The decision of a Leicestershire council to potentially limit house-to-house collections to campaigns which return at least 70 per cent of income to charity has been praised by the Charity Retail Association but treated with caution by the Institute of Fundraising.

A Charity Retail Association spokeswoman said the organisation “welcomed the decision” of Corby Council to direct its licensing officers to give serious consideration to rejecting any applications for house-to-house collections licences which deliver less than 70 per cent of income to charity.

“Local authorities have a right to take a lead,” said the spokeswoman, adding that people are concerned about what returns charities get on commercial collections.

A researcher for the CRA, Cristina Osoro-Cangas, told civilsociety.co.uk that the decision was “a step in the right direction” and that ideally the council might have gone yet further. The CRA, however, is not currently actively pushing for 100 per cent of donations to go to shops although it recommends donors give directly to stores.

But the Institute of Fundraising, which has just concluded a consultation process with the licensing officers’ body, the National Association of Licensing and Enforcement Officers, had a different opinion.

The Institute’s director of policy and campaigns, Louise Richards, said that while it was the council’s prerogative to establish its own recommendations, “they have to be even-handed about this”.

“There are expenses involved in any kind of collection. There are costs involved in running a shop and there are costs involved when charities can’t have shops and use commercial collectors. We have always said that whatever policy is in place should provide a level playing field for different types of collection,” she said.

“They need to realise that there are always costs associated with all types of fundraising. At the end of the day the types of questions that should be being asked – how have charities made a difference?”

No real threat to other fundraising forms

The Public Fundraising Regulatory Association, which regulates door-to-door fundraising which requires local authority licences, said that the incoming fundraising licensing guidance from NALEO should protect charities from such fundraising return limitations on their licensing applications.

Michael Naidu, acting chair of the PFRA, told CivilSociety.co.uk: “I don't think it is a good idea to ask licensing enforcement officers to make a decision on an appropriate return which are by no means easy to calculate and this proposal in Corby will not have any impact on bogus and fraudulent collections.
 
“The PFRA is wholly supportive of the guidance for licencing officers being developed by NALEO in close conjunction with the Institute which does not recommend that their members consider the return too the charity. If this clear and reasoned guidance is used then I do not perceive there to be any real threat to any forms of fundraising on the doorstep.”