Canadians do lots of things to avoid the reach of the street canvasser.
Emily Smits, who’s done the job for four years, recalls the businessman who sailed off the sidewalk into traffic, shimmying along a parked van to dodge her philanthropic pleas.
“I said, ‘I don’t bite. Have a nice day,’ ” Ms. Smits said.
The 25-year-old former comedy writer is part of the growing army of street canvassers, or face-to-face fundraisers, who work on Canada’s busiest sidewalks, shilling for major charities.
Their perky pitches run from “Hey, be my friend today,” to a more plaintive, “Do you care about children?” Some dance, some wave and some call out passersby directly: “Hey green shirt!” Typically canvassing in pairs, they’re easy to spot down the road with their logo vests, emblazoned binders and that indefatigable spirit.
While plenty of Canadians find them grating, street canvassers are astonishingly effective at signing up coveted monthly donors. With fewer Canadians checking their mailbox, more signing up for do-not-call lists and missing heart-wrenching ads by watching TV shows online, the holy grail of fundraising is now face-to-face. Encompassing street, mall and door-to-door canvassing, “f2f” is now a chief source of continuing, monthly contributions.
While a number of charities hire, train and manage fundraisers internally – notably Greenpeace, which launched street canvassing in Europe in the nineties – many others use recruiting agencies. These include Quebec-based ONG Conseil; Toronto-based Fundraising Initiatives and Vancouver-based TNI, both of which concentrate on door-to-door campaigns; and Public Outreach Canada, which staffs approximately 200 fundraisers across 13 cities, with a focus on street canvassing.
“This is not about shaking a can and collecting change,” Bryan McKinnon, co-founder and national director of Public Outreach Canada, said from Toronto. “Face-to-face fundraising is focused on monthly giving, which provides regular, predictable income.”
Founded in 2002, the company guarantees charities between a 2:1 and 3:1 return on investment over a five-year campaign, with the agency absorbing the risk. The average monthly donor gives between $18 and $20, and many of those who signed up in 2002 are still giving monthly today, said co-founder and president John Finlay.
“Once you hit that return on investment, it’s just free money that shows up that the charities don’t even have to think about. That’s the magic of monthly,” said Evi Andreller, Public Outreach’s executive operations manager.
The agency hires twentysomethings mostly during summer break. Many study political science, environmental studies and international development – and, fittingly, theatre. The pay is $13 an hour plus benefits, with no commissions: Imagine Canada, a charitable umbrella organization, and the Association of Fundraising Professionals both prohibit them.
Still, many canvassers set personal goals of signing three or four monthly donors a day – an experience that’s both exhausting and addictive.
“We’re fundraisers but we’re also counsellors and scratching posts,” said Robyn Connolly, who has raised funds with Public Outreach in Toronto and Victoria for a year and a half.
“You learn to love everything there is about people. Never am I ever bored,” said the 27-year-old, who used to work as an executive assistant in film.
She had her best day last fall at the busy intersection of Bloor and Spadina in Toronto, where she signed up nine monthly donors. Fundraisers need to avoid “prejudging, because you never know who’s going to sign up,” said Ms. Connolly, who acknowledges one pattern: “Female canvassers often sign up more male donors and vice versa.”
Before she became a street-level fundraiser, Ms. Connolly wasn’t so moon-eyed about their tactics: “I hated them, totally. I did the thing where I would put my headphones on and pretend that I couldn’t hear them.”
Why? “Guilt. In my opinion, the annoyance a lot of people feel comes from guilt.”
For all the apparent angst between Canadians and street canvassers, those who employ them say they bring in massive numbers.
