Cold Called by the RNLI

tom52

tom52

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I am an Offshore supporter of the RNLI.
I have just been cold called by the RNLI and asked for more money.
I am not sure how I feel about it.
Certainly not outraged but a little uncomfortable at the intrusion. Perhaps less well inclined towards the RNLI than I was before the call.
Not to the volunteers on the boats but ...........the RNLI fund raising is ferocious and their Poole premises are very grand.
I am happy to support the volunteers but less happy to contribute to the wages of the office staff at Poole. Is this irrational ? Where does being a charity end a becoming a business unaccountable to any shareholders begin ?
Is all this an unreasonable response to being telephone "chugged" ?
 
IMHO no. I hate cold calling but understand that charities need some way of making contact, in the first instance. Once a supporter I hate to then be asked for more and usually cancel entirely at that point.
 
They havent called me, but I think I would also be a bit uneasy too.
Having said that, there are a lot of charities chasing the pound, but this smacks of the next level of marketing.
I prefer to bung a fiver in the box or the change from my round into the boat, and watch it go down the slope until me money disappears. Changing world,innit!
 
Anybody who cold calls me asking me for money is going to go down in my estimation of said person or organisation.
Way down.
ANY form of cold calling by telephone is an intrusion, IMHO.

The RNLI should realise that their supporters can read their advertisements, and make sensible judgements for themselves.

If the adverts tug on heart-strings saying "we are short of cash, please send us 50 quid to buy a new set of wellies for one of your local crewmembers",
then the rest should be left up to the individual concerned, as to if they put 50 quid in the tin or not.

Getting highly professional sales staff to try and extricate money from supporters by effective sales techniques is not the way to go about it.

The above comments are made by one who spent 5 years working at the RNLI HQ.
While I have the utmost respect for the boats, the crews and the organisation in general, I have no respect at all for anybody phoning me up and asking me for more money, no matter what the cause.
 
I'm not sure whether you mean you were called because you are already an Offshore member or whether you were called purely at random.

If it was the former then yes that is a bit thick but if the latter you just politely say tha you are already a regular supporter and leave it at that.
 
If you have been an offshore member for a while you will have noticed that they are already taking more than you originally agreed to. My DD has gone up by about 60%.
 
[ QUOTE ]
My DD has gone up by about 60%

[/ QUOTE ] Thats the trouble with DDs. somewhere hidden amongst loads of other bumph they will have told you about the increases you just won't have noticed it. The same happens with most other things you pay by DD
 
I was called specifically because I am already a supporter, she said. Judging by the unmistakable background hubbub of a call centre I expect many of you will also be getting similar calls.
After a long scripted speel I was first asked to upgrade to Governor. When I declined I was asked for an extra £50 pa. When I declined that I was asked whether I could come up with an extra £1 per week.
 
That might have been true up until the day before yesterday when they committed £12.6m to build nine new Tamar Class. Appropriately they will be built beside the Tamar by DML, the operating company of Devonport Royal Dockyard.
 
I had a call too - specifically because I was already a member - said last year was very busy and they wanted more money to ensure they were prepared for this year.

I hate cold calls - but because it was the RNLI I was more polite than I might otheriwse have been - don't think it does them any favours.

I said I was happy with my current level of contribution - and also as I understood it the RNLI weren't exactly skint - chap went away at that point
 
I think you are being very rational in this matter.

In my work I do deal with different charities a bit, and I am afraid that as a result of that I am even more cynical than before.

Once they start dealing with anything I often find them to be wholly uncharitable in their attitudes, and while the guy with a tin may believe they are doing good the execs who run them just breathe money, money, they are frequently paid over the odds, and effectively unaccountable to the public who fund them, and usually run by the same little cliques.

Yes, we do have a banking arrangement with RNLI frequently receive literature seeking morewhile we do adjust annually the harder they push the less we feel charitable toward them.

I do appreciate the work they do, but do feel they are extremely well off, and at this point in time should be careful not to upset their present supporters from whom their hopes of legacies arise!
 
I have been called too and had the same offer which I declined. The guy said that the RNLI had had to expand their coverage beyond boats to hetskis, sportsboats and the like due to increasing numbers in the hot weather which is only going to get hotter due to global warming. I'm afraid I told him I had no problem with a levy on these people to meet the extra cost and suggested he get a real job.

I would encourage anyone to make a personal, (anonymous if preferred) to their local station if they feel inclined to make contributions beyond their subscription.
 
Its definitely a script then.
I got exactly the same spiel about global warming making them busier than ever.
I knew Gordon Brown had spotted the revenue raising possibilities of global warming but I had hoped the RNLI were above such cynical exploitation.
So I am a bit sadder and a bit wiser than I was at the start of the day. Hey Ho.
 
Maybe someone on the inside needs to bring this thread to the attention of the RNLI?

I've been a Governor for a year or so, and often top up my contribution. But that's my choice - I will deal with an RNLI cold call exactly the same way I do all cold calls - with a polite refusal ..... unless they argue, in which case politeness goes out the window. If we all do the same, they'd soon give up - the technique is only used because it works.
 
Hardly a cold call, you will be a target as a supporter and regular giver and as such are firmly in their fundraising sights. Fundraising in this way is common place and although the calls generate mixed feelings they are on the whole successful in generating increased regular giving and thats what all charities need. Legacies from the 'great and the good' are fast becoming a thing of the past and they have to be replaced with other income for charities to survive.
I have to admit to being responsible for one of two fundraisinig campaigns they have to be realistic and sensitively scripted to have a chance at being successful, from what has been posted by forumites I fear that this one is not and may just be having a negative effect, but like anything else in this world they are only as good as the people delivering the message - if it puts people's backs up it is doomed from the start.
A polite, no thank you, should be enough for the call centre operator to get the message. Incidently if you feel strongly let the RNLI fundraising team know as your feedback needs to be heard for them to get it right in future.
I know they have a few quid now, but reserves don't last forever and if no fundraising now = no RNLI.... in time ! None of us would want that would we?
 
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