The Fundraising Regulator has made changes to its updated code of practice to improve its clarity following feedback from the charity sector.
This week, the regulator’s head of policy Paul Winyard published a blog to update the sector on some of the actions it has taken to help charities implement the new Code of Fundraising Practice, which comes into effect on 1 November.
Winyard’s blog highlights three amendments made to the code and details about a new frequently asked questions page that covers common questions about it.
The regulator’s revisions are to ID badge requirements, explanatory information on will-writing partners and a clarification of “processing fees” in unstaffed collections.
ID badge requirements
The original wording in the new code, originally published in April, required ID badges for professional fundraisers to include the name and contact details of both the charitable institution and third-party employer.
Winyard said feedback suggested it “could create practical challenges in situations where fundraisers from a single agency work on behalf of multiple charities – for example, the need to produce multiple ID badges”.
“As rule 7.4.4 requires that fundraisers can be clearly identified as representing a charitable institution (for example, through branded clothing), we concluded that it may not be necessary to include this information on every ID badge,” he said.
Now, all ID badges must contain the name of, and contact details for, either the charitable institution the fundraiser is collecting for or the third-party employer.
Processing fees
The previous version of the code referred to “any processing fees” in relation to unstaffed collections, which Winyard said “could be interpreted as referring to every fee, including standard transaction costs, such as card processing fees”.
He said “these aren’t expected to be quoted in other fundraising activities and this wasn’t the intention of the rule”.
The wording has been revised to “details of the processing fees involved in the donation”, while a new glossary entry for “processing fee” has been added.
Will-writing partners
Some fundraising organisations requested clarity about the explanatory information on will-writing partners.
Winyard said some “interpreted this as requiring fundraisers to maintain formal partnerships with at least two will-writing providers, which wasn’t the intention”.
To clarify, the wording has been revised to “giving the testator at least two providers to choose from, without providing a recommendation”.
Related articles
