rate of pay/percentage

As suggested above, paying street collectors is not recommended - at least if we're talking about tin shakers. On top of all the ethical implications, it's just about impossible to get enough money into a tin fast enough to cover the costs!

On the other hand, a much better investment would be a part-time volunteer coordinator to recruit volunteers and manage the collections.

Check out the Institute of Fundraising Codes of Practice on public collections - there's sound information in there.

Cheers

Gerry

Gerry Beldon FInstF
Director, 26-01 CIC
www.26-01.com

There are several methods I can think of from the top of my head, there will be more though.

1. Charity shop - the much cheaper and less risky version of this is using ebay and car boots to sell 2nd hand stuff.

2. Fundraising events - dinner, bug races, darts evenings or whatever.

3. Apply to charitable trusts for money for various things.

4. Sponsored events - abseiling, sky diving, or something as simple as fasting.

5. Regular giving - asking your supporters to donate £2/£5/£10 a month to the cause.

6. Gift aid - useful on personal donations and sponsored events so long as the donor has paid income or capital tax of at least the amount to be recovered.

7. National Lottery - a lot of work, maybe even a massive amount of work, to get an application together and submitted. Even if doesn't get any money the work done can be used elsewhere.

8. Coffee mornings - good old method that generates some support, can be useful for recruiting supporters but not much of a moneymaker in themselves.

9. Asking. Its suprising how many people don't seem to be asked to give by a charity.
If you don't ask, you probably won't get.
Helps a bit if your own trustees are willing to talk to their contacts.
Martin

Can you be clear which kind of street collecting you are thinking of? There are collections for cash in sealed collecting tins/buckets, or there are face-to-face activities which aim to secure regular monthly donations by direct debit.

If it is the former, then it is a task carried out by volunteers. I may be wrong on this, but the returns just wouldn't be worth it if you paid people to collect. Also, since the majority of charities use volunteers for these kind of appeals, it might be hard to convince the public that your charity was different and needed to pay its collectors.

If it is the latter, then get in touch with the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association (PFRA): it "regulates the use of face-to-face fundraising by charities and professional fundraising organisations and works with local authorities to ensure that fundraising sites are used appropriately".

www.pfra.org.uk

Pay may vary elsewhere but here in the Midlands I've come across two people this year being paid £7.50 and £8 an hour for street collecting. Like all employees, the wages get paid regardless of how much the charity gets in.
Not brilliantly efficient for raising money and (I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong) they have to state how much they are being paid for doing the job.

Not sure about paying percentage, its an emotive issue for some.

Might be better considering other methods of raising money as well.