How charities are addressing concerns about fundraising

Charities take concerns about fundraising seriously and have acted to avoid problems recurring

In 2015, concerns were raised about some of the methods some charities were using to fundraise with the public. These followed the high-profile case of Olive Cooke, a life-long Royal British Legion fundraiser who took her own life. Ms Cooke had previously complained to her local paper about the volume of fundraising requests she had received, saying that she had received 267 charity mailings in one month. Some sought to link her frustrations over fundraising with her death. While such a link was rejected by her family, it had the effect of raising the profile of public concerns with charity fundraising.

Shortly after, a series of exposés uncovered poor practice at fundraising agencies – private call centre companies that undertake telephone fundraising on behalf of charities. They were accused of using inappropriate tactics to pressure potentially vulnerable charity supporters into donating more.

A review into how fundraising was regulated decided that the system was weak and needed to be improved.

How charities responded

A new regulator will oversee fundraising

Charities have responded to concerns by establishing a new body to oversee fundraising and uphold public confidence. The Fundraising Regulator is tasked with ensuring that all fundraising meets public expectations. The new regulator has been financially backed by dozens of household-name charities. It judges charities against a code of practice for fundraising which ensures they work respectfully and to high standards.

The Fundraising Regulator also works with the Charity Commission and the Information Commissioner’s Office to ensure that any further concerns about how the charity has operated or has used data are also addressed.

From July 2017, there will also be a new fundraising preference service. This is a website (and phone line) where you can choose to stop receiving requests from a charity, either for yourself or a vulnerable relative. It’s only fair that if charities are asking you to support their work, they also give you a simple way to opt out if you don’t want to hear from them anymore.

Charities have overhauled how they work with agencies

Following the revelations about poor practice at some fundraising agencies, many charities suspended or cancelled their contracts with these agencies, and a number of agencies are no longer in business. Many charities have undertaken substantial reviews of their fundraising methods, revising how they contact supporters and potential supporters, and have also put in place greater oversight when they do outsource work to private agencies. Charities now make fundraising agencies sign up to written agreements that set out how they will avoid targeting anyone who may be vulnerable.

Getting it right for the future

Many charities ar eworking hard to overhaul how they go about fundraising. And a new programme, the Commission on the Donor Experience, has been set up to help charities make sure that they are being as responsive as they possibly can to donors’ needs and concerns.

If you have concerns

If you have concerns about how a charity is fundraising, you should raise it with the charity itself in the first instance. Charities will not want you to have a bad experience of their fundraising and will be keen to put things right. However, if you are not satisfied with their response, you can raise the issue with the Fundraising Regulator. You can read more about how to do this on its website.