The FRSB has ruled that a breast cancer charity didn’t breach the Code of Fundraising Practice after a complaint was made over a £1 discretionary donation being added to a restaurant bill, according to the adjudication report published today.
In its investigation report, the FRSB said that Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention didn’t breach the Code of Fundraising Practice by holding the discretionary fundraising initiative in tandem with a national restaurant chain as it was conducted in an “open and transparent manner” and was “delivered in a suitably discreet way”.
The FRSB opened its investigation after a complaint was made in December 2015 by someone who had visited a restaurant in Alderley Edge, Cheshire. The restaurant staff added a “discretionary £1 donation” to each customer’s bill and gave the “opportunity to opt out of making a donation at the point of paying” for the meal.
According to the report, the complainant felt that this approach was “deceptive because they had not seen any promotional literature advertising the partnership and was ‘angry and annoyed’ that the £1 donation had been added to their bill ‘without any explanation or consent’”.
The complainant felt that the initiative “failed to take into account their ‘fundamental right’ to be able to make an active choice about whether or not do donate” and said it put diners “in an awkward position”.
The FRSB board adjudicated this case at Stage 3 of its complaints process on 25 April 2016 and considered whether Genesis had breached the code in three specific areas: working with third parties; as well as fundraising with an ‘Open’ and ‘Respectful’ principle.
Nikki Barraclough, executive director at Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention, said: "We pride ourselves on adhering to the Code of Fundraising Practice and we're pleased the Fundraising Standards Board concluded that Genesis acted in an appropriate way throughout the initiative and subsequent investigations.
"As a small charity, we rely solely on donations from the public to continue with our vital research into predicting and preventing breast cancer, so we wholeheartedly welcome any new guidelines that will reinforce openness and transparency within the charity sector."
Recommendations
The FRSB found that no breaches of the code took place.
As part of its adjudication, the FRSB made a number of sector wide recommendations as the fundraising model used by Genesis and the restaurant “has been adopted by a significant number of organisations”.
The FRSB recommended that “the Code of Fundraising Practice is extended to provide a set of best practice guidelines designed to ensure that these activities are executed in a respectful, open and transparent manner at all times” and said that particular attention should be paid to “seeking buy-in from those organisations that do not typically fall within the jurisdiction of the code”.
Andrew Hind, chair of the FRSB, said: “Discretionary donations have become increasingly common in restaurants and shops which want to generate income for charities as part of their social responsibility activity. It has become a popular way for many people to give to charity.
“As such, we recommend that further guidance is developed to support charities and third parties looking to fundraise in this way.”
