Fundraising Regulator

There is a huge legal backdrop to fundraising regulations and compliance. The IOF (Institute of Fundraising) set out all of the legal areas on their website, namely:

• Tax efficient giving;
• Data protection;
• Solicitation statements;
• Contracts and agreements;
• Honesty in fundraising;
• Trading;

They have also set out guidance for best practice in door to door fundraising legislation and a due diligence checklist for all operators.

New ideas include site management agreements by local authorities, which control the areas of where and when fundraising can take place. There is also an online diary system where bids can be made to operate at certain times/dates.

The new fundraising regulator has issued the new rule book on Door to Door Fundraising (July 2016), which followed the Review of Fundraising Regulation by Sir Stuart Etherington who proposed this new regulator and seems to be the new CEO. There is also the Rules for Fundraisers and the Rules for Operational Staff, relating to wider organisational practices.

The rule book contains guidance on sanction which includes fines for breach which start at 100 points per breach (each point is £1). If, for example, an organisation had 50 member of staff, and each were committing 50 breaches, this would soon add up. Furthermore, there are multipliers for repeat violations, i.e. every 3rd infringement incurs a penalty of double the normal amount.

The regulator has also issued the Code of Fundraising Practice. This is a comprehensive rule book that looks at compliance for every aspect of fundraising. It makes the point that many obligations are legal obligations, and the remainder are best practice where the regulator treats the issue as a professional standard to be met by fundraising organisations.