Largest fundraising charities received more than 42,000 complaints last year

The figures are contained in a report published today by the Fundraising Regulator

Almost 900 of the largest fundraising charities received more than 42,000 complaints about their fundraising activities last year, figures from the Fundraising Regulator show.

The regulator has today published a report on the number of complaints received in 2016 by 893 charities that spend more than £100,000 a year on fundraising.

The report says it is not possible to make direct comparisons with previous complaints data published by the Fundraising Standards Board, which put out its final annual complaints report last year, because the charities involved are not necessarily the same.

Last year’s FRSB report said complaints about fundraising had risen by 28 per cent in 2015 on the year before, despite a 33 per cent fall in fundraising activity by charities.

The FRSB’s report said 66,814 complaints were reported by 1,504 member organisations, which works out as 44.4 per member.

Today’s data from the Fundraising Regulator is equivalent to 47.9 complaints per member.

Direct mail accounted for the highest proportion of the complaints reported by charities in 2016, with 16,131 in a year when more than 300 million items of direct mail were sent, the report says.

Door-to-door fundraising was in second place on 6,921 complaints, with email fundraising third and clothing collections fourth, according to the report.

Figures published by the regulator show that 83 per cent of the complaints about addressed direct mail were related to accompanying enclosures sent by charities. The regulator says it wants to better understand why this was so.

The report says more than 4,000 complaints in 2016 were reported by four charities, which it does not name. The regulator says it will follow up with those organisations to understand the nature and context of those complaints.

The report says the regulator is also on track to receive more complaints itself this year than the FRSB did each year, with about 1,000 expected to be received in 2017/18, compared with 868 reported by the FRSB in 2015.

The report says the regulator received a “large number” of complaints that were outside its remit, which it referred to the relevant organisation where possible.

When put in the context of the volume of activity in each fundraising method, volunteer fundraising came out as the most complained-about method, followed by face-to-face fundraising on private sites.

The Fundraising Regulator said its report represented a new approach to how complaints data can be used and it would be putting forward proposals on what it might do differently in future years.

The regulator said it had noted a “clear willingness and commitment from organisations to work with us to continue to improve fundraising practices and ensure the best experience possible for donors”.

Stephen Dunmore, chief executive of the Fundraising Regulator, said the report demonstrated the nature of complaints made by the public about fundraising practices and the positive progress made by the sector in addressing those concerns.

“We are delighted to have received nearly 900 responses, demonstrating the collaborative nature of the sector as we work together to learn from complaints in order to improve public confidence in fundraising practices,” he said.

Peter Lewis, chief executive of the Institute of Fundraising, said: “As the Fundraising Regulator points out, there is a low proportion of complaints compared with contact with the public, which highlights that the vast majority of fundraising is carried out to a high standard.

“However, there is always room for improvement, and these findings will help the fundraising community to do even more to improve the way charities ask people for support.”

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Embrace online fundraising tools for emergencies, says Save the Children Spain’s head of digital

Maria Butera tells the International Fundraising Congress that some charities get two-thirds of their donations from this source during emergency responses

Digital fundraising accounts for about two-thirds of donations to many charities that are made in response to emergencies, according to Maria Butera, head of digital at Save the Children Spain.

Butera told delegates at the International Fundraising Congress in the Netherlands that charities needed to embrace online fundraising tools in order to respond with greater speed to emergencies.

She was speaking at session called “What’s on your mind? New opportunities with Facebook”, which explored the possibilities offered by the new fundraising tools available on the social network.

Facebook launched the tools in 16 countries including the UK in September, after they were launched in the US last year. They include a “donate” button that charities can add to Facebook posts and fundraising pages so people can raise money for their chosen causes.

Butera said the way in which Save the Children Spain raised money online had changed completely in recent years.

“In past emergencies, the first thing we usually did was to set up a web page, then send emails,” she said. “Maybe after that you might put it on Facebook once or twice.

“For some organisations and for us, digital has come to be 60 to 70 per cent of emergency income because of the nature of digital. Speed is critical in an emergency, and digital tools can help you harness that because, particularly with natural disasters such as earthquakes or hurricanes, you get all the media attention in the first days.

“After a couple of weeks nobody else is talking about the emergency, but you’re still in the field helping those people.

“So you have to take the most advantage of that bunch of digital tools and start fundraising from the first day.”

Tom D’Souza, global innovation manager at the Movember Foundation, said the Facebook tools, which the organisation tested in the US during last year’s Movember event, had been an “amazing success”.

He said: “The most exciting thing for us was some of the statistics that showed fundraising behaviour change.”

On average, he said, fundraisers using Facebook raised twice as much as those who did not.

He said the tools had also allowed the charity to reach millions of people.

“We didn’t spend a penny, so that is a natural marketing platform for us, and you’ll never be able to put a value on that,” D’Souza said.

Anita Yuen, head of social good at Facebook, said another tool, which allows charities to include donate buttons on live streams and is currently available in the US, would be available in the UK soon but was unable to confirm when exactly that would be.

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Many NGOs have a ‘blame culture’, fundraising consultant says

Gunes Yildirim tells the International Fundraising Congress that this risks repeating mistakes

Many NGOs have a “blame culture” that leaves them badly prepared to deal with a crisis, according to the fundraising consultant Gunes Yildirim.

Speaking at the International Fundraising Congress in the Netherlands yesterday, Yildirim said too many organisations were failing to learn from past mistakes. Talking openly and honestly about mistakes would help organisations to improve their culture, she said.

“Many NGOs are suffering from a blame culture where people take an approach to leadership in which they decide to ask only one question: ‘who did it?’” she said. “This is not the same as accountability.

“We need to look at the context and root cause of the failure, and instead of just focusing on who, we should ask what has happened and how and why it happened.”

Key signs of a blame culture, she said, included frequent attempts to cover up mistakes rather than fix them, indecisive staff who felt the need to check every decision with management and conversations that excluded part of the team.

Yildirim, who founded the Turkish School of Fundraising in Istanbul, said managers were often too quick to treat a failure as a “blameworthy” failure, rather than recognising that some failures could be the result of unforeseen circumstances or part of the process of innovation.

“At some point every crisis comes to an end,” she said. “But then the learning part starts: it is the key element of the crisis, and we generally skip it. Only a few organisations and departments really focus on learning after a crisis. It’s unbelievable that some organisations are not documenting either their learning or their failures.”

This, Yildirim said, made it difficult to move forward and risked repeating the same mistakes in the future.

She said it was also important to cultivate an atmosphere that encouraged testing.

“When you label something as testing and inform others that this is testing, it becomes easier for both the accountable person and the rest of the staff to understand if it does not go entirely to plan,” she said.

“This creates a safe environment where we say that failures can happen in here and it becomes a calculated risk.

“It’s hard to talk about failures and mistakes, and we have a tendency to cover them up, but we need to talk about them. If you are willing to talk about your failures, it becomes easier for others to talk about theirs.”

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Planned changes to fundraising code would ‘shift the goalposts’, says IoF policy chief

In a blog on the Institute of Fundraising website, Daniel Fluskey says proposed amendments to the Code of Fundraising Practice need a rethink

Proposed updates to the Code of Fundraising Practice could represent a “fundamental shift in goalposts” for the Mailing Preference Service, the Institute of Fundraising has said.

In a blog on the IoF website, Daniel Fluskey, head of policy and research at the IoF, gave his initial thoughts on the draft version of the code, which the Fundraising Regulator has put out for consultation.

The new version of the code has been updated to include the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation, EU legislation due to come into force next year.

But in his blog Fluskey warned the proposals about the MPS, a service set up by the Direct Marketing Association to limit unsolicited mailing, needed a rethink.

The new version of the code says organisations must not send direct marketing materials to people registered with the MPS unless they have notified the organisation specifically that they consent to receiving mail from them. The existing version says simply that organisations have to check their databases against the MPS to ensure they are not contacting anyone who does not want to be.

Fluskey said: “The proposal would mean that unless individuals have provided consent to that charity, no direct marketing mailings can be sent. That is a fundamental shift of the goalposts as to what was in the code before and, indeed, significantly changes what the MPS was set up to do.”

Fluskey wrote that the MPS told those signing up to it they would still receive mail from organisations they had done business with in the past, so organisations could still contact those on the MPS if they could demonstrate they had a legitimate interest in doing so.

But he said the changes to the code would exclude legitimate interest and would mean the relationship between a charity and someone who had been engaging with it for years could be wiped out.

“It also means that people signing up to the MPS are clearly told one thing, and sign up on that basis, but actually receive a different experience in reality,” he said.

“I don’t believe that this builds clarity and transparency. This proposal needs a rethink and we’ll be looking at it carefully.”

Fluskey said that other proposed changes needed more detail, such as the requirement that charities should keep up to date with and have regard to relevant guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office.

He said it would be useful to know whether “have regard to” should be taken to mean “follow”. He questioned whether an organisation would be in breach of the code if it could show it had read the guidance, but decided to take a different, but still legally compliant approach.

He said clarification was needed on the section that dealt with legitimate interest, and there should be more guidance and examples of how charities could explain to donors, clearly but succinctly, their rationale for contacting them using legitimate interest.

But he welcomed the updates to the code overall, saying it was a good thing to ensure that fundraisers understood their responsibilities under the GDPR. He said the inclusion of both consent and legitimate interest as valid grounds for contacting potential donors was “very welcome”.

The consultation will run until 8 December and can be found on the Fundraising Regulator’s website.

A spokeswoman for the Fundraising Regulator said: “As we are in the consultation process, we welcome the insight of the IoF, along with any charities, fundraisers and members of the public who wish to feed back on the proposed changes.”

She urged those who wanted to offer feedback to take part in the consultation.

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Regulator launches consultation on GDPR changes to fundraising code

The Fundraising Regulator has launched a consultation on the changes it plans to make to the Code of Fundraising Practice to include the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation.

The regulator is asking for views from charities, fundraisers and members of the public on an updated version of the code covering GDPR, stringent data protection laws due to come into force from March.

The consultation will run until 8 December and the new version of the code will be released in the spring, the regulator said in a statement today.

The regulator said the updated code would also address the issues raised by the fines levied by the Information Commissioner’s Office against 13 charities over data protection breaches in the past two years.

The new version of the code will ensure the regulator’s guidance and terminology is consistent with that used in the GDPR legislation and will signpost users to other guidance from the regulator and the ICO, the statement said.

The updated version of the code includes three new sections to explain areas where there have been calls for greater clarity and guidance on what the new rules mean.

One of the new sections explains what counts as processing someone’s personal data and when data protection rules apply. This section says data matching and wealth screening, two of the activities that led the ICO to issue fines to charities that had carried them out without donors’ knowledge, count as processing someone’s data. 

Another section focuses on consent, which will use the ICO’s draft GDPR guidance to explain how charities can obtain consent to process people’s data.

The final new section offers advice on legitimate interest, which allows organisations to process people’s data without obtaining consent.

The ICO has not yet published guidance on legitimate interest, so the information in the code will be drawn from the GDPR legislation itself and the recommendations of a working group on donor communications set up by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

The new code also warns charities must keep up to date with the latest guidance from the ICO.  

Suzanne McCarthy, chair of the Fundraising Regulator’s standards committee, said: “Protecting personal data is a fundamental part of meeting the key principles of legal, open, honest and respectful fundraising within the code.

“We welcome views on whether the changes proposed are clear in communicating fundraisers’ legal and ethical responsibilities on data.”

The consultation document is available here. 

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Regulator to update fundraising code to include standards for online giving platforms

It is one of the developments from a meeting last week involving the Fundraising Regulator, Charity Commission and major giving platforms

The Fundraising Regulator will update the Code of Fundraising Practice to include standards for online giving platforms, following a meeting between charity regulators and the platforms last week.

The Fundraising Regulator, the Charity Commission and representatives from 14 of the online giving platforms met last week to discuss issues such as how to tackle fraud on websites that allow people to set up fundraising pages.

In a joint statement published yesterday, attendees at the meeting said the code had been among the topics discussed.

The statement said: “The Fundraising Regulator is reviewing the Code of Fundraising Practice and wants to update and expand the standards for online fundraising set out in the code.

“Platforms will work with the Fundraising Regulator to contribute to the review of the code.”

The regulator last month announced a wider consultation on possible changes to the code, which is due to be launched later this month.

At the meeting, the platforms also committed to working with the regulators to review “their resilience to fraud and to create a new forum to share advice and intelligence about potential fraud threats”, the joint statement said.

And they have committed to offering advice and guidance to the individuals setting up fundraising pages about the choices available to them and their responsibilities.

Although all the platforms said they already had robust anti-fraud measures in place, the statement said: “More can be done, working collaboratively, to ensure clear and consistent advice across different platforms and generally to the public.

“It is critical to avoid confusion about, for example, accountability to the Charity Commission, eligibility for Gift Aid, and what happens in the event of a failed appeal.

“Platforms agree to work with the Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator to agree and disseminate clear and consistent public advice about the choices available for donating.

The Charity Commission and the Fundraising Regulator will report back to Tracey Crouch, the Minister for Civil Society, on the progress of discussions and whether they think the current regulatory framework is adequate, the statement said.

It added that online fundraising platforms that had not attended the meeting were invited to join future discussions.

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OSCR seeks views on fundraising regulation in Scotland

As part of a review commissioned by the Scottish government, the regulator wants charities and other interested people to fill in a short survey

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator is asking for views on how the new system of fundraising regulation in Scotland is working.

After the negative media coverage of fundraising in 2015, the Scottish charity sector opted not to come under the remit of the new Fundraising Regulator in England but instead set up its own Scottish Fundraising Standards Panel in December last year.

The Scottish government has now commissioned an external review of the system, a commitment that was made when the panel was launched.

As part of the review, the OSCR, which provides secretariat services for the panel, has invited charities and people to give their views on the system by completing a short survey.

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Last week, Alison Elliot, the panel’s chair, revealed it had received no complaints worthy of investigation since it was set up.

In a statement, the OSCR said completing the survey would “help ensure fundraising regulation in Scotland remains fit for purpose”.

The survey is open until 20 October and can be found on the OSCR website.

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Fundraising in Nottinghamshire – Masonic Charitable Foundation

Posted: 27th September 2017

As Nottinghamshire enters the final 12 months of its festival the team of Festival Stewards, Hall Coordinators and the Executive remain enthusiastic and dedicated to the task of raising money for young people who need our support. Throughout the year events have been taking place with one eye firmly on fundraising while having fun in the process.

Golf Day

Earlier this year a golf day at Sherwood Forest Golf Club was well supported, raising £1000. The winning team, the Collis Cowboys received prize and trophy from Festival Director, Peter Gregory.

Nottinghamshire Art Auction

Art Auction

Local artist and Freemason, David Fielding, kindly donated 100 of his pictures in support of the festival and local charities in early June and an auction was held at Worksop Masonic Hall in the north of the province. A further £1000 was raised for the festival total with the evening being concluded with supper and live music.

Coming up in Nottinghamshire

On the 30 September the Duke of Portland Lodge No 2017 will host an alternative Tercentenary Ball in Nottingham. The event includes a drinks reception, dinner and dancing and will give Nottinghamshire Masons the chance  to celebrate our tercentenary within their own Province. The event will raise money for the 2018 Festival, with each attendee having their share allocated to their individual lodge total.

The Nottinghamshire Festival Ladies Quiz Night will be held on the 14 October in Ravenshead, following their sell out event in February. Teams of up to eight people will be challenged by quiz master Mike Gyles while drinks are consumed and the participants are fed!

The Nottinghamshire Festival Ladies have designed and commissioned a beautiful tercentenary Christmas bauble for sale within the province. The decoration has been designed by local artist Kay Whitehead, the wife of W Bro Richard Whitehead and the




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Fundraising Regulator to consult on changes to code of practice

Stephen Service, policy manager at the regulator, tells Third Sector’s briefing on the General Data Protection Regulation that the consultation will begin next month and finish in December

The Fundraising Regulator will next month consult the sector on changes to the Code of Fundraising Practice to bring it in line with the General Data Protection Regulation.

Speaking at Third Sector’s GDPR briefing event in central London this morning, Stephen Service, policy manager at the Fundraising Regulator, said a consultation on the proposed changes would be launched next month and would last until mid-December.

He said the watchdog would remove and replace parts of the code that were inconsistent with the stringent new data-protection rules, which are due to come into force in May.

The key changes would then be finalised, put to the regulator’s board for approval in January and published from February 2018, before the implementation of the GDPR, said Service.

He said the consultation would “cover the proposed changes and the best way to ensure the changes are communicated effectively, because it is really important to make sure that the sector as a whole knows what’s expected of it”.

He said the regulator would ensure all terminology used in the new version of the code was consistent with the GDPR and the new version would contain definitions of key terms.

“We want to make the rules on data protection more accessible, bringing them into a single section in the code, rather than where it is at the moment – all mixed up and spread out throughout the code,” he said.

The section of the new version of the code focusing on data protection would contain three sub-sections, he said, on processing, consent and legitimate interests.

In July, Gerald Oppenheim, head of policy at the Fundraising Regulator, said the GDPR would require between 50 and 60 changes to the code in order to make it compliant.

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