Some people cross the street to avoid them, but Australia’s charity muggers, or “chuggers”, raised over $120 million and signed more than 320,000 donors in 2018.

Research released exclusively to the ABC revealed charities received an average return of $2.30 for every $1 invested into face-to-face fundraising last year.

The calculations were gathered over five years by the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association (PFRA), which oversees face-to-face fundraising in Australia.

“Compared to other investment options, face-to-face fundraising remains a very attractive avenue for charities,” PFRA chief Peter Hills-Jones said.

Mr Hills-Jones said not-for-profits were increasingly outsourcing face-to-face fundraising to external agencies, and that only 20 per cent of charities had in-house chugging teams.

The PFRA counts almost 80 charities and fundraising agencies among its members, including the Cancer Council, Amnesty International, Australian Red Cross and Make a Wish Australia.

‘A special type of person’

Being a chugger is not for everyone.

External agencies offer flexibility for charities who may need to outsource only during peak periods or for specific campaigns.

The labour-intensive nature of face-to-face fundraising can also mean high staff turnover.

“It is very difficult to be continually upbeat after a day of rejections,” a charity employee said.

“You need a special type of person for this job.”

A report by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) estimated Australians gave about $12.5 billion to not-for-profits in the 2016 financial year.

However, very few people do so unless prompted.

Face-to-face fundraising is focused on signing people to monthly donation plans – something critical to charities because it helps ensure a level of funding certainty.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) also estimates regular donors give, on average, six-times more than one-off donors each year.

About 50 per cent of new regular donors cancel their payment plans within the first year.

‘They’re dogs’

Chuggers hit the headlines last year when actor Samuel Johnson described street fundraisers as “snakes”.

“Chuggers are slugs, they’re dogs,” Mr Johnson said.

“If you’re not prudent about how you give, if you don’t know about the organisation you’re giving to, then I’d be pretty cynical about how much is ending up at the cause.”

Mr Johnson – whose sister Connie died from breast cancer in 2017 – has been a prolific fundraiser for medical research into the disease.

One of the main misconceptions about chuggers is how they are paid.

Face-to-face fundraisers are generally paid on commission, but if you think your donation is going into an agency’s pocket, think again.

Most third-party agencies that supply chuggers are only paid for the number of new high-quality donors they sign.

Contracts between agencies and charities often have built-in “clawback” clauses in case new donors cancel their payment plans after just a few months.

This type of fundraising model means charities that sign a new donor for $30 a month via a face-to-face fundraising campaign would typically see a return on their investment after 12 months.

There are also concerns about exploitation of workers in the sector, many of whom are undergraduate or international students.

Chuggers not totally despised

The QUT report, titled “Giving Australia”, found 65 per cent of people surveyed disliked being approached by fundraisers.

But of those, almost 20 per cent donated anyway.

A separate survey by Sydney-based research agency Frost & Sullivan found 87 per cent of people walk away from a face-to-face fundraising approach with a positive experience.

Of those who said they had a negative experience, the most common complaints included fundraisers being rude or not providing information about how their donations would be used.

Chugging rules:

• Must not initiate physical contact, including shaking hands
• Must not approach people who are seated
• Must provide a written disclosure statement to donors
• Must have the required permit with them
• Must not attempt of follow people
• Must not block or obstruct a person walking

Mr Hills-Jones said the PFRA terminated the membership of four chugging agencies due to poor behaviour.

The four agencies – Ways Fundraising, Fresh Pathways, NGO Fundraising and Rise Fundraising – entered liquidation or ceased trading after their PFRA memberships were terminated and did not respond to ABC requests for comment.

Despite that, outsourcing the task of chugging remains popular among charities.

A 2016 report published by research agency JB Were found there were about 10 new charities being established Down Under every business day – growth that has created fierce competition.

As such, charities looking to reduce overhead costs rely on specialist commercial agencies to handle logistics such as payroll, IT infrastructure and fundraising.

“From a cost point of view, there is no way we can construct a working model that will make money by doing this in-house,” one charity said.

-ABC