Revised House-to-House Collections Code of Fundraising Practice published
Howard Lake | 30 March 2011 | News
The Institute of Fundraising has published its revised House-to-House Collections Code of Fundraising Practice. The new version was developed in response to the growing number of charities undertaking goods and collections and the increasing range of collections options available to charities.
The Code gives more specific and detailed ./guidance for the different types of collections that charities can use, and the different parties’ involvements. It also covers the issue of bogus collections and some tips on trying to avoid giving to them, and is designed to help tackle issues such as oversaturation and thereby raise public trust and confidence in house-to-house collections.
The Code was revised by representatives of charities, umbrella bodies and commercial collectors. During the public consultation stage it received 44 responses, the most ever received for a code of practice consultation.
Peter Storey MInstF(Cert), Director of Marketing, Kidney Research UK and Chair of the Code working party, said: “We are delighted to launch this new Code, which has achieved consensus within the wider fundraising sector around how to conduct house-to-house collections. At a time when clothes collections were getting a difficult press, and this fundraising technique was under threat, the sector has come together to agree the highest standards”.
Alistair McLean, Chief Executive of the Fundraising Standards Board, added: “Clothing collections have become a crucial source of income for so many UK charities and it is essential that best practice is established. This new Code will guide not only fundraisers and suppliers, but help the public identify bogus collectors from genuine ones, giving them confidence to keep on donating both cash and goods.”
The revised code can be downloaded at no charge from:
www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/codes
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.