Donation Requests at Biodome/Olympic Stadium, Montreal

[toguy]

On a recent trip to Montreal, while walking around the Biodome/Olympic Stadium area, I was approached by no less than three individuals soliciting donations. All three were separate instances and I remember at the time thinking that the second and third requests were different organizations than the first, so it wasn't a case of running into two people from the same organization. I don't recall specifically what 'charitable organizations' they represented but they certainly were not mainstream ones. They did have 'ID' cards around their necks, if that means anything, lol. I politely declined, but I was thinking about it after, wondering if these are basically scammers who are living off of the kindness of tourists who don't know any better, or were these individuals in fact genuinely representing lesser-known charities? Is this par for the course or did I just happen to be there on a 'bad day'? :confused: I haven't really seen anything like that in Toronto so it was a real surprise...

[ronin1701]

There are so many organizations who take on students in the summer to do this sort of thing. I think I first noticed it in Australia maybe 6 or 7 years ago.

Nowadays you can't walk down Yonge St. or Bloor St. on a summer day without running into someone soliciting donations every few kilometres (or less in the heavy traffic areas) with their clipboards and binders in hand.

[driverso]

Nowadays you can't walk down Yonge St. or Bloor St. on a summer day without running into someone soliciting donations every few kilometres (or less in the heavy traffic areas) with their clipboards and binders in hand.

The canvassers can be pleasant but quite aggressive. Anyone know if there is a for profit organizer of these "requests for donations" and whether the people on the street are commission based. They remind me of "spa day" sellers who would seem incredibly bubbly to get you to talk to them and consider their offer which would always lead to an up sell. I used to wonder what they were on.

[ronin1701]

They canvassers can be pleasant but quite aggressive. Anyone know if there is a for profit organizer of these "requests for donations" and whether the people on the street are commission based. They remind me of "spa day" sellers who would seem incredibly bubbly to get you to talk to them and consider their offer which would always lead to an up sell. I used to wonder what they were on.

Yes, I've seen ads posted for that sort of thing. Almost always some generic marketing company, not the actual charity.

[wilson_wu]

Were they filipino? lol

[Triad]

I see a lot of flips do these around here.
As well as the subway stations.

[RolandCouch]

I had a room mate in university that did this type of job. She got paid more depending on how many people she could get to subscribe for X number of dollars per month.