Judge Neave said his methods were the same on almost every occasion.
He would go into a store and wait for the opportunity steal a charity box, safe, or cash register, before making off with the money.
In January, he stole a Recovery Canterbury Appeal donation box which had $80 inside it, and in May he took Returned Servicemen's Association's poppy appeal box containing $300.
His biggest theft came when he took $3200 from a safe in a shop at the Palms shopping centre in Christchurch.
A judge had previously told the court Rochford had stolen the money to fund his "raging drug habit".
His lawyer Claire Yardley said: "Mr Rochford knows his offending is very deceitful and is under no illusions how his offending is viewed by the public".
In a letter to the court, he admitted his "shame" over the thefts which Judge Neave said had embarrassed and humiliated his family.
The judge said Rochford had 51 previous dishonesty convictions, and jailed him for 18 months with six months of release conditions.
He added that Rochford could apply to swap his sentence for home detention if space at Odyssey House Trust drugs rehab centre became available.
