SCVO is holding a major conference in November to debate the future of fundraising regulation in Scotland

Scottish charities are being invited to shape how fundraising regulation should work in Scotland at a major event in November.

The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) has called on hundreds of charities to join it at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on 26 November.

It comes as the UK government announced it is to create a tough new fundraising watchdog that will require large charities to sign up.

If large charities fail to appropriately safeguard their supporters, the new system will give the government the power to intervene and enforce fundraising regulation.

Fundraising is largely reserved to Westminster and not in the control of the Scottish Government. However, Scottish charities are regulated by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator separately from England.

This conflict, alongside the fact that Scottish charities tend to be smaller and have not been involved in recent scandals, means that many believe that Scotland should consider its own fundraising self-regulