Save the Children Canada

I'm sorry to read all these reviews describing negative experiences with Save the Children. I feel like I'm reading about a different organization from the one I've been contributing to for the past decade. The ONLY thing I didn't like was that I was informed that my monthly contribution would be increased by $3 a month unless I contacted them to say I didn't want that. But I'm giving them this high rating because of how they handled it when I complained. This organization does good work. I used to give to another organization that did similar work, but they were sending me cards to show what my money was doing----I don't need that. I want as much of my money to go to the kids as it possibly can. Which is why I continue to give to Save the Children.

I read all of these reviews and felt it was best to share my experience. I had someone come to my door and yes I could tell right away they were looking for something to talk about other then what they were there for. It is simple rapport building and not really a bad thing. After some banter I asked a bunch of questions and decided to research the company before making a pledge. They did push a little and showed more documentation but I stuck with it and they accepted. Please note, this individual worked for a company contracted by save the children. So I assume that the negative experiences are not totally the fault of Save the Children. However they should be reviewing the agencies they hire to represent them so this happens less. Also reviewed the financials that I could and it shows 1 person earning 200-250K per year and 1 between 160K to 200K. If this is correct that is pretty good considering this company globally collected US$1.3 billion. Just research everything and make an informed choice before donating.

Short version: I rejected to donate when the door-to-door person came to ask, and he said things that made me feel like I was a horrible person for not donating. A charity worker shouldn't be making their potential customers feel like they are bad people for not donating. Terrible service. Long version: One of the door-to-door employee from Save the Children came to give a brief information about the company and asked about to sign up to get more information about the donation process. I thought it was just going to be my email and my name but he asked me about my address too, so I stopped giving my information and I told him that I don't want to sign up anymore. He then asked me "Why do you not want to sign up? Don't you want to help the children in poverty?" in a tone of a little disgust as if not signing up will make me a horrible person. I felt like a terrible person, even though I'm not. I was just skeptical giving my address to a company that I don't know much about. Donation doesn't define how decent a human being is, and it's not okay for workers to make people bad for not donating. Therefore, I don't think I would consider their service to donate for the good cause.

Do your research before donating... Save the Children - organization like this really makes me question the legitimacy of its operation and raise trust issues about other legit organizations that actually help children. 2 guys came to my home asking for my information. Their explanation about saving the Children made sense. I thought what a good cause. Obviously I would not provide my info to any stranger so I opted to donate myself. After I did there was no receipt, no response in email, and no response to the phone call I made. Update: I received the receipt a few days after contacting the organization.

Just had a guy and girl come to my door asking for a donation. It's 7:30pm so not too late but getting dark. Anyway they gave me their pitch. Made feel bad. They said your neighbor just donated. Showed me their information on their iPad. Talk about lack of personal information privacy. So they said they don't take cash because of covid. They said they needed credit card and the minimum donation was $20. I didn't like the idea of using a credit card but they insisted it would only take a few minutes on the phone. They would give me their phone to call the charity and make the donation. I didn't like the idea but I relented. They said they needed my information, address, name, email, phone etc so they could send me a tax receipt. After I gave them all my personal information the guy says by the way, it's a recurring monthly donation. He said I can cancel anytime. I said no thanks then. Luckily I didn't give them my credit card information yet or call the actual charity on their phone. I told him why didn't you say it was a recurring monthly donation at the beginning?? I wouldn't of bothered. He says it's easy to cancel just call before the month is up. I said I don't have time for this. He also said something earlier in the conversation about them getting a bonus if I donated today. I thought that was sketchy. Anyway this chairty it seems to be outsourcing their door to door canvassing work. Hopefully they don't bug me to death now that they have all my personal information, email and phone number. Don't donate to these guys. They try to make you feel guilty and they don't tell you at the beginning that it's a monthly donation. Sounds like by other reviews , it's hard or next to impossible to cancel. Scammers.

Lady came to my door and started off very sweet. They hook you emotionally by telling you how kids without birth certificates are more likely to experience XYZ problems, etc. I told her I'll make a one time donation online however she seemed more worried about her commission than 'Saving the Children'. After telling me I can call in and have it cancelled I agreed to sign up through her for the monthly plan. When everything was done she said I can't cancel until two weeks after which was a complete lie! Solution: Do NOT waste your time calling them, they won't pick up. Immediately call your credit card company and cancel your card to have them send in a new one. (Worked for me as an RBC client) Stay away from this charity. Dishonest malicious workers and the cancelling with them is a nightmare.

This company is completely dishonest and unprofessional. If I could give them 0 stars, I would. I was stopped by a representative while walking in downtown Calgary to pickup my car. Even though I told him I had somewhere to be, he ignored it and kept telling me about the charity. I ultimately decided it was a good cause and agreed to make a donation. However, it was only when I was on the submission step did he tell me it was a monthly donation rather than one time. This is completely dishonest as they don’t offer this information up front. He told me it would be VERY easy to cancel to ensure a one time donation. I was now running late, so I submitted. As it turns out, the cancellation process is anything but easy. Given I work long hours at the hospital, I emailed them to tell them I’m not interested to make monthly donations because it was difficult to find time and call during business hours. They emailed me back and told me cancellation can only be done via phone. Throughout the week, I probably made up to 10+ phone calls trying to reach someone and was on the verge of calling my credit card to ban these charges because I couldn’t reach the charity. Finally somebody picked up and the donation was cancelled. This caused me days of disruption in my work and I was very annoyed. Lastly, they asked if I wanted to be notified with promotions and I told them no. Despite that, they have been calling me almost daily. This is harassment, especially when I stated I did not want to be contacted. I ultimately blocked their number. TLDR: this company is dishonest and not forthcoming with the donation process, makes it near impossible to cancel your monthly donation, and harasses you non-stop with calls even when you declined to be contacted. Behaviour like this is unacceptable. Please think twice before you donate to a slimy charity like this.

Save yourself and don't donate. Wanted to make 1 time donation, rep said you need to sign up to recurring payments and can cancel anytime. I've been emailing them for 2 weeks now trying to cancel the recurring payments with no response. Calling for 2 weeks now, they never pick up their phone during their listed business hours. Goes to voicemail, have left a voicemail a day for 2 weeks and no response. Have to go the route of disputing payment as fraudulent with my bank now.