One of the most common objections to F2F fundraising is that it is inherently insecure. Quite often people will say, on Twitter or a discussion board, that they won't sign up for a Direct Debit via a street or door fundraiser because they "don't give their bank details to strangers".
Actually, people give their bank details to strangers all the time – to door-to-door energy salespeople, shopkeepers, telemarketers representing mobile phone and insurance companies, and through any number of Internet transactions for all sorts of things. So why should some people be so reticent to engage in transactions with fundraisers?
The information you provide to a charity to allow it to set set up a Direct Debit payment is exactly the same information that you'd supply if you wrote them a cheque – name, account number and sort code. All potential fraudsters can do with this information is put money into your account, they can't take it out for themselves. In fact, there has never been a single recorded instance of fraud relating to F2F fundraising. In any case, many charities make verification calls to check details before they set up the Direct Debit, especially if they think there might be something suspect about it.
As with all Direct Debit transactions, charitable donations are covered by the Direct Debit Guarantee, under which anyone signing a Direct Debit mandate has a 14-day cooling off period during which they can cancel with no contractual comebacks. However, as a charity donation does not represent any kind of legal transaction between the charity and the donor, there are no contractual obligations on either side, so donors can cancel their Direct Debits any time they wish.