The seven charities criticised by the Fundraising Regulator for their monitoring of Neet Feet have told Civil Society News that they accept the findings in today’s decision and pledged to follow higher standards in the future.
All of the charities named in the adjudication decision published by the Fundraising Regulator today have responded to Civil Society News’ request for a comment. All respondents have accepted the findings of the regulator, and expressed commitment to “the highest ethical standards”.
Unicef UK
A spokesman from Unicef UK, said: “Unicef UK did not work with the NEET Feet Bristol fundraising team which was the subject of The Sun’s investigation. However, this does not alter the fact that Unicef UK expects the highest standards from fundraising agencies across the board and takes decisive action if these standards aren’t met. Unicef UK swiftly terminated its contract with NEET Feet following the allegations that were levelled against the company’s Bristol office.
“Unicef UK welcomes the Fundraising Regulator’s acknowledgement of the multiple measures Unicef UK had in place to monitor and supervise NEET Feet’s compliance with the Code of Fundraising Practice, as well as its assessment of where these measure should be improved. At Unicef UK we constantly review our fundraising as part of our ongoing drive to achieve the highest standards. We are pleased to say that as a result of this, Unicef UK identified and implemented these improvements, before they were recommended in the Fundraising Regulator’s report.”
Unicef also welcomed the fact that “the Code does not currently provide enough guidance” on issues around stipulations in contracts between third party agencies and charities.
World Animal Protection
A spokesman from World Animal Protection said: “Our responsibility to our supporters is of the utmost importance to us, as is our responsibility to ensure that any third parties who work with us comply with all fundraising regulations.
“We had worked with Neet Feet for only ten weeks, and suspended them immediately when the allegations came to light. We accept the Fundraising Regulators recommendation and have taken swift action to implement.”
Smile Train
A spokeswoman from Smile Train said that it took the recommendations and findings of the regulator “very seriously”, and said the charity’s focus was always on its beneficiaries and donors it raises money from.
“The trust and confidence of our donors is exceptionally important to us and as such, we pledge to all our benefactors that we will always comply with all UK charity laws and regulations. We do our utmost to ensure that high standards of practice are followed and adhered to.
“All recommendations specified by The Fundraising Regulator within the report have been carefully reviewed and fully taken on board, and we will continue to do everything within our power to ensure that the third party vendors we work with are compliant with fundraising code.”
Action for Children
Sir Tony Hawkhead, Chief Executive of Action for Children, personally apologised on behalf of the organisation to “any member of the public in the Bristol area affected by the unacceptable conduct of individuals employed by Neet Feet when acting on behalf of our charity”.
He also said that Action for Children “have co-operated fully with the investigation and would welcome further dialogue with the Regulator on measures to deter and prevent behaviour of this kind, and to seek clarification on some of the detailed findings.
He also condemned “misrepresentation or aggressive tactics in charity fundraising and we have already taken steps to strengthen procedures in relation to how we work with contractors.”
RNIB
Wanda Hamilton, director of fundraising at RNIB, said: “We accept the findings of this report and welcome the guidance and clarity the new Regulator’s investigation has given to both the Code of Fundraising Practice and compliance in this area.
“We have worked with an independent consultant to create a new framework for third party fundraising. We will continue to review and improve the way RNIB monitors the work of external contractors, including listening to welcome calls and the implementation of a new mystery shopping process.”
Hill Farm Trust
Emma Sambrook, director of fundraising at the Hill Farm Trust, said the organisation completely agreed with the findings of the adjudication, but was “disappointed that the Fundraising Regulator felt that the efforts we had made fell short of their expectations.”
She also confirmed that the charity had suspended all third-party fundraising until it has conducted an internal review of its practices.
Save the Children
A spokeswoman from Save the Children said it “immediately terminated our contract with Neet Feet earlier this year when breaches of the fundraising code were brought to our attention by The Sun. We accept the findings of the regulator’s investigation and constantly review and update our fundraising practices as we strive for the highest standards".
IoF praises 'rapid action'
The chief executive of the Institute of Fundraising has praised the “rapid and strong action” of the Fundraising Regulator’s first adjudication report.
Peter Lewis, chief executive of the IoF, said in a statement that the Institute welcomed “the rapid and strong action taken by the Fundraising Regulator to deal with the bad practice exposed in this case”.
Lewis also said that “no one gets more upset about examples of poor fundraising than fundraisers themselves”.
Lewis’ also said the IoF looks forward to “working with the regulator to develop further guidance for our members on hot to set-up an appropriate monitoring and mystery shopping programmes”.
Related Articles
