A Christian charity in the West Midlands breached the Code of Fundraising Practice by being directly involved in the drafting of one of its supporters’ wills, an investigation has concluded.
The Fundraising Regulator found that an employee of Centrepoint Christian Church drafted the supporter’s will in August 2021 while one of its trustees was a witness.
The West Bromwich-based charity was unaware of the potential ethical and legal implications and its experience of managing legacy donations was limited, the regulator stated.
According to the Code of Fundraising Practice, charities must not be directly involved in the drafting of wills in their favour.
Overall, the regulator found that the charity made three breaches of its code.
The regulator’s investigation opened in April 2023 after it received a complaint that the charity obtained funds and personal items from the complainant’s relative by drafting a new will, which revoked a previous will and benefited the charity.
The complainant told the regulator that their relative, during this period, was under considerable physical and emotional strain, including caring for their dying partner.
Recommendations
The regulator recommended that the charity should improve its trustees’ awareness around conflicts of interest and charity governance.
It also urged the charity to introduce a fundraising policy for supporting donors who may be in vulnerable circumstances.
The charity accepted that it could have explored alternative courses of action, such as insisting that the donor obtain independent legal advice to assist them with the preparation of a new will.
It has introduced a new legacy policy and strengthened its existing conflicts of interest policy to make it more comprehensive, the regulator reported.
Civil Society has asked Centrepoint Christian Church to comment.
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