25/06/12

By Andrew Holt

The undercover investigation by the Sunday Telegraph on 24/6/12 uncovered potentially serious breaches of the Institute of Fundraising code of practice, the The Public Fundraising Regulatory Association (PFRA) Rule Book on street face-to-face fundraising and the Charities Act 2006, by fundraisers working for Tag Campaigns.

The Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB) has announced that it will open an investigation and work with Tag and Marie Curie.

The PFRA welcomes this investigation and will co-operate fully with the FRSB.

During the trial of our new penalties and sanctions regime, which will go live on August 20, spot checks by PFRA’s compliance officer had highlighted a standards issue with Tag fundraisers.

PFRA informed Tag of this issue, as a result of which Tag invited PFRA to address its team leaders about adhering to best practice rules.

When the penalties and sanctions regime goes live, PFRA will provide regular updates to our members on the number of penalty points accrued by fundraising organisations, both agency and in-house teams.

The exact reporting mechanism is still being developed.

PFRA's new penalties and sanctions regime, including new Rule Books for both street and doorstep fundraising, has been developed with the specific aim of improving best practice standards among all types of face-to-face fundraising, including Direct Debits on the street and door, SMS giving of the type conducted by Tag Campaigns, and prospecting (data capture).

Home     More News


Other stories you may find of interest:

David Cameron: Leadership for a better Britain
David Cameron put the Big Society at the heart of his keynote conference speech yesterday, stating: "My driving mission in politics is to build a Big Society, a stronger society." He said: "It starts with families. I want to make this the most family-friendly government the country has ever seen. More childcare. More health visitors. More relationship support. More help with parenting. And for the 120,000 families that are most troubled - and causing the most trouble - a commitment to turn their lives around by the end of this Parliament."

Sector welcomes Nick Hurd's interim response to Lord Hodgson
The sector has welcomed Nick Hurd's interim response to Lord Hodgson’s review of the 2006 Charities Act. In his letter the minister for Civil Society applauds the work of Lord Hodgson, which has also been praised by charities. Hurd has chosen not to accept the controversial proposal to make it easier to pay trustees but all the other proposals he categorises as ‘green’ or ‘amber’.

4Children chief executive condemns greater spending cuts idea
4Children's chief executive has warned policies put forward by Conservative MP Dr Liam Fox would have a devastating impact on Britain's low income families. The former Conservative defence secretary has called for greater spending cuts and tax cuts, including the temporary abolition of capital gains tax.