Two charities named to the Sunday Times by the Charity Commission as having unusually high direct mail costs had already been told that there were “no regulatory concerns” about their activity.
The newspaper published two critical articles at the weekend looking into charities which had spent up to 90 per cent of their income on direct mail. The article was based on a list of ten charities supplied by the regulator.
But two of the charities on the Commission’s list – aid organisation Bread and Water for Africa and Catholic charity the Salvatorian Mission – had already received letters from the regulator in autumn last year saying that the regulator was satisfied with their activities and that no further regulatory action was required.
In both cases the regulator has since had no significant contact with them, and neither was made aware they would potentially be the subject of a critical national newspaper article.
The Sunday Times is understood to have contacted both charities but did not publish their names. The Charity Commission has since released the same details to other media outlets, including Civil Society News.
The Commission defended its decision to release their information to the newspaper, saying that it had been right to seek assurances from the charities and that as a result, it was right to inform the newspaper about the fact that they had been under scrutiny.
A Charity Commission spokesman said: “Following correspondence from Bread and Water for Africa that confirmed they were already looking to curtail their fundraising activity significantly and evidence that they provided effective oversight of their fundraising, the Commission was satisfied that no further regulatory action was required.
“Correspondence from the Salvatorian Mission acknowledged that there was room for improvement and confirmed that they would seek to improve the cost of generating funds. The trustees also acknowledged that they had not met for two years or discussed any papers that deal specifically with the use of direct mail for raising funds.
“Following confirmation that the trustees would now instigate quarterly meetings and that they would review their fundraising initiatives and ratios and provide better oversight at these meetings, the Commission confirmed it currently had no further regulatory concerns.
“The Commission is pleased that both charities were able to confirm these details through our engagement.”
