We
have entered a new era for fundraising in 2006, with best
practice taking centre stage. This is well demonstrated by
the creation of the Fundraising Standards Board (FSB), an
independent body which has been established to introduce a
new self-regulatory scheme for UK fundraising. The scheme
will launch to charities and their suppliers in June 2006,
and to the general public in October 2006.
Launched with funding from the Home Office and Scottish Executive,
self-regulation is an independent, opt-in regulatory scheme
that is accessible to all charitable fundraising organisations.
Any fundraising organisation that signs up to self-regulation
will be required to meet the best practice standards; the
Institute of Fundraising’s Codes of Fundraising Practice
and the Donors’ Charter. Compliance with the Codes will
be monitored by the FSB, with a robust consumer-facing complaints
process being introduced as well.
The implementation of self-regulation will allow fundraising
organisations to demonstrate best practice, eliminate bad
practice and increase public trust and confidence in the voluntary
and community sector. With the overall aim of driving up standards,
self-regulation will provide a regulatory scheme that is robust
yet realistic, and accessible to all charitable fundraising
organisations. Ultimately, raised standards will translate
to increased trust and confidence in the charities that sign
up to the scheme and to the sector more broadly.
In April, the FSB revealed its new logo. Based on a simple
‘tick’ image, organisations that sign up to self-regulation
will be required to display the logo on their fundraising
materials, demonstrating their commitment to the highest standards
of fundraising.
Implications
So what are the implications of self-regulation for fundraising
organisations? Self-regulation is your chance to demonstrate
the high fundraising standards to which you work within
the public domain. The scheme logo will communicate this
to your donors and the wider public, so the more charities
embrace this logo, the more quickly it will become synonymous
with best practice and highest standards.
Self-regulation will provide one platform from which charities
can consistently demonstrate these high standards across
the UK. What’s more, it will enable charities to visibly
demonstrate their commitment to best practice with a brand
that can be applied to all fundraising appeals, adverts
and donor correspondence. In time, this should see prospective
donors scouting out this logo before committing to donate,
so it’s an opportunity to sustain and build upon public
trust and confidence in charities.
The advantage of self-regulation is that it strikes an important
balance of being attractive to fundraising organisations
on one hand, while a robust regulatory framework with the
backing of government will make real headway in strengthening
public trust and confidence on the other.
Costs
But how much will it cost a fundraising organisation to
get on board? In order to achieve breakeven, a pricing structure
has been developed which recognises the importance of encouraging
small organisations to join the scheme. Therefore, the fees
for charities are based on voluntary income defined as gross
income less any statutory income and interest on investments
in the previous audited year. Details on cost can be found
at www.fsboard.org.uk
Preparation
So as a fundraising organisation,how can you prepare for
self-regulation and what will you need to do? Firstly, you
need to secure the understanding, buy-in and support of
your trustees by signing up to self-regulation.
Then, ensure your fundraisers have access to, understand
and use the Codes of Fundraising Practice and Donors’
Charter. Each Code covers a separate fundraising technique
and provides information on areas of the law and guidance
on the techniques themselves, as well as the best practice
that the fundraising sector has set itself to ensure the
highest standards.
You should also make sure that your organisation adopts
a suitable complaints handling procedure and evaluation
procedure. Lastly, you need to publicise participation in
the scheme to your donors by use of the scheme’s logo
and reference to the Donors’ Charter on all fundraising
materials. This means thinking now about how you can incorporate
the logo into your organisation’s materials.
If your organisation would like to declare its support for
the self-regulation of fundraising scheme, visit www.fsboard.org.uk
and fill in the Indication of Intent form. Alternatively,
you will be contacted by the Fundraising Standards Board
in the next few months.
Jon Scourse is director of the Fundraising Standards
Board
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