The Fundraising Regulator has named and shamed EveryChild as one of the charities which had not paid the voluntary levy, despite the fact that the charity has been effectively closed since last October.
Last week the regulator published its list of charities which had been asked to pay the levy. It included both EveryChild, which had not paid and Family for Every Child, which had paid.
EveryChild merged with Family for Every Child in October 2016, having been through a four-year process of winding down EveryChild’s activities and setting up Family for Every Child as an international alliance.
The charity has said that it has been fully compliant, but the regulator said the levy request was properly issued.
In 2012 EveryChild, an aid charity delivering projects around the world, decided to join an international alliance Family for Every Child to work with partners around the world and end its own on-the-ground provision.
In an article for Charity Finance last year John Bines, then chief executive of EveryChild, wrote: “In June 2012, the EveryChild board took the historic decision that EveryChild’s future lay with the alliance and that ultimately (with a target date of 2016), its assets would transfer to the alliance. EveryChild set about planning its own obsolescence.”
He added that EveryChild expected to complete its final project by the end of June 2016 – over a year ago, and expected to make the final asset transfer shortly thereafter. EveryChild is currently listed as a subsidiary of Family for Every Child on the Charity Commission’s register.
Family for EveryChild confirmed that the merger took effect on 1 October 2016. The Charity Commission register lists EveryChild as a subsidiary of Family for Every Child and includes contact details at Family for Every Child.
‘There must be an error’
A spokeswoman for Family for Every Child told Civil Society News that it had been “compliant with all the rules” and that it has contacted the Fundraising Regulator as it thinks there must have been a mistake as “EveryChild is now dormant”.
“During the year in question, there wasn't sufficient fundraising expenditure for any levy to be paid by EveryChild," the charity said. "We think this is therefore an error on the regulator’s side as they may have misunderstood the changes due to the merger. We are following this up with them as we speak.”
From Charity Finance magazine
‘Levy request properly issued’
The Fundraising Regulator said it had not heard from EveryChild until after the list was published last week.
A spokeswoman said: “We had not been aware of their 2016 merger with Family for Every Child until the charity told us last week and had not had any response to the levy letter, invoice or reminders. The levy is based on the annual return for 31 December 2014, before the merger took place, so the levy request was properly issued.
“Now that Every Child has been in touch we will consider the position with them and Family for Every Child. It is important that charities tell us about important changes in their circumstances like this.”
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