While the charity A Family for Every Child acknowledged it had received a complaint over its fundraising tactics in the city, the contractor who collected for the charity was sceptical about reports of rude behaviour by their door-to-door representatives.
Former Male Survivors Aotearoa national advocate Ken Clearwater contacted the Otago Daily Times to highlight concerns raised by Dunedin residents who felt the fundraisers were overly aggressive.
"They were asking for money and were quite aggressive if the people said no."
Mr Clearwater underlined the harm inappropriate campaigning tactics could have on the reputation of organisations working to support male survivors.
"It doesn’t give a good name to the agencies that are trying to do their job.
"The person knocking on the door needs to have a better understanding of what they’re talking about, especially for the topic of sexual trauma."
Affected residents took to social media to share their encounters with the campaigners, many describing instances where the fundraisers were unwilling to accept "no" for an answer.
Several Mosgiel residents voiced their frustration with the fundraisers’ responses to non-donors, while a Pine Hill resident recounted that the fundraisers mentioned their neighbour’s donation to make them feel guilty.
A spokeswoman for A Family for Every Child said confirmed it had been seeking donations to support advocacy for boys who had experienced sexual violence as part of national fundraising efforts.
A spokeswoman confirmed one complaint had been received regarding a pushy fundraiser.
"Sometimes people feel sensitive or prickled by how our fundraiser approaches the topic."
The organisation apologised to anyone who had negative experiences and was willing to address concerns people had about the fundraising efforts.
"I want to apologise for this, any misunderstanding, confusion, or painful situation this has provided to anyone."
She said an Australian-based fundraising agency, Gig, had been contracted to go door to door locally.
Gig chief sales officer James Wheable defended the approach taken by staff, attributing pushy behaviour to passion about the cause.
"One person’s perception of pushy sales behaviour might be just overzealousness of a fundraiser, and we do train them to understand the sensitivities of different individuals."
Mr Wheable denied the claims of aggressive behaviour.
amasio.jutel@alliedpress.co.nz
