How low can CART sink?

THE Canal & River Trust has now engaged a telemarketing company that will con you into becoming a regular Friends donor, should you fall for applying for 'free information' that is nothing more than a ruse, as Allan Richards explains:

The public are warned that applying for ‘free information' from Canal & River Trust may lead to contact details being passed to a telemarketing company who will phone on the pretext of obtaining a delivery address but attempt to recruit you as a regular donor (i.e. a ‘Friend'). There are cases reported of the ‘free information' never arriving or people eventually being told the information is actually available online.

Listen

In addition to its £9 pounds per hour chuggers (rewarded with an extra £35 for every 10 signed up!), CaRT is now making use of a telemarketing company called ‘Listen'.

Listen advertise the provision of the following donor acquisition services: [Designed to obtain money from the unsuspecting.]

Recruitment of new donors from specially selected data
New donor welcome
Campaigners to regular givers
Eventor/community fundraiser to regular supporter
Merchandiser to regular giver
Volunteer to regular giver
Reactivation campaigns—including long-lapsed cash/RG reactivation
Rolling reactivation programmes
SMS/new media conversion to regular giver.

Regular givers

It also provides donor development and retention services as follows:

Cash to committed
Gift aid
Upgrades
Rolling upgrade programmes
Non-payer reactivation
High-value supporter development
Direct dialogue/new media recruit development
Legacy
Non-financial calls - thank you, welcome, event promotion
Donor survey calling

Campaigns

One example of how CaRT is using Listen is its summer activity campaign where the unwary apply via an online form or a text message for a free summer activity book and sticker sheet for their children or grandchildren to be delivered by post (very handy for the school holidays!).

Needless to say, a delivery address is not requested and the ‘small print' states you have agreed to be contacted by CaRT's agent to obtain this information and, from time to time be provided with details of news and appeals.

Of course CaRT are not alone in trapping the unwary into giving contact details and passing them to telemarketing companies to use to solicit donations.

Conned

Where it does seem to be unique (and what seems to be annoying some) is that the posted information sometimes does not arrive or they are eventually told it is available online and given a link to it.

That's right. The public are being conned into giving away contact details in exchange for information already available online!

How low can CaRT sink indeed.