Doorstep fundraisers were forced to strip semi-naked and women were made to give lap dances after losing sales contests, it has been claimed.
Industry insiders revealed what it was like working for third-party marketing agencies that are contracted to carry out fundraising for some of Britain’s biggest charities.
The Times reported how fundraisers were being taught pressure-selling techniques before going door-to-door for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH).
The charity has suspended work with the agency at the centre of the allegations and has begun an external investigation into the claims.
Now whistleblowers have revealed the guilt-tripping, desperate tactics and even drug-taking at different marketing companies tasked with collecting money for other well-known charities.
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Complaints to charities about door-to-door fundraising more than doubled last year and the fundraising regulator launched an inquiry into the use of subcontractors.
The young professionals who spoke to The Times had not fundraised on behalf of GOSH or worked for the marketing agencies representing the organisation.
One 19-year-old joined a central London marketing company in 2022, going door-to-door for organisations including a children’s charity. He claimed that a manager “guilt tripped” him into not going to a Mass to mark the first anniversary of his father’s death, then berated him afterwards for performing poorly.
“While I was working on the streets in the pouring rain, trying to sell the charity to strangers, my mum video-called me from the service,” said the fundraiser, who did not want to be named. “I only ended up making one sale that day. The manager calls me and messages me saying, ‘Why have you done so shit today?’
“I tried explaining the situation to her, but she said: ‘That’s not an excuse’.”
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• Revealed: how charity doorsteppers twist your emotions for money
The fundraiser claimed that the company got employees to post fake five-star reviews on job sites such as Glassdoor and Indeed, in which the workers would discuss how great the culture was.
Recruits used to do “everything” to get customers to sign up to the charity so that they would get paid commission fees, he said.
“One of the most unethical things I saw was if someone said they weren’t able to sign up because their phone wasn’t working, the seller would get a charger,” the fundraiser claimed. “We’d even buy new sim cards for them to do a security call, because you need that call to verify someone is signing up.”
There were “challenge Fridays” in the office, he said, which involved pitting fundraisers against each other to see who could make the most sales in a day.
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Forfeits for the losers included having to down a shot of raw egg, drink a pint of beer with a sock in it, or women having to give lapdances to other fundraisers, he claimed. “Whoever made less commission would have to do a challenge.
“I lost one and had to strip down to my boxers — in November when it was freezing cold — and run around the block. I had to pass other office buildings and pubs on a Friday night — it was quite embarrassing.”
A second fundraiser, who also did not want to be named, worked for a marketing company in Belfast for three months.
He was told he was self-employed, earning commission on sales, but obligated to be at work at certain times, as he collected for several national cancer charities. “If you weren’t in the office or in the field at a certain time, you could be sacked. How can you be sacked while self-employed?” the fundraiser said.
He claimed the fundraising involved a “level of dishonesty” because sometimes customers didn’t seem clear that they were signing up to monthly payments.
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• ‘Emotional blackmail’: inside the agencies raising millions for GOSH
Fundraisers would also try to “guilt” customers into donating, he said. “There was definitely a level of putting pressure on people.”
The office environment was often “chaotic” and “crazy”, he claimed, with drunken parties and even drugs passed around. “I was there a week and I went to the office for a team building exercise. About four hours into it there was drugs — cocaine — taken by the fundraisers.”
A third young fundraiser, Ben, from Wales, said he worked at a marketing agency for six months, adding: “It felt like over six years.”
He was working as a street fundraiser, approaching members of the public and trying to sign them up for charities, including one which supported blind people.
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Ben, who did not want to give his surname, said his fundraising leader was fired after lying in order to get a sign-up. “My leader got caught out encouraging the person he was signing up to lie about their age. You could only be 21 or over to sign up and this person was aged under 21.”
The fundraising regulator launched an investigation into GOSH, after reporting revealed the pressure tactics taught to trainees at IBA Global, in east London. GOSH self-reported to the regulator after being contacted by The Times.
One senior fundraiser told our undercover reporter that he could cry on doorsteps. He also said he had created the impression he was deaf to lure people to their doors.
A spokesman for GOSH confirmed on Friday that it had “immediately suspended working with IBA Global” and was conducting a “full independent, external investigation”.
They added: “Door-to-door fundraising is one of the most effective ways for us to raise much-needed money and engage with people. Without the generosity of our supporters, we simply couldn’t transform the lives of seriously ill children at the hospital now and in the future.”
IBA Global was approached for comment.
