In a recent blog post, the Fundraising Regulator announced that it intends to develop a pathway for charities and other organisations involved in fundraising to “self-report” incidents that breach the Code of Fundraising Practice.
Purpose of the pathway, and next steps
The Fundraising Regulator’s expects that introducing such a pathway will allow it to provide timely advice and guidance to any organisation affected by an incident.
It also intends to use the incident reports to improve its understanding of any wider risks, and then provide information on those risks to the sector.
Its planned work within the next year includes designing a set of criteria and guidance setting out the regulator’s expectations for self-reporting, and the circumstances in which self-reporting should occur.
Duplication of reporting…?
The Fundraising Regulator sought in its blog post to reassure organisations affected that it was aware they may already be reporting breaches of the Code of Fundraising Practice to other regulators, such as the Charity Commission, the ICO or the police, and that it did not want to increase the reporting burden.
Therefore, the regulator plans only to ask for information in a “streamlined and co-ordinated way” where the Fundraising Regulator’s involvement could “add value”.
Can organisations self-report now?
There is no legal or formal requirement at present for charities and other organisations that breach the Code of Fundraising Practice to report those breaches to the Fundraising Regulator.
The regulator, however, encourages organisations to do so, as it demonstrates both “a commitment to the fundraising standards” and that your organisation “takes the expectations placed on you by the code very seriously”. Such reports can currently be submitted using the regulator’s enquiry form.
When will the self-reporting pathway be available to use?
The Fundraising Regulator has not committed to any set timetable for the introduction of the self-reporting pathway, but plans to update organisations on its work “before too long”.
Our content explained
Every piece of content we create is correct on the date it’s published but please don’t rely on it as legal advice. If you’d like to speak to us about your own legal requirements, please contact one of our expert lawyers.