Fundraising problems can't be allowed to silence the third sector

I'm no conspiracy theorist, but the timing of the UK Government’s latest attack on the third sector, coming so soon after £35 billion of welfare cuts were announced in the Chancellor’s budget, doesn't strike me as a coincidence. Complaints about bullying and investigations by the Charity Commissioner have left some big UK campaigning charities running scared How better then to further weaken the voice of the sector than by stirring media hysteria around bad practice in charity fundraising? The answer: you set up a review. But only to cover the fact that you’ve already decided legislation is the solution. This is the approach that the UK Government is following. Having worked (behind the scenes of course) with the Daily Mail to highlight examples of particularly bad practice, you use the resulting hysteria to tar the whole sector with the same brush. Let me be clear, I disagree with the Daily Mail agenda. But they’re right on one thing: there are problems with some charity fundraising tactics. As TFN recently highlighted in a series of brilliant if disturbing articles, Scotland has its fair share of fundraising troubles. Some charities - especially the 'big beasts', as one leading player in the fundraising sector put it to me - have behaved badly. They should be rightly ashamed of their actions.

"Trust is essential to gaining public support"

Equally, however, thousands of small and medium sized charities throughout the UK have done nothing wrong. My biggest concern is that their fundraising efforts will be hit through the poor practices of the minority. Things do need to change. Unfortunately, some people in the sector don't quite get it. The less than positive response from some quarters to the TFN articles, which saw them as an attack on the sector, were as disappointing as they were predictable. While I understand these concerns, they’re focussed in the wrong place. The public reputation of the whole sector is at stake. Stories about unethical fundraising have a negative impact on how all of our work is perceived. In recent weeks I’ve heard that one of our larger members, who have already stopped door-to-door fundraising, are set to announce the end of direct mail. This is a tough decision to take because, as many in the 'industry' see it, these practices are effective. At SCVO we believe it is vital that the sector and the fundraising 'industry’ can and must tackle bad behaviour. Only then can the public enjoy the experience of donating, safe in the knowledge that their money will be well spent. This is why we welcome the Scottish Government asking SCVO to launch an informal review into fundraising in Scotland, to run alongside the review being carried out in England & Wales. In due course we will give detail on how the review will be carried out, and we hope to report in August. Now, going back to conspiracies. Let me suggest that the UK Government review is a fudge, another divide and rule tactic to distract charities from raising the grim realities that will result from the Chancellor’s savage welfare cuts. This is why there’s a rush to legislate - to get charities to behave 'properly'. In Scotland, we can do things differently. The charity brand continues to be strong north of the border. We enjoy high levels of public trust, which we rely on for donations and volunteers. Trust is essential to gaining public support, so sector Trustees need to assure themselves about the nature of work done on their behalf. Not doing so is a failure of governance. If we focus on strengthening public trust, while taking proper steps to call out bad practice, we can remain a strong voice for the people and communities that need us most.