razorpsych

Hey Guys

I spent two weeks doing one of the hardest things ever - being a paid Charity Fundraiser.

Now I love the whole basic idea of the job. You are working for a company that in turn works for the charities. You get paid for being out on the street and get commission for the amount of people that you manage to get card details off in order to get direct debits- for example, Amnesty International- 5 a month.

However I had an awful time doing it. Now my first week, which was training week, was reasonably fun, even though our accomodation was awful- Shitty University Halls that looked like something from Prisoner Cell Block H. There were lots of guys who were in the same boat as me plus loads of experienced fundraisers who tried to give me advice.

But then I actually started the job and I just found it completely soul destroying. Now it's all well and good that the aim is to get in a conversation with random people that you like the look of. However the problem is that in the back of your mind, and in order to do the job well, you have to get them to give you their card details within three or four minutes of meeting them. I just couldn't get around this fact. My team leader who was 18 years old and from St Andrews, was a good dialoguer because he got enough signups. However I just couldn't handle the way he did it. He literally stepped out in front of people, gave a very fake plastic smile and they were his target. He didn't give a shit about talking or making friends with these people, so basically he was a glorifed salesman. Now I should have realised this was the whole point of the job. However I'm not a salesman and never want to be, and I just can't talk to random people in order to get money off them. Also, my first week was in Yorkshire. Now these people are reasonably nice but I felt like I was intruding on their community. Me being asian, with piercings and with a charity uniform I just felt that most people didn't want me there, and because I was going to a few towns full of old people- I kinda felt very out of place. After a few days of this rejection and with charity obsessed fundraisers who to be honest were mostly very boring uninteresting people (it was literally charity talk all fucking day, it was just too much) The saviour was calling my girlfriend and the fact that I really liked the charity I was working for. It's called Plan and it's about sponsoring a child and their communities. You get feed back and stuff but get this, I had to get people to allow me to take fifteen pounds a month from their bank accounts with a charity they may not have heard of. Now some people are great at doing this, but it's not me, and it's a fact that I didn't like most of the people who were supposed to be in charge and good at their jobs. I'm not joking, these guys were very annoying people.

I got put on amber warning on my first week and on the my second week i was put on red warning. I had to talk to the boss lady who was 'a great fundraiser' but instead of giving me a bit of honesty about the toughness of the job, she gave me loads of positivity bullshit about the fact that there are always people out there who are willing to talk to you. Now this was a just a load of crap. There was no way I could get anyone to talk to me in some of these towns. She was a loud bubbly attractive blonde aussie girl- now don't get me wrong but surely this has some affect on the people she talks to.I let her have it with all the crap that i had in my head and i almost broke down. I'm not joking, I was literally on the point of crying. But i decided to give it one more week.

Then they decided to put me in the worst group ever. I was put with a loud liverpudlian loudmouth chav with white shoes who carried a newcastle ale with him and was obsessed with yelling and giving out sexual innuendo with everybody he saw. He was so fucking loud. On our first car trip he didn't shut up once. Now I was in a fragile state in this time and fucking hell that was just too much. I would have to spend a week eating and sleeping and working around this guy. Honestly, if he was in the same room as me I would have to leave it. Also there was a very creepy 45 year old lady widow who just crept me out. I can't explain it but she gave me the shivers.

So I decided to quit. I got the team guide to take me to the station and then i went back to london. And it turned out pretty well! I called up a bookstore that offered me an interview which i couldn't make because of the charity thing and managed to get in reschduled for the first tuesday i returned. And I got the job! They wanted me to start two days afterwards. So it all turned out for the best. I got a great job in the time being before i go to thailand and i'm allowed to take home damaged books as well as get a 1/3 off the price. well good because i love literature. So I'm happy.
I signed up for the child sponsorship thing though for fifteen a month and i can't pass a big issue seller without talking to him and buying a magazine. so i guess i learned something. but i will never go back to it!



xashx