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Strict Rules Proposed for the Charities Sector

on Monday, 28 September 2015.

Earlier this year we reported on the Government's response to the controversy surrounding 'aggressive fundraising'.

A recently released Government-commissioned review, led by Sir Stuart Etherington from The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), has recommended:

  • that the main fundraising regulator (the Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB)) be scrapped
  • the creation of a register to allow people to opt out of all charity contact

The Fundraising Regulator

The review acknowledged that 'the FRSB has striven hard to represent the public interest' but concluded that it did not have the sanctioning powers necessary to adequately regulate. The review has recommended that the fundraising regulator should have powers to, amongst other things:

  • name and shame
  • issue cease and desist orders
  • require compulsory training and
  • clear future campaigns in certain circumstances

Central Register

The review recognises the frustrations that some members of the public feel by not being able to opt out of being approached for fundraising requests and the lack of transparency over how their data was acquired.

This issue has been in the spotlight following the death of Olive Cooke, the UK's longest serving poppy seller, earlier this year who had received 267 charity letters in one month. More recently, it has been alleged that 87 year old dementia sufferer Samuel Rae's details were sold or passed on by charities up to 200 times and this is currently being investigated by the Information Commissioner's Office.

The review has recommended the establishment and maintenance of a 'fundraising preference service' which would allow individuals to add their names to a 'suppression list', so that fundraisers have a clear indication that they should not be contacted. All fundraisers should be responsible for checking the list before sending out a campaign.

What happens next?

The review strongly recommends that a sector summit takes place with the Office for Civil Society, the Charity Commission, the FRSB, the Institute of Fundraising, the Public Fundraising Association and representatives of small and large charities being involved in order to formalise necessary transitional arrangements.

Watch this space.


For further information, please contact Paul Ridout in our Charity Law Team on 020 7665 0869.