How do you deal with street fundraisers?

One dodge that I might try in the future is to say nothing and just hand them an autism alert card - I carry one in my wallet. I suspect that it might be effective.

I haven't tried it, but I would bet that asking them, "Could you give me £2.00 for the bus fare?" would probably put them off.

If, as I did, you contact any charity that you have donated to, by email or writing, making it clear that any further contact by telephone will result in your not making any future donations whatsoever, it becomes very quiet.

I find it all very stressful, anxiety accelerates massively. I tend to not make eye contact and walk briskly past, I often change route so I can avoid them. The same people seem to work for totally different charities. They don’t want some loose change, they earn their money from signing people up to a direct debit. I did get caught a few years ago and noticed the amount slowly grew and kept getting messages saying how much more they could do if I raised my donation further, I cancelled the donation.

Sporadic Sparkly said:

I prefer to donate to charities on my own terms.

Same with me. I hate being pressurised.  Worst was a mental health charity I'd just donated a largish sum to,only for them to phone me a few days later  trying to persuade me to set up a regular donation.

My response is similar to your own CrazyCatLady91. If I see them approaching me, I'll try to walk a safe distance away from them, or in some instances I might turn around and walk back in the direction I've just come from.

Aside from the fact that I rarely carry loose change, I prefer to donate to charities on my own terms. Therefore, I don't feel in the least bit guilty or mean for ignoring 'chuggers'.

It is not rude, you are doing it in a way that is polite. It is not a social exchange. They are invading your personal space when they approach you as an unknown person in a public space. Polite and definitive, all good.

At one point I'd politely entertain them, I probably still would now, but the last one I encountered left me speechless. I've encountered him twice, last year around November time, he was blocking the entirety of the disabled access point to Herons (budget supermarket).  I assumed it was a one off, but no, last week I saw him. Presumably the people in the store know him. I bare him no ill will, but I'd be curious of both how Herons as a company would view this and how it'd be viewed in a legal sense (wish I got a photo, his table is far too big to move by one bloke, and far too wide for a wheelchair to maneuver around).

He said hello last time and I just ignored him. Just seems a bit snide literally blocking an entrance like he does so you're forced to engage with him, saw something similar at an amateur (like ninth tier amateur) football game once, raffle seller blocking the turnstile.

All you can do is feign ignorance really, just keep walking. They certainly gravitate towards women though!

As far as I know [I could be wrong] they're universally unpopular and avoidance is commonplace.

Unaware of this, I used to stop and listen out of a wish to be 'polite'. And I have no issue with donating to charity. But also, they seem invariably to want a direct debit set up. 

Which I don't want to do. So now I don't talk to them, probably best. 

CrazyCatLady91 said:

I am all for donating to charities, but I like to do so in my own ways and in my own time.

Totally agree. I also don't like the phone calls where they try to pressurise you into making a donation. I used to get a lot of such calls when  I lived in Essex.

I'm often wearing headphones. This seems to do the job most of the time.

I just walk past them as though I've got somewhere to be and ignore them. Usually works. Having headphones on often helps as well.

its funny these street scroungers seem to let others walk past them and ignore them but yet as soon as they see me they assume im the type that would fall for their begging and they charge over beeline right to me and come to me. so its hard to avoid them as i apparently have the appearance of someone whod they assume would give to them.

its mixed, sometimes i can ignore them.... sometimes i feel rude, so i stop and let them talk and hear them out, then decline their service and leave.

one i remember was scottish energy trying to convionce me to switch, claimed someone in my flats had switched, claimed to be cheaper... gave me a slightly cheaper rate than im on but i refused it and said id rather handle it myself and check myself.... they then admitted you cant get that rate without them as its a special street discount... so their real rate is infact higher than my rate im on and likely that discount ends after a time frame so your on a higher rate...  then i noticed after looking online that scottish energy has a lock in and if you wanna leave you have to pay them a few hundred quid to leave. so basically youd be locked in at a higher rate tricked by the lower rate by discount and have to pay to leave it when the discount ends in like 1 month and its real rate that is higher than your previous kick in.... see these street beggers are criminals really, never believe them, always do your own research, anything they offer is a lie and the reality is that their cheaper thing is a temporary hook to get you in then you cant get out without paying huge cost. lucky im not so stupid but alot of people would have fell for it.

I do the same as I do (via the adjacent window pane) if they come to my front door: a smile, accompanied by shaking my head and holding my palm up (like when signalling stop). Their typical reaction is a similarly polite acknowledgement, before refocusing their attention on their next prospect. No words needed from either party.

I just smile and tell them I donate regulalry from my small income to charities and I can't afford any more than I already give. If they have a tin I might put a few small coins in it, but other than that I refuse to engage with them.