Face-to-Face Fundraising
Face-to-Face fundraising is one of the most cost effective ways for us to raise awareness of our work and reach new supporters who can help drive forward medical research. Fundraisers speak to the public about our work and ask them if they would like to support our FIGHT BACK Friday Lottery.
Our fundraisers can be found at private sites across the UK such as supermarkets, town centres, train stations as well as fundraising door to door in your local area.
FAQ's
If you have any questions about Face-to-Face fundraising, take a look at our answers to frequently asked questions below.
How do I know if a fundraiser is genuine?
Door to Door fundraisers will be wearing blue Action branded clothing, which may be in the form of t-shirts, polo shirts, tabards or jackets. The clothing they wear may differ slightly depending on the agency they work for and where they are fundraising.
Private site fundraisers either be wearing the same blue Action branded clothing or alternatively business attire. They will be fundraising next to an Action Medical Research branded stand.
All fundraisers must also have an ID badge visible that bears their name, ID number and photo, as well as the name of the fundraising agency that they are working for, on our behalf.
Fundraisers will also have branded materials and when you choose to support Action they will leave you with a donor receipt as well as a FIGHT BACK Friday Lottery welcome pack. Our registered charity details as well as contact information will be on those materials.
Please note that our fundraisers are not permitted to accept cash or cheque donations on the doorstep or at private sites – unless it’s a bucket collection - and they will only ask you to complete an online form to support our FIGHT BACK Friday Lottery. This will either be via Direct debit or recurring debit card payments.
If you would like to check whether a fundraiser is genuine, please email our Supporter Care team at supportercare@action.org.uk or give them a call on 01403 210406 (Monday-Friday, 9am – 5pm).
What time are fundraisers allowed to work until?
Our door to door fundraisers are allowed to visit homes until 9pm in line with the Fundraising Regulator code of fundraising practice, but we do ask our fundraisers to stop fundraising by 8:30pm. We appreciate for some people this may seem late, but as people are not always at home during the day, we often find that we speak to the majority of people between 6pm-8:30pm when they’ve returned home from work.
Our private site fundraisers work to the opening hours or permitted fundraising hours for each specific private site.
What do you do to protect vulnerable people?
Our fundraisers are trained and monitored to ensure that they’re following the Fundraising Regulator’s policy on vulnerable people. We also don’t fundraise door to door in areas or buildings that are listed as sheltered housing, or in no cold calling zones set up by Trading Standards.
If you or somebody you know feels vulnerable and would like to talk about a conversation had with one of our fundraisers, please let us know by emailing our Supporter Care team at supportercare@action.org.uk or give them a call on 01403 210406 (Monday-Friday, 9am – 5pm).
Are the fundraisers paid?
Yes. We don’t have the resources to employ fundraisers directly, so we employ professional fundraising agencies to fundraise on our behalf. This is one of the most cost-effective ways to fundraise as we only pay the agencies for new supporters.
The name of the agency the fundraiser works for will be visible on their ID badge.
Are your fundraisers trained?
Yes. We work closely with each agency to ensure the fundraisers are trained regularly, represent Action responsibly and are passionate about fundraising on our behalf. We also regularly mystery shop our fundraisers to ensure they are representing Action to the highest of standards.
Where do you fundraise?
We are fundraising door to door and at private sites across the UK. If you would like to check that a fundraiser you have spoken to is working for Action Medical Research, please contact our supporter care team on 01403 210406 between 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. They will be able to confirm using your postcode or the name of a private site venue.
Telephone Fundraising
We sometimes carry out prospective telephone calling using GDPR compliant data sources where someone has opted in to receive a telephone call from Action Medical Research about supporting our work.
A prospective supporter would have opted in to hear from us through a telephone or online survey. We also call new supporters to welcome them and to thank them for their support.
We use professional fundraising agencies to make these calls on our behalf. The agencies we work with comply with fundraising and GDPR regulation and are monitored on a regular basis - all calls are recorded for monitoring and evaluation purposes - which helps ensure the highest quality of calls for our supporters.
FAQ's
If you have any questions about Telephone fundraising, take a look at our answers to frequently asked questions below.
How do I know if a fundraiser is genuine?
If you receive a call from one of our telephone fundraisers, they will give you their name and let you know that they are calling on behalf of, or from, Action Medical Research.
If you would like to check whether a fundraiser is genuine, please email our Supporter Care team at supportercare@action.org.uk or give them a call on 01403 210406 (Monday-Friday, 9am – 5pm).
Do you call supporters who are on the Telephone Preference Service?
No, we do not call supporters who have signed up to the Telephone Preference Service unless they have given explicit consent for us to call them for marketing purposes.
To ensure we don’t contact supporters on the TPS we check our supporters contact information against the TPS list before any telephone fundraising campaigns start.
I’d prefer not to be called, can you help?
Yes. We will always respect your wishes and will only communicate with you in the way that you are comfortable with. If you would prefer not to receive calls from us then just let us know by emailing our Supporter Care team who will update your communication preferences. You can email the team at supportercare@action.org.uk or call them on 01403 210406.
Contact us about our fundraising
We love to hear from our supporters, and all feedback is greatly appreciated.
If you have a query about a fundraiser, it’s ideal if you can give us as much information as possible, such as:
- Date, time and location of where you spoke to the fundraiser
- Name and ID number or a description of the fundraiser
- A full description of your experience
You can contact us online, via email at supportercare@action.org.uk or call on 01403 210406.