Christian Aid has apologised and agreed to review its agency arrangements after third-party fundraisers breached the Fundraising Regulator’s code when processing a regular donation from a vulnerable person.
The fundraisers were found to have ignored a “no cold calling” sign at the home of a person with cognitive disabilities and speech and hearing difficulties when setting up a direct debit donation from them in June 2024.
In its investigation, the regulator found nine breaches of its code in total and concluded that Christian Aid was “overly reliant” on agency Gather Campaigns to manage compliance further down the supply chain.
While the contract between the charity and Gather Campaigns itself was comprehensive, the regulator found agreements between the agency and subcontracted fundraisers lacked detail about their obligations to meet the code of practice.
The regulator recommended that Christian Aid reviews its arrangements with Gather Campaigns and that both organisations consider their monitoring and compliance arrangements with subcontracted fundraisers.
It called on the charity to review its own training materials and consider further ways to identify potential inherent compliance issues within its full supply chain.
The regulator also urged the agency to review its agreements with subcontractors and the materials used for training its fundraisers.
‘We are so sorry’
A Christian Aid spokesperson apologised and said the charity had stopped working with Gather Campaigns since the incident.
“We are so sorry this has happened,” they said. “We fully accept all the recommendations and are taking action to ensure this never happens again.
“We stopped working with the company which contracted the third-party fundraisers more than a year ago.”
A spokesperson for Gather Campaigns said they accepted the regulator’s findings and recommendations.
“The matters raised have been addressed, and improvements have been implemented and embedded within our training and compliance processes,” they said.
“We recognise the importance of maintaining robust controls and high standards in the delivery of fundraising activity and remain committed to continuous monitoring and improvement.”
