The ‘Safer Giving’ Campaign

Charity fraud is rare, but sadly there are those who prey on the public’s generosity, and use charities as an opportunity to line their own pockets, collecting for themselves rather than good causes.

In response to these concerns the Charity Commission recently launched a ‘Safer Giving’ campaign aiming to give the public greater confidence in the integrity of charities and to protect the reputation of genuine charities.

Although the Charity Commission does take robust steps to deal with dubious charity fund-raisers when they become aware of them, this campaign ensures that the public are made aware of the questions they should be asking collectors to help prevent money going astray in the first place.

The Charity Commission has produced an awareness poster for the campaign to help get the ‘Safer Giving’ message across to as many people as possible. The public are being encouraged to:

• check that the collecting organisation is a registered charity, and that the charity’s registration number is shown on literature and collecting tins. If in doubt, they are advised to call the Charity Commission ‘Register of Charities’ to check
• ask if the collector represents the charity itself or is from a separate fund-raising organisation. If the latter, they should ask what proportion of the donation will actually reach the charity. The public are then in a position to make a judgement about whether they wish to make a donation
• looking to see if the collecting box or bucket is sealed and that it bears the charity’s nam
• checking that the collector has an official badge. Collectors must display identity permits. Members of the public should not be shy about inspecting them before parting with their money
• make cheques payable only to the charity itself.

If your charity plans to make collections it may be useful for you to inform collectors of the specific areas on which the public should be clear. They should then be in a position to respond to any questions that might arise, which should maintain confidence in your charity. The Commission also strongly recommends that all collectors should:

• be able to produce a valid local authority or police licence
• wear an ID badge (donors should look out for any ID that looks altered, photocopied or home-made)
• have a sealed collection container with the charity’s registration number and name on. The details should match those on their ID badge. Collectors should also be able to tell donors how to contact the charity direct
• be able to prove that they have the charity’s permission to collect. Collectors from professional fund-raising companies must, by law, declare how much of the donation they will be paid, and they should be able to produce a copy of a written agreement with the charity. Thank you letters and receipts from charities don’t count as permission to collect!

As far as the public are concerned, honest and genuine collectors will be pleased to answer these questions, while bogus collectors will be deterred under such questioning.