A health research charity has been removed from the Fundraising Regulator’s directory after breaching its code of practice, in the first such action by the regulator.
The regulator investigated complaints about Leukaemia and Myeloma Research UK and its agency Fundraising Support Ltd delivering charity collection bags to an unsolicited recipient multiple times.
It found the charity was in breach of three standards of its code and warned that it should put in place quality measures to monitor the work the agency carries out on its behalf or risk its registration being removed.
The charity provided further assurances about improvements it had made to comply with the regulator’s recommendations, but it was removed from the directory of registered organisations on 1 March.
Background
A complainant informed the regulator that they did not want to receive collection bags from Fundraising Support Ltd on behalf of the charity after receiving one for the first time.
The regulator passed on the message to the charity, but the complainant went on to receive two more collection bags.
According to the regulator, the charity only responded after the regulator contacted it a third time after the recipient received their third unsolicited bag.
The charity told the regulator that it “may have been the result of human error” and sent its apologies to the complainant.
Leukaemia and Myeloma Research UK and its agency did not respond to requests for up-to-date information, the regulator said, with the charity referring the regulator to information from a previous investigation regarding a similar complaint.
The regulator said it was not able to see whether its previous recommendations about charity bag deliveries had been followed, and whether the charity and the agency had done enough to resolve this complaint.
Decision
The complainant did not have a “no charity bags sign” displayed, so the first delivery was not unreasonable, the regulator stated.
But the charity and its agency should have respected the complainant’s request not to receive any more charity bags, it stated.
The regulator stated: “We found the charity in breach of the code regarding its responsibilities in monitoring third parties.
“By refusing to acknowledge the whole complaint, both at the time and during our investigation, we found that the charity had failed to investigate this complaint thoroughly or fairly. The charity therefore breached the code in relation to complaint handling.”
It recommended that the charity makes improvements to its banned addresses list as well as updating the compliance training materials of any third-party agency that uses this list. It should also review and improve the ongoing processes and procedures used to monitor the work of these third-party agencies.
The regulator also recommended that the charity reviews its system for communicating banned addresses information to its delivery staff.
A Fundraising Regulator spokesperson told Civil Society: “We initially recommended that Leukaemia and Myeloma Research UK put in place measures to monitor the work agencies carry out on its behalf, to ensure it complies with the Code of Fundraising Practice.
“Since the initial investigation summary was published, the charity has failed to comply with the recommendations and so registration has been suspended. If the charity shows evidence it is complying with our recommendations and upholding standards of the code then we would consider reregistering them.”
Civil Society has asked the charity and the agency to comment.
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