The Fundraising Regulator has found a commercial sports events fundraiser to have breached its code of practice six times after investigating concerns raised.
In its investigation summary, the regulator found that Sportivater UK, which arranges sponsored sporting events for primary schools, breached the code sections relating to solicitation statements and informing donors.
It found that when Sportivater worked with schools, it was not providing sufficient information to potential donors or meeting the legal requirements to give a solicitation statement when fundraising.
The regulator also found that the schools themselves had breached sections of the code relating to working with third-party fundraisers, although the regulator said that “it would not necessarily have been clear to the schools at the time that they were entering into a professional fundraising agreement”.
After its first engagement with Sportivater, the regulator said it was satisfied with the changes that the fundraiser had made to its website, but agreed with the complainant that some of the statements Sportivater made to potential donors when organising events could be misleading.
The regulator also agreed that, while Sportivater had begun to include more information about its process on its paper sponsorship forms, the font it used was too small to be widely accessible. This breached the code requirement that fundraising must be open.
It also found that Sportivater’s materials breached the code requirement to give potential donors enough information to make an informed decision, as the updated materials did not make it clear enough that Sportivater might retain 100% of donations if the event did not raise enough funds to cover its fee.
It additionally identified that Sportivater is required by law to give a solicitation statement when asking for donations, but that its first attempts to do this did not comply with the code, as they were not detailed enough.
The regulator noted that Sportivater was cooperative throughout the investigation and made “significant efforts” to adapt its materials to be compliant with the code.
Recommendations for Sportivater
The regulator recommended that Sportivater should implement changes to its marketing materials, including being clear with donors that donated funds will pay for the event in the first instance, while any funds in excess of this will benefit the school’s sports activities.
It also recommended that Sportivater advise donors that it may also benefit from any vouchers given to the school for use to buy sports equipment via its own company.
It urged the company to provide donors with a figure for the estimated amount rather than expecting donors work out that figure for themselves.
Sportivater has outlined changes taken since the initial complaint and subsequent investigation, with the regulator continuing to liaise with it about these.
Complainant disagrees with summary
In its report, the regulator said it suggested an initial solution before investigating.
“We met with Sportivater, and it agreed to make changes to its documentation and processes to comply with the code, whether or not it was working with schools that were operated by charitable trusts,” it said.
“The complainant remained unhappy with the changes and asked us to investigate formally.”
Following the investigation, the complainant asked for an external review to consider the regulator’s decision. However, the reviewer did not think the reasons for this request met the criteria for review.
The complainant told Civil Society: “I disagree with the regulator’s summary. My complaint concerned the fundraiser’s refusal to disclose the destination of £2,300 donated by parents, which remains unknown.
“The summary suggests I was ‘unhappy’ with a compliant proposed solution and then requested an investigation.
“In fact, the Fundraising Regulator acknowledged that its proposed solution was not compliant and withdrew it, and that it had failed to commence an investigation into the complaint already submitted due to an internal oversight.”
