How to stop charity fundraising phone calls?

[Silent1CB]

I suspect my name has gotten onto a list of someone who is willing to donate.

The charity phone calls are increasing. Charities & political calls are exempt from the National Do Not Call list.

Yesterday, I received 3 calls from 3 different organizations. Today, the first one called at 8:30am. I would like for this to stop.

We do not have caller ID. I know better than to say hello again when no one responds the first time, but I have elderly parents & sometimes I forget & say hello again thinking its one of them.

I know I should just tell them "DO NOT CALL HERE AGAIN. PUT MY NAME ON YOUR DO NOT CALL LIST." Sometimes I just can't get the words out & just hang up. And I don't think quick enough to do some of the witty stuff I've seen suggested on the internet.

I guess I need to more forceful if I want them to stop.

 

[java]

"I don't do donations over the phone. I would be more than happy to read anything you want to send me" and hang up.

That stopped ours.

 

[dawson5]

The political ones tick me off more than the charity ones (unless it's for the Indiana State Police--they only get 10% of the donation collected and are very rude. Google it sometime, these guys are the worst--not the ISP but the telemarketing company.). Anymore, whenever I get a political one and ask them to take me off their list. I get a reply that "we are exempt." I simply reply, "I know who I am not voting for now. Thank you." I figure if they can't honor a simple request not to be called, they probably aren't going to listen to the voters on what they want for their district.

 

[NatashaDisneyCM]

I am all the no call lists and have never done any donations on phone!!! I get the stupid darn things all the time!!!

 

[SC Minnie]

There are a couple of organizations that call EVERY year. We have NEVER donated to any of these. They use paid telemarketers and I have an issue with how much the organization actually gets when donated through these people. So, if I want to support the organization I'll give them a direct donation. No matter how many times I say 'we do not donate to groups that use paid solicitors' they still call.

And the political calls.

 

[krcit]

That's why I love caller ID. Unless I recognize the number, I don't answer and even then sometimes I dont

 

[Silent1CB]

That's why I love caller ID. Unless I recognize the number, I don't answer and even then sometimes I dont

See, even if I had caller ID, I'm stupid & would still answer. lol My dad is in the hospital right now, so I would think its something to do with that or something about my mom who is home alone right now.
And my own DH is away for military reasons so I don't know what phone he as access too.

I just couldn't NOT answer the phone with elderly parents & a military DH.

 

[Jennasis]

The police ones are the worst. They are pushy and rude. If you say no the'll hit you with "so you don't CARE about police officers?".

The other day I got a call from St. Jude's Children's Hospital. Not only did they want to hit me up for money but they also wanted me to ORGANIZE a massive event for them (a horseback riding trail ride). Isn't that the job of your PR/Marketing/Fundraising folks? When I said no freakin' way, they woman asked for my husband...cause, ya know, since I didn't have time to organize the event, maybe he would.

 

[SC Minnie]

The police ones are the worst. They are pushy and rude. If you say no the'll hit you with "so you don't CARE about police officers?".

Yeah-- they have done this to me too. When I didn't want to donate one time during 'Red Ribbon Week' the telemarketer asked me why I didn't want to get drunk drivers off the road. ?????/

 

[Silent1CB]

I can't stand all the "God Bless You"s.
Also, if you make the mistake of agreeing to a small donation by mail, they connect you with another person who is supposed to confirm your mailing address. Instead, this person tries to get your credit card # so you can donate right now. I'm not giving my cc# to someone over the phone. Sorry. Put it in the mail.

THEN, if you don't mail the card & check back, they keep calling you looking for the check.

I think this all started with the American Cancer Society & the 10 cards a friend sent out collecting for them. She wouldn't leave me alone either so I wrote a darn check.

Usually I donate to charities on my own & who I want to.

 

[kidshop]

It takes me 3 seconds to say, "I'm not interested. bye." Click. I never talk to them or let them talk. I don't get very many calls anymore!

 

[java]

The police ones are the worst. They are pushy and rude. If you say no the'll hit you with "so you don't CARE about police officers?".

