The Fundraising Standards Board has said it is "very disappointed" that a review of fundraising has called for it to be abolished, and said a "properly resourced" FRSB would be more effective than a new regulator.
A review of fundraising regulation, led by Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, entitled Regulating Fundraising for the Future: Trust in charities, confidence in fundraising regulation, recommends creating “a more powerful body with the public interest at its heart, which can ensure that vulnerable people are protected”, which will replace the FRSB.
Alistair McLean, the chief executive of the FRSB, said he “strongly believes” that the FRSB could have done the job effectively, had it been better funded.
“We are very disappointed that the review calls for the closure of the FRSB and a new body to be established to regulate fundraising,” he said. “The FRSB has been clear during the course of the summer that regulation of fundraising requires fundamental reform.
“We support the review’s overall conclusion that self-regulation in its current form has not been sufficient to identify the practices that were exposed most recently in the media and which are currently being investigated. Such practices are unacceptable and have critically damaged public trust in charities and charitable giving.
“We strongly believe that a revamped FRSB, properly resourced, would be the most viable and cost-effective way of moving forward in developing better regulation of charity fundraising.”
The independent review into fundraising self-regulation, led by Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, said that the FRSB had “ultimately failed” and recommended it be “abolished and replaced by an entirely new regulator”.
The review was also highly critical of the performance of the Institute of Fundraising and said that it was “not a suitable organisation” to host the Code of Fundraising Practice, and said that under its stewardship the Code had been weakened by bias.
Peter Lewis, chief executive of the Institute of Fundraising, said: "Developing the right regulatory system for fundraising is absolutely vital for charities, their beneficiaries, donors, fundraisers and the general public.
“Our members have been clear throughout this process that they want to see a stronger and more robust system: a regulator with stronger sanctions and real teeth; greater powers of investigation; and a firm and clear expectation that all charities should have to comply with the standards that are agreed.
“Although I expect some of our members to be concerned that Sir Stuart is recommending that ownership of the Code moves to the new regulator, I am sure many will be reassured that he is recommending that both fundraising expertise and the IoF will have an ongoing role on the proposed Fundraising Practice Committee.”
The review also called for the Public Fundraising Association to merge with the IoF “as soon as possible” and said that the existence of three fundraising regulatory bodies had led to “unnecessarily complex and badly resourced” regulation.
Peter Hills Jones, chief executive of the PFRA said: "Sir Stuart’s report endorses feedback from our members that compliance is something they want delivered jointly by ourselves and the IoF, with regulation overseen separately by an effective and truly independent body.
"A new approach will see compliance rather than regulation become our primary focus. Our two organisations will be consulting with both sets of members over the autumn on how a merger could deliver a better service, with a final decision to be formally ratified in the summer.”
Civil society minister praises review
Rob Wilson, civil society minister and the man who commissioned Sir Stuart to conduct the review, said: “I’d like to thank Sir Stuart Etherington and the all-party review panel for their wide-ranging report. The recommendations represent a new approach to fundraising self-regulation.
“Charities need to work together to make sure vulnerable people are protected. I welcome the report as an important contribution and aim to consider fully before responding shortly.”
William Shawcross, chair of the Charity Commission, has also welcomed the review’s recommendation, particularly those calling for the commission to play a greater, co-regulatory role with the new fundraising regulator.
“Sir Stuart’s review is an important step towards rebuilding public trust in charity fundraising. The review makes recommendations to reform and strengthen self-regulation. Charities must now step up and lead the way forward.
“The Charity Commission will play its part to support the development of any new fundraising regulatory body. It is crucial that charity trustees meet their obligations to oversee fundraising and I welcome the emphasis on this in the review.”
The Information Commissioner's Office has also released a statement which said: "We welcome the fundraising review report and particularly the clear recommendations that fundraisers should comply with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations and put our direct marketing guidance into practice.
“We will be producing further guidance looking at the issues of informed consent in relation to fundraising practices and the timescale of valid consent. The guidance will also give a clear indication of our approach to regulatory action.
"Our investigations into the charity sector are continuing and we’d ask any member of the public who still has concerns to report them to us.”
Take our poll
