The Fundraising Regulator has announced it will start naming all charities under investigation as of March 2019.
The regulator said the new change, included in its casework policy, will bring “additional transparency” to the regulator’s role when investigating complaints from the public.
It is also designed to highlight the cases in which a complaint is made about a particular charity and is not upheld due to the investigation having found the organisation to be complying with its duties.
The new change was confirmed by the regulator’s board, which agreed the naming process will help to “promote and support a culture of transparency and ethical fundraising”. The board also said it would help to ensure donors and potential donors can make informed decisions about how they wish to donate to charity.
The policy will only apply to charities under investigation from 1 March 2019 – the regulator will not be naming organisations under investigation prior to this date.
Findings of each investigation will be shared with the organisation before being published, to ensure the charity has the opportunity to comment on and review the results, the regulator said.
“It is crucial that fundraisers and organisations are rightly recognised for adhering to the Code of Fundraising Practice, which underpins the behaviours that we expect from the charity sector,” the regulator’s chief executive Gerald Oppenheim said.
“A transparent approach means donors can fully consider who they wish to donate to. When we publish our decisions, we will clearly recognise the organisations that have cooperated fully with our investigations and used it as an opportunity to reflect on how they carry out their fundraising efforts.
“We are confident that the change in the way we approach investigations will encourage organisations to scrutinise their fundraising efforts more closely to ensure they meet the standards required of them.”
