The Fundraising Standards Board has not upheld a complaint made against the Salvation Army’s trading arm in its final adjudication report published today.
In its final adjudication report, the FRSB found that the Salvation Army Trading Company Limited (SATCoL) had been both “respectful” in its dealings with the complainant, and had made reasonable efforts to ensure that, where possible, its collection activities through the Royal Mail were compliant with the Code of Fundraising Practice.
The investigation was upscaled to a full board adjudication on 19 July, after a complaint was made to the FRSB by a person who objected to receiving a Salvation Army collection bag through the post, despite having a “cease and desist” notice on their door.
Despite the presence of this sign, the FRSB concluded that SATCoL had made “reasonable efforts to ensure that the Royal Mail was complying with the Code of Fundraising Practice while managing the campaign” and had “demonstrated respect for the wishes of people displaying signs on their door requesting no charity bags" by encouraging the Royal Mail to respect their wishes.
The FRSB also concluded that SATCoL had “dealt with the complaint itself in a respectful and thorough manner” after it made the decision to remove the complainant’s “entire postcode from all future distribution lists in order to ensure that they received no further charity collection bags”.
Despite not finding SATCoL in breach of the code in either instance, the FRSB said that it “should have done more to protect individuals not wishing to receive Salvation Army collection bags” by ensuring that the Royal Mail terms and conditions it signed “included a stipulation that househoulds displaying signage similar to the complainant’s should not be approached by distributors”.
It also noted that the Code “needs to be much clearer on the status of ‘no charity bags’ signage and provider clearer guidance for the sector” to prevent such incidents happening again in the future.
For its part, SATCoL have “advised the Royal Mail that it will not continue to use it for future collection activities unless it agrees not to deliver to households” displaying such signage.
As part of its sector-wide recommendations, the FRSB have said that ‘no bags’ signs must be respected; that a “standard, official and unambiguous sign be created” for members of the public to easily express their contact preferences, and that subscribers to the Royal Mail’s existing opt-out service for households not wishing to receive unsolicited materials in the post should receive “clear and explicit notification” that their subscription is due to expire.
The FRSB also noted that the complainant had made a similar, recent complaint to the FRSB as part of a case involving NSPCC and Clothes Aid, which was published on 4 August.
Stephen Dunmore, interim chief executive of the Fundraising Regulator, said: “The FRSB’s final adjudication again shows how essential it is for charities and their partners to respect the wishes of households that do not want to receive marketing, particularly where a sign has been put up to make this plain.
"In light of the findings of this adjudication, the Fundraising Regulator will now consider whether the Code needs to be amended.
“The complainant has raised additional concerns with the FRSB about other organisations. As the Fundraising Regulator, we will be writing to those organisations in order to bring to their attention the wish of the complainant to receive no further collection bags and to ensure that those wishes are respected.”
SATCoL have been approached for a comment.
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