Everyone knows how tiresome it is to race to the telephone, turning down the TV or scrambling out of the bath, only to find it’s not a delicious invitation or an unexpected friend calling, but someone trying to solicit money. So we have the Telephone Preference Service, which is supposed to allow us to opt out of such calls. But it’s not foolproof. Calls from abroad get past and charities aren’t covered by it.
No doubt the authorities don’t want to stop the charities – which fill so many of the gaps left by government – from raising money any way they can. But it’s tiresome all the same – especially if you get a call from one to which you’ve already donated to via the tide of paper that comes through the front door.
The charities say of their postings that “it works”, but the endless paper, I would have thought, must be counterproductive. Charities are supposed to be raising awareness as well as money, after all, and direct-marketing people regard a mere 5% response as a good figure: the remaining 95% may be irritated. However for the telephone problem I have a cunning plan. What we need is another Telephone Preference Service which people can buy into – by donating to a charity fund. I leave it to others to work out whether such donations should go to a central fund or a named charity, but such a thing surely ought to be possible.
itsAwholeLOADofJD! 