The Public Fundraising Regulatory Association has officially endorsed the word ‘chugger’ by announcing it will use it in engagement with stakeholders, “when appropriate”.

Although the PFRA has been using the word in certain circumstances for years now, today it issued an official position statement stating that use of the term has now been discussed and approved by its communications and engagement committee.

According to head of communications Ian MacQuillin, use of the word by the public has only become widespread since 2009.

Although it was coined from the words ‘charity’ and ‘mugger’ and used for many years as a negative and insulting term, many people now use it as a neutral, descriptive term rather than with any negative connotations.

MacQuillin said: “Although fundraisers perceive that ‘chugger’ is predominantly used pejoratively, PFRA has detected a shift in its usage.  We have been monitoring social media networks since November 2009. Early indications are that there are eight or nine daily uses of ‘chugger’ in a fundraising context, about 50 per cent of which come through Twitter.

“However, only a third of these are negative uses, the rest are classified as neutral.”

MacQuillin also said that many people outside London are unaware of the word and its meaning, and if ‘chugger’ is to become a more widely adopted term then the PFRA wants to use the word with its neutral meaning in discussions with regional stakeholders “before they become familiar with its minority pejorative use”.

However, he stressed the term would only be used where appropriate.  “We will not be adopting ‘chugger’ as our default term for a street face-to-face fundraiser.”