As we all remember, Covid put the brakes on face-to-face fundraising. But once the fog of the pandemic lifted, charities were quick to reinstate this valuable acquisition channel, with high levels of success.
However, with increased activity comes the risk of malpractice and a rise in complaints from the public. In their 2024 annual reports, several major charities attributed rises in complaints to the return of F2F activity in 2022-23. There were also headlines about “pressure selling” and unethical practices at two agencies. This prompted a review by the regulator of current guidance around subcontracting and F2F fundraising activity.
Much of what the regulator calls for in the new guidance published last month already is, or should be, intrinsic to any charity’s due diligence process when conducting all forms of fundraising. However, the new guidance calls for greater disclosure across all fundraising channels around compensation received by fundraisers for establishing the donor/charity relationship.
The danger of course is that this will put off donors from giving and goes to the very heart of acquisition and what the public understands the role of professional fundraisers to be. How prominent should these disclosures be? How much will this come as a shock to the public? How can that be mitigated? In written contracts this may be easier as part of terms and conditions, but for a face-to-face fundraiser on the doorstep, where do you position this within the ask? How practical will this be? And how damaging?
Central to the problem is whether the public thinks fundraisers should be compensated at all – or rather whether they are aware that fundraising is even a profession. This guidance may help that understanding, albeit with a period of potentially painful readjustment.
As with all Fundraising Regulator guidance, it is just that – guidance. But the Code of Fundraising Practice, although not enforceable by law, does help to build public trust in charities, which is currently on the rise. Disclosure may help establish fundraising as a paid-for profession in the minds of the public, which can only be a good thing even though the implementation might be tricky.
@stevejcotterill is the editor of Fundraising Magazine
