Public support revealed for funded charity regulation
Melanie May | 21 January 2016 | News
The public believes that charities should be regulated, and that regulation should be properly funded, a report has found.
What Regulation, Who Pays? Public Opinion and Charity Regulation by the University of Kent’s Centre for Philanthropy, was funded by and conducted in partnership with the Charity Finance Group. It questioned four focus groups to explore public awareness of existing charity regulation, attitudes towards what regulation should look like and perspectives on how charity regulation should be funded, as well as how this would affect decisions to donate.
The research found that while public knowledge of charity regulation is on the whole low, people are clear that charities should be regulated and that the regulator should provide guidance on best practice to charities.
According to findings, the public sees regulation as important in supporting both charities and those who support and benefit from them. People have high expectations of charities and want regulation to deal with areas where they fear charities are falling short, identified in the report as: fundraising ethics, efficiency, staff costs and ‘bogus’ charities.
However, opinion is divided on who should pay for the regulator, although the most widely held view is that both charities and the government should contribute, with the widespread view that smaller charities should contribute less to regulator funding than larger charities.
The research reveals public concern that having a wholly charity-funded regulator might threaten its independence and would risk being seen as self-regulation and as such could lack legitimacy.
It also reveals that charities contributing towards the cost of the regulator would be unlikely to have a negative impact on donations and may even increase them if the reason for the payment and the impact it has on how charities are regulated is seen by donors.
Author of the report, the Centre for Philanthropy’s Dr Eddy Hogg said:
“While people may know relatively little about how charities are regulated, they are clear that charity regulation is a good thing and that a strong regulator who is able to support and advise charities on best practice is essential. The public trust charities, they trust their values and their commitment to doing good. But they want to see evidence that this trust is not misplaced and want to be able to donate with confidence that their gift will be used effectively.”
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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.