never be called by ANY of the charities that employ that call center again… and in CRF’s case, they call for about 14 different charities.
The thing to remember… the people calling you are just trying to make a living, so try to be reasonably polite. It’s a lousy way to make a living but sometime there just isn’t a lot to chose from.
“You aren’t in my budget this year…if you would like to send me your literature, including your administrative costs, the work you do, information on your board…I’ll consider you for next year.”
The only ones that send anything once you say that are organizations like the Special Olympics.
This “charity” doesn’t appear on Google, so I’m guessing it’s not a CRF job.
Actually, charities are exempt from the Do Not Call list, as most will quickly tell you. My goal is to make it clear that I won’t be donating, ever, as a result of a phone call, but that I might respond to literature.
You know something? They have a right to try to make a living, but they DON’T have a right to bother or annoy me in my own home while they’re doing it. So no, I don’t have any sympathy for people who do this sort of thing. And I feel no obligation to be polite to someone who was rude first. Rudeness is met with rudeness, and it’s rude to call me when my phone numbers are already on the DNC list. Just because something is legally permitted doesn’t mean that it’s right to do it.
You are wrong about charities being exempt from the DNC list. I have LOTS of experience in this. What they are exempt from is is the one you put yo0ur phone number on. Yes, if you are on the national DNC list, charities and political parties can still call. BUT if you specifically tell them to put you on THEIR DNC list… or even more specifically their INTERNAL DNC list, They must comply. People have lost their jobs if they do not honor this.
This is personal opinion, but I hope someday you are forced into working a job like this that you despise. It will perhaps teach you that people cannot always pick and choose their ‘career’. One does what one must to keep one’s head above water. I am never rude to anyone on the phone unless they are rude to me first, and that does NOT include simply calling me. It says a lot about the person I suppose.
The charities I contribute my own hard-earned disposable income to are the local Humane Society and the local SPCA. (sometimes I’ll send a few bucks to Smile Train, or homeless cat societies). Anyway, if some outfit calls me on the phone, out of nowhere, begging for money, I wait until they stop to take a breath. Then I say, “I’m unable to help you out (or not interested), thanks for your time, goodbye.” Hang up. The End. What’s all this about mailing literature, giving out addresses, arguing? Unless you WANT to give money to whoever calls. I am very polite, but I don’t drag out the conversation either. I simply don’t have money to give to people who call me unsolicited. I feel sorry for the people who have that job. I am sorry about all of this.
As it happens, I HAVE worked as a telemarketer. When I found out what a sleazy business it is, I decided that I’d rather be a dishwasher, or a litter box cleaner, or something else that’s disgusting but at least doesn’t involve disturbing people.
They’re keeping an open mind. Whichever side you’d like to donate to will be fine.
Ditto. When the collections agent from Big Vito’s EZ-Cash comes to break your kneecaps, and says, “Nothin’ personal, PapSett, I just gotta take the jobs I can find in this 'conomy,” will you tell him, “Yeah, I understand, Bubba. I’ve had to work a few questionable jobs myself,” or will you bust out the scattergun? When telemarketers call me, I metaphorically bust out the scattergun, and I really don’t want to hear their sad stories about how much they hate the job but are stuck with it. I’ve worked for a telemarketing company too, doing an inbound customer service job (they were trying to branch out). When they lost that contract & tried to shift me to a telemarketing campaign, I walked and never looked back.
Somebody from this outfit called last night (6:30)-another charity I never heard of. I told the guy (politely), sed me some literature and i’ll read it.
He didn’t deign to do so.
“I’m so glad you called! I worry about all those poor children who can’t even afford leukemia.”