Part of the requirements of becoming a charity are that you must produce accessible information about your work that is relevant to the public’s needs. The Charity Commission interprets transparency and accountability as “providing relevant and reliable information to stakeholders in a way that is free from bias, comparable, understandable and focused on stakeholders’ legitimate needs”.
In 2002, the government Strategy Unit wrote that “Easy access to accurate and relevant information about charities is essential for real accountability, and for trust and confidence in charities.”
In recent years, several organisations have sprung up to try to improve charities’ record on accountability and transparency, such as GuideStar, New Philanthropy Capital, charityfacts.org and the Impact Coalition (now part of Acevo). In October 2008 the Charity Commission launched a new online register that allows the public to view charities’ accounts.
The amount of information that is now made accessible to the public by the internet is forcing organisations to be more transparent.
The Department for International Development must help foundations to improve transparency and pre-empt legal enforcement of reporting, according to a parliamentary report on DfID’s relationship with foundations.
The Fundraising Standards Board website will indicate which charities have not shared their complaints data in this year’s annual fundraising complaints survey.
A British initiative has come second in a league table of international aid schemes which aims to find the best opportunities for donors to accomplish good with their donation.
The Charity Commission has said it will consult the sector before devising its “good-enough” index of admin costs.
Acevo has guaranteed its commitment to the sustainability of the Impact Coalition and promised to allocate time to pursuing its objectives from within its policy and communications teams once a new strategy is set.
The Charity Commission must not be put off from trying to create a standard format by which charities can report their spending by the complexity of the task, a charity chief executive told the Commission’s chair and CEO last week.
Finding a fair way to report how much of each pound donated to charity is spent on the cause is the “holy grail of charity information” and a task the Charity Commission and the sector ought to attempt, Commission chair Dame Suzi Leather said yesterday.
Research published yesterday by nfpSynergy demonstrates the extent to which the public’s perception of charities is divorced from the reality.
The Fundraising Standards Board has kicked out and condemned fundraising company Sports 4 All after it failed to pass on the proceeds of a school fundraising event to the school.
Children's charity Global Care has launched a charity giving website, Pick the Bucket, which allows users to choose which projects go ahead.
Volunteering England has set up a new group which will provide guidelines on volunteer management and look to create a mechanism for mediating conflicts which arise between volunteers and charities.
Speculate to accumulate
Sarah Tirrell sets out the case for investing in fundraising.
Acevo is struggling to put the Impact Coalition on a sustainable financial footing and is planning to review its patronage of the project.
The government plans to "embarrass" banks and their staff into donating more to charities by producing a league table of bankers' donations.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council plans to make public all its payments to the voluntary sector in what it calls a bid to become ‘Britain’s most transparent council’.
Charities are failing to effectively communicate their impact to potential donors, according to a new report from New Philanthropy Capital.
The Impact Coalition has launched a 'transparency manifesto' to help charities respond to media attention and address the perception gap between how the public think charities operate and the reality.
Acevo has secured pro bono advice from the world’s biggest PR agency to help the sector mount a robust defence against negative media coverage of issues like fundraising costs or CEOs’ salaries.
British Red Cross fundraising director Mark Astarita has defended the decisions by several of the UK’s biggest charities not to appear on the BBC Newsnight programme about street fundraising, claiming they were being set up for a “bear-baiting contest”.
The Disasters Emergency Committee has raised £47m for the Pakistan flood emergency effort, as its annual report shows it is reviewing its accountability framework.
Acevo chief executive Stephen Bubb has written a stern letter to the CEOs of the top 50 fundraising charities challenging their reluctance to defend the sector on last week’s Newsnight programme about face-to-face fundraising.
Charities must be prepared to be open not just about costs, but about what they have achieved, argues Tris Lumley.
Last week’s announcement that the Department for International Development will set up a watchdog for aid spending could portend a new statutory funding world order, says Celina Ribeiro.
Nick Cater examines New Philanthropy Capital's Charities Data Act idea.
Door-to-door fundraising recorded the biggest increase in complaints from the public last year, according to the Fundraising Standard’s Board annual report.
An independent watchdog for international development will soon be monitoring the results and impact of British overseas aid programmes, following the first major speech by the new international development secretary today.
The ImpACT Coalition has instigated talks with the PFRA about creating a unit dedicated to combating negative press coverage about charities and fundraising.
ImpACT Coalition members will be asked to approve a draft manifesto on transparency next week ahead of the formalisation of the document later in the summer.
Charities should be made to share data about the effectiveness of their services via a Charities Data Act, according to New Philanthropy Capital.
The Duchess of York last night brushed aside the humiliation of being caught offering an undercover reporter access to her ex-husband Prince Andrew for cash, to attend the Variety International Awards where she received the Catherine Variety Sheridan Award.
