In fact, he is privately employed by a marketing company, Cornucopia Consultancy. And for each person he signs on to give to charity, Cornucopia takes a cut - a big cut, up to 95 per cent of the total donation collected in the first year. But the longer a donor stays on, the greater the return to the charity. Cornucopia is the industry leader in what is known as face-to-face fund-raising, and over the past decade has been engaged by many of Australia's best-known overseas aid organisations and charities. The outsourcing of labour is just one way that charities have become more like mainstream business. ''The reality is that 21st century development agencies are not-for-profit, but they are run on business principles,'' says Marc Purcell from the Australian Council for International Development, the body that represents major aid groups in Australia. Cornucopia, aid groups argue, offers a service as specialist fund-raisers that volunteers alone cannot provide. It recruits enthusiastic backpackers on working-holiday visas, or students looking for casual work, and the operations technique is familiar to people who have run across these so-called ''charity muggers'' in streets or shopping centres - convince a person to allow a monthly debit from their bank account each month to fund good works. They don't want spare change; they want to hook people in a lasting relationship. Cornucopia's street marketers are not allowed to collect cash, only credit card or bank details.

They are paid a base wage of $15 to $20 dollars per hour, with those who choose to sacrifice part of their hourly rate and work for commission standing to earn far more. Despite Cornucopia's cut, aid organisations insist this type of fund-raising has delivered them an economic boom. Oxfam Australia executive director Andrew Hewett describes the technique as the ''backbone'' of his organisation's growth. Fund-raising in the foreign aid sector last year raked in over $812 million dollars. ''What we find is most people who join up stay around for at least three to four years, in many instances considerably longer,'' Mr Hewett says. ''It has given us assured income, which means that we are in a much stronger position.'' Over the course of the sector-average four-year pledge, it leaves Cornucopia with a cut of about 24 per cent.

But less clear is the extent donors understand that a large portion of their money actually goes to a private company - and whether charities do enough to disclose the costs, or choose to play on a level of public ignorance to secure fresh contributions. A survey by Choice last year found that four in five Australians had little idea what proportion of their donation actually reached their favoured charity's beneficiaries. Cornucopia director Paul Tavatgis says in a typical deal his company is contracted to go out and harvest pledges. Once a donor is signed up, Cornucopia then passes these details to the charity. Should the donor decide to pull out of the relationship inside the first 100 days, Cornucopia receives no fee and the street marketer forfeits any commission. But if the donor stays on beyond the honeymoon period Cornucopia charges the charity between 80 to 95 per cent of the total pledged for the first year, regardless of when the donor then withdraws. For Oxfam, the relationship with Cornucopia is disclosed in fine print on the sign-up form. Street marketers also have a note stating ''paid collector'' on a badge also displaying the Oxfam logo.

''We've taken what I think is reasonable precaution to ensure people understand they are not volunteers, there is a financial relationship there,'' Mr Hewett says. ''I think there has been an acceptance that we have to go down this road if we are going to find effective ways to involve people in our work.'' Yet disquiet remains. How can a street marketer understand all of the challenges facing one aid group one day, and then a completely different one the next, one collector - who asks not to be identified - asks. ''People are definitely looking at contracts, not causes.'' With DELLARAM JAMALI, HARI RAJ