CharityGiving site is suspended “to protect public donations”

Howard Lake | 15 July 2013 | News

Online giving site CharityGiving has been suspended while the Charity Commission continues its statutory inquiry into The Dove Trust, the registered charity which runs the service.

The suspension came into effect on 12 July "in order to protect funds the public has raised and prevent further charitable pledges being made via the website". The move was made by Pesh Framjee of Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP who was appointed by the Charity Commision under the Charity Act 2011 as Interim Manager of the charity on 6 June 2013. 

The Commission had already restricted the charity's bank accounts at the end of June. As of Friday, the Charity Commission has given Framjee "full control of the charity to the exclusion of the charity’s trustees". 

An announcement on the CharityGiving site states "Please note the facility to create fundraising pages or receive funds has been suspended until further notice."

No accounts filed since 2009

The Dove Trust's trustees have not filed any accounts since the year ending 5 April 2009. In addition the Commission reports that is has "serious concerns about mismanagement in the administration of the charity" by the trustees in relation to the operation of the online donations portal and risk to charity funds.

Framjee had recently reported to the Commission there there was a shortfall between the funds raised for charities donated through CharityGiving and the cash held by The Dove Trust.

Michelle Russell, Head of Investigations and Enforcement at the Charity Commission, said: "We have taken this action because of serious concerns about the trustees’ management of the fundraising portal and the charity’s financial situation.  We recognise this will cause concern among the donors and fundraisers who have collected money for the charity through the site and for the charities who are expecting to receive those funds.  However it is now clear that the financial situation of the charity means there was no option but to suspend the online portal."

She added that work currently underway will help establish the extent of the shortfall and which charities and donors are affected.

She was careful to point out that "our concerns are limited to The Dove Trust and the CharityGiving portal and this should not undermine public confidence in online giving".

Ceri Edwards, Director of Policy and Communications at the Institute of Fundraising, supported that view. "We welcome the Charity Commission's decision to suspend the Dove Trust's CharityGiving portal", he said, "to protect funds the public has raised and prevent further charitable pledges being made while its investigation continues. This should not undermine public confidence in online giving, which is a generally safe way to give and we would remind people of the many online platforms, some very well-known, that enable people to give."

CharityGiving did not charge a subscription fee to charities, and charged only for donations made using Gift Aid. On the latter it charged 3.99% of the value of the net gift.

Any queries about funds raised or owing via CharityGiving should be addressed to the Interim Manager  on 0207 842 7313.

There are other registered charities with very similar names to The Dove Trust: the charity being investigated registered charity number 287401. 

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.