Canvassing and Telefundraising

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Canada has been closely monitoring developments related to COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease) and effective March 16, 2020 all face-to-face canvassing activities across the country are suspended.

 

Before pausing canvassing activities, teams were active in Montreal, Victoria, Calgary, Vancouver, Quebec City, Halifax and in the Toronto region. Teams on the street, going door-to-door and in malls have been following Public Health guidelines around the best prevention practices including frequent hand-washing and regular use of alcohol-based sanitizers, regularly sanitizing materials and tablets, limiting physical exposure and staying home when ill.

 

While we rely on our face-to-face fundraising activities as a vital source of revenue for our operations, we have chosen to take this proactive measure as the health and safety for both our canvassers and the public is paramount.

 

Since 2002, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has engaged fundraising canvassers and telemarketers who are committed to our work overseas to campaign on our behalf across Canada. These campaigns are a cost-effective way for Doctors Without Borders to reach Canadians across the country - to explain how they can help Doctors Without Borders deliver lifesaving medical relief as well as the benefits of monthly giving. 

 

Doctors Without Borders works with Public Outreach, and Globalfaces Direct on our public fundraising campaigns, and with Fundraising Direct and Keys 360 Marketing for telefundraising. All are well-regarded agencies dedicated to building a sustainable charitable sector through ethically and socially responsible methods, and have gone through a rigorous evaluation to partner with, and represent, Doctors Without Borders. 

 

In keeping with Imagine Canada’s Standards Program and best practices for fundraising, our canvassers receive an hourly wage and receive no commission for the supporters they sign up or the dollars they help raise. 

 

For security reasons our canvassers are unable to accept cash donations.

 

You can easily identify Doctors Without Borders fundraisers by their photo ID badge and Doctors Without Borders vest or shirt. They will often have a laminated brochure, or a binder with our logo and information.  

 

Doctors Without Borders canvassers will be working with handheld devices (smartphones, or tablets) which allows them to securely process credit card transactions and capture bank information on the spot, reducing administrative costs and our use of paper forms. 

 

Our fundraisers are involved in street and door-to-door canvassing. Sometimes you may meet our teams at a mall or airport as well. 

 

We carry out our fundraising activities across Canada and currently have teams active in: Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Victoria (and Vancouver Island), Calgary, Halifax, Quebec City and Toronto (and surrounding area).

Our telephone campaigns provide donors with a secure and simple way to contribute to our efforts overseas, especially during times of crisis. Our telefundraisers are based out of Ottawa and Montreal from the following numbers: