Fundraising Regulator investigation: useful lessons for charities working with fundraising agencies
Last week the Fundraising Regulator published a report into a complaint made against Cancer Relief and its fundraising agency.
There are useful lessons to draw from the case, most interestingly in the advice given to the charity about how to maintain sufficient oversight of its fundraising agency. This has been a theme of the Fundraising Regulator in recent months.
The complaint was made by a member of the public who had a sign up saying no unsolicited or unaddressed post, and who had signed up to the charity’s ‘do not contact’ list. Before and after complaining to the charity, collection bags were delivered to the complainant.
Key takeaways from the fundraising Regulator’s investigation:
- Have a contract with your commercial partner (both the charity and the fundraising agency were unable to produce a contract).
- Any complaints must be investigated thoroughly.
- Monitoring the commercial partner and ensuring their compliance with the Code of Fundraising Practice is very important.
- Contractual arrangements must be regularly reviewed, and updated as needed, to ensure sufficient oversight.
Cancer Relief UK and Recycling Solutions North West Ltd: November 2024
Our content explained
Every piece of content we create is correct on the date it’s published but please don’t rely on it as legal advice. If you’d like to speak to us about your own legal requirements, please contact one of our expert lawyers.