"Charity Chugging": Should It Be Banned ?

Stephen Bell, Chief Executive of the nation-wide charity Changing Lives says street collectors are giving the charity sector a bad name. 

Mr Bell is calling for a ban on this style of collecting for charities, you can read the full article in the Daily Mail.

Funnily enough a colleague and I were discussing how we find street collection tactics slightly aggressive, a blight on the high street and neighbourhoods and ultimately have a negative impact on a person's perception of a charity. 

What do you do when approached by a 'chugger', a person wanting to sign you up for a monthly direct debit for charity?

Personally, I body swerve them and don't even entertain what they have to say. I cannot bear this aggressive style of approach; yes they're doing their job but these people are on commission. I already have my chosen charities that I support on a regular basis. However, it might be a completely different story for me if these 'chuggers' were volunteers. 

There are approximately 24 000 registered charities in Scotland alone, all competing for our attention and our hard earned cash.

Fundraising is extremely hard work; I speak from experience, raising ￡330 000 for a fund which supported 17 great causes in Scotland.  I also presently work with the Muir Maxwell Trust managing their @beatepilepsy campaign and it is very hard going for some charities to achieve their fundraising goals.

Social media phenomenons like the bare faced selfies or the ice bucket challenge only come round once every few years, what if there was another way to support charity that didn't involve harassing people on the street, calling them to pledge a monthly donation a few hours after they'd run a 10k and donated ￡1500 ( that does happen ) or receiving generic 'please donate' emails on a monthly basis?

It'll be interesting to see how which charities benefit the most from the plastic bag tax here in Scotland, it generated in excess of ￡17m in Wales. For example, Asda in Wales are donating ￡360 000 to 180 projects, each receiving ￡2000 each.

I think there is an alternative way to do more for charity, we just have to find it.

Back to my question, should chugging be banned? Would love your feedback.