Face-to-face fundraising agencies Fundraising Initiatives Limited and Person to Person Direct have been placed in administration, with the potential loss of over 300 jobs.
The companies are both part of the Fundraising Initiatives Group, which earlier this year also put another telephone agency R Fundraising into administration with the loss of 99 jobs.
At least five fundraising agencies have now gone into administration since the start of the year. Telephone agency GoGen collapsed in July while Future Fundraising went into administration in August and was bought by Person to Person.
FIL and Person to Person went into administration on Friday. Between them they represent up to 10 per cent of the face-to-face fundraising market.
FIL employs more than 300 people, according to its website, and had a turnover of £11.8m, according to its most recent accounts, for the year to December 2013. Its latest accounts have not been filed and are a month overdue.
Person to Person had a turnover of just £866,000 for the period to December 2013. It does not give details of how many individuals it employs.
Staff are likely not to have received all the money they are owed for the last month, according to indications from the administrator.
R Fundraising staff were also not paid before the company went into administration.
The holding company of the group is not currently in administration, according to the FIL administrators, David Rubin & Partners. However its accounts have not been filed with Companies House, despite being due by the end of September.
Premier Contact, another company listed as being part of the group in its 2013 accounts, was not responding to communications this morning. Its accounts are also overdue but no notice of administration has been filed with Companies House.
Spokesmen for Workplace Giving and Rapidata, two other companies in the Fundraising Initiatives Group, said their businesses continued to operate as normal.
Cathy Sullivan, director of FIL and Person to Person, confirmed that Fundraising Initiatives had entered administration on Friday, but said she would make no further comment.
“Refer all other questions to the administrators,” she said.
Peter Hills-Jones, Chief Executive of the PFRA said: “The sector is currently going through one of its most challenging periods, which is putting huge strain on all frontline fundraising teams, whether charity or agency. The loss of a number of agencies this year, many of whom were our members, is very sad but the PFRA will continue to play a strong role in supporting the sector.
“The PFRA is now in contact with Fundraising Initiatives to establish what further support we can provide to them during this difficult time.”
