Organisations should think carefully about how they go about fundraising
New guidance warns charities to have a heightened sensitivity when fundraising during the mourning period for the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
A joint statement issued between, the Fundraising Regulator and Chartered Institute of Fundraising in England and Wales warns fundraising could have a negative effect among the public during this period if not carefully considered and monitored.
The guidance covers events, face-to-face fundraising and digital and social media platforms.
The statement says: “Carefully consider any digital campaigns or email activity that was due to take place during the period of national mourning, considering whether it is still appropriate to post or send and being sensitive to the public mood.”
It goes on: "Consider how activity taking place around royal residences and in other key ceremonial locations may be affected, particularly in the areas around Westminster and Windsor. Please also refer to guidance from the devolved administrations and local authorities on their websites."
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations also said that charities should be mindful of their activities during the mourning period so as not to cause embarrassment or disrespect.
NCVO said: “Many will be feeling deeply sad at the loss of such a continual figure in our lives, or at the memories of personal grief this brings up. Some may have other emotions.
“Organisations will need to think about the health and wellbeing of all staff and volunteers.”
It added that the queen’s death could mean governance changes at some charities.
It said: “There are hundreds of official royal charities and those where the Queen or members of the royal family are patrons.
“For royal charities that require constitutional changes to be approved by the Privy Council, there are likely to be disruptions and delays.
“The Queen’s patronage of charities will not necessarily be adopted by King Charles III. There is likely to be a review of charity patronage across senior royals in the months ahead.”
The queen was patron to some 600 charities many of which paid glowing tributes on her passing.
Some of these she inherited from her father, George VI, and many of which she had remained patron of for many decades.
These included the British Red Cross, RNIB, RNLI, Cancer Research UK, Girlguiding and RSPCA.
Leading the tributes, Anna Fowlie, chief executive of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), said: “On behalf of SCVO, I would like to express my condolences to all those affected by the sad news about Her Majesty, The Queen.
“Her Majesty has been a stalwart supporter of charities and volunteers throughout her life and that legacy will remain for many years to come.”
In 2016 the queen reduced her patronage of several charities in a bid to cut down her workload.
Much of this guidance makes sense, but I am uneasy that the tone almost suggests that charities should put fundraising on hold for this period. That would be disastrous - in particular the emergency appeal by the DEC for the Pakistan floods crisis is already suffering, I expect, due to the media giving very little coverage to stories other than the Queen's death and new King.
Given the Queen's huge commitment to a wide range of charities, I am sure she would not want charities to lose out due to her death. I appreciate that some fundraising events may need to be postponed, but it is hard to see cases where direct appeals should be put on hold especially if sent by post or email. In fact, this could be a good time for fundraising (if done sensitively) with lots of helpful sentiments being expressed about public service and caring for others - which is fundamental to most charities.