​Direct fundraising methods irk the public most, a new survey finds.

One of the paradoxes of this research is that the methods the public think are effective often are not.

People prefer being asked to give to charity via collection tins or adverts and get “very annoyed” by doorstep and professional street fundraisers.

The findings, part of an NFPSynery Annoying Fundraising Methods survey, found a third of all those surveyed found chuggers irritating and viewed doorstep fundraisers as invading their privacy.

Digital fundraising methods didn’t fair much better: text marketing was very annoying to people, with 20% saying the same for email.

The new data is based on a survey of 1,000 British adults who were asked to grade fundraising methods on a sliding scale from very effective to very annoying. It did show that some fundraising methods sit well with the public.

Over a third of people were happy to be asked to donate via collection tins and online adverts, while around a quarter find face-to-face, radio and TV approaches acceptable.

The results will be awkward for professional fundraisers, who mostly believe that these two methods are not particularly effective.

NFPSynergy’s driver of ideas, Joe Saxton, said the Holy Grail in fundraising must be to maximise the money raised and minimise the aggravation it causes.

"One of the paradoxes of this research is that the methods the public think are effective often are not – it may be that they just find them less annoying.

“It’s no good thinking that the public are happy with certain fundraising methods and only those should be used if they are not the methods that maximise donations."