Fundraising Regulator publishes guidance to help with Charities Act reporting requirements
Melanie May | 15 January 2020 | News
The Fundraising Regulator has today (15 January) published guidance to help charities comply with the fundraising reporting requirements in the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016.
Under the Act, charities are required to provide a statement on fundraising in their annual reports. However, Fundraising Regulator analysis of 106 annual reports filed with the Charity Commission found that only 40% of charities included a fundraising statement that met requirements.
Common issues included:
- limited detail about how fundraising campaigns are run and managed, including who carries out the work
- failure to demonstrate how the Code of Fundraising Practice is used to guide their work
- a lack of thorough description about fundraising carried out on behalf of the organisation
- frequent omission of the number of complaints received
- limited explanation of how vulnerable people are protected in the organisations’ fundraising work
Lord Toby Harris, Chair of the Fundraising Regulator, said:
“Although our review has highlighted a low level of compliance with The Charities Act 2016 in terms of fundraising statements, we recognise that this is the first year of reporting in this manner. We are committed to working with charities, especially those with lower fundraising budgets, to promote better practice in reporting and the importance of providing a comprehensive statement.”
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To this end, the Regulator’s Good practice guidance on reporting your fundraising includes information on:
- what the fundraising statement should consist of
- examples of a fully compliant report
- expectations from the Charity Commission
- what charities can expect from auditors and independent examiners
Chief Executive of the Fundraising Regulator, Gerald Oppenheim, added:
“This first year of reporting gives us valuable insight into common issues arising in charities’ fundraising statements. This is an important opportunity for the sector to come together to ensure that everyone is being held accountable to increase standards of reporting across the board.”
Peter Lewis, Chief Executive of the Institute of Fundraising, also commented, saying:
“As the report makes clear, it’s important that charities complete their fundraising statements as part of compliance with The Charities Act 2016.
“The levels of compliance are a good start given charities were responding to new legislation, but of course this needs to improve in future years. This means fundraisers working with their CEOs and trustees to help ensure they meet all the requirements.
“We welcome the new guidance and will work with our members, ACEVO and NCVO to improve compliance in the future.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.