Scotland chooses self-regulation of charity fundraising

It has been a difficult couple of years for many fundraising organisations. High-profile media coverage of instances of poor fundraising practice in the UK came as a shock not only to the public, but also to the vast majority of those fundraising organisations and many in the charity sector.

That was why after SCVO's review of fundraising last summer, we set up the independent Scottish Working Group to address donor dissatisfaction and strengthen fundraising regulation in Scotland.

Over the past six months, the Scottish Fundraising Working Group (chaired by Theresa Shearer, Chief Executive of ENABLE Scotland) carried out the most wide-ranging and extensive consultation, since the Scottish Government’s Fairer Scotland conversation.

This included a discussion event with 60 participants at The Gathering, an online survey with 505 responses, 17 round-table discussion, 23 formal written submissions and the commissioning of Ipsos MORI to carry out three focus group sessions with the Scottish public.

The result

The consultation identified resounding support for the self-regulation option, which will see fundraising charities take more responsibility for handling any complaints about fundraising, with the Scottish charity regulator, OSCR, addressing any fundraising complaints* which have exhausted the charity’s own complaints process.

The consultation identified resounding support for the self-regulation option, which will see fundraising charities take more responsibility for handling complaints

The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) will have an enhanced role in the new system whose aim is to command confidence in charity fundraising, inspire public trust and promote good fundraising.

The new approach will include:

• The creation of a phone and online fundraising complaints hub
• An independent panel to manage fundraising complaints that cannot be resolved between the charity and the person who is complaining
• A new fundraising guarantee that sets out values and high standards Scottish charities should practice in their fundraising
• A simple three stage process to manage fundraising complaints:

Stage 1 - Complain to the charity direct

Stage 2 - Appeal to the charity trustees

Stage 3 - Escalate to the Scottish Charities Regulator*

The review has created a strong framework for charitable fundraising in Scotland to flourish within a climate of public trust in its principles, and its proven and transparent capacity to transform the lives of all our citizens.

*This is an interim measure as a new Independent Panel is currently being set up to manage complaints that cannot be resolved directly with the charity. The panel will be in place by autumn 2016 and will be made up of the public, donors, charities, fundraisers, with OSCR and the Scottish Government as observers.