Around here the ones that used to call claiming for police officers are a scam. Which is how I started my- send it in writing thing. My BIL a NYPD officer told me that is the way to see if they are legitimate or not.

 

[krcit]

See, even if I had caller ID, I'm stupid & would still answer. lol My dad is in the hospital right now, so I would think its something to do with that or something about my mom who is home alone right now.
And my own DH is away for military reasons so I don't know what phone he as access too.

I just couldn't NOT answer the phone with elderly parents & a military DH.

Oh wow. I understand. I didn't realize that. I guess I would just do what I do if I answer a call like that by mistake. I tell them I have no money and just keep saying it until they get the picture.

PS. I hope your dad is ok!

 

[Gigi22]

I say "Not interested" as fast as I possibly can and immediately hang up. I don't give them the time to say anything in between. Not a single word. Repeat.
My view is, I am not there to discuss or debate. They are taking my valuable time, and I am hanging up.
I remember once giving the telephone to my little nephew, who was just at that age where he wanted to talk on the phone. I let him babble on for 20 min., then I hung up!

 

[robinb]

I have seen a really big increase of charity calls too. I swear they USE the Do Not Call list to get numbers!

When I was in high school I worked as a telemarketer selling newspaper subscriptions. It was a pain and people were very rude. I try to be polite but I always say "I'm sorry, I'm not interested. Please remove me from your calling list." and then I immediately hang up.

I especially get annoyed at charities that I once gave to which then use my address/phone number to beg, beg, beg for more money. I gave to one organization that spent WAY MORE than the paltry $25 I gave them trying to get me to give more. It took me over 3 years of twice monthly mailings to get them to leave me alone. They called this week and I told the hapless telemarketer: "This is exactly why I no longer give to that organization because they spend all the money I gave them hiring people like you to get more money from me!" I then apologized for being snarky and asked him to remove me from their phone list and hung up.

The police ones are the worst. They are pushy and rude. If you say no the'll hit you with "so you don't CARE about police officers?".

*snork* I would probably respond "Apparently not!" and hang up. The last thing you want to do is discuss anything with these people, especially ones with confrontational scripts like that one.

 

[allison443]

"I don't do donations over the phone. I would be more than happy to read anything you want to send me" and hang up.

That stopped ours.

That's what I say

 

[undertheradar]

Me, I like to ask many questions. How much of each dollar goes to the charity? Of that amount, how much goes to salaries and benefits? What color ink does the mailer come in? The longer I keep that person on the phone, the less money they can earn. I don't get calls back.

 

[trip]

See, even if I had caller ID, I'm stupid & would still answer. lol My dad is in the hospital right now, so I would think its something to do with that or something about my mom who is home alone right now.
And my own DH is away for military reasons so I don't know what phone he as access too.

I just couldn't NOT answer the phone with elderly parents & a military DH.

Do you have an answer machine? If not get one and set it on the fewest rings needed to start the message. Let your family know you will be screening your calls. When they start to leave a message just pick up the phone and talk.

All of my family members know I do this, so they are not surprised.

 

[Madi100]

There are a couple of organizations that call EVERY year. We have NEVER donated to any of these. They use paid telemarketers and I have an issue with how much the organization actually gets when donated through these people. So, if I want to support the organization I'll give them a direct donation. No matter how many times I say 'we do not donate to groups that use paid solicitors' they still call.

And the political calls.

This is usually how I get off the phone. I don't like to hang up on them, even when they won't quit. So, I immediately ask them how much of my donation goes directly to the cause. You'd be amazed at how little the organization actually gets. It's usually between 10-20%. When they reply with that I simply tell them I like to donate where 100% of my money goes to the cause. That shuts them up.

 

[Silent1CB]

Do you have an answer machine? If not get one and set it on the fewest rings needed to start the message. Let your family know you will be screening your calls. When they start to leave a message just pick up the phone and talk.

All of my family members know I do this, so they are not surprised.

Yes we have one. Its currently set to 4 rings. I could try that. Just can't answer the phone that is attached to it because it makes it squeal like a pig and no one can hear each other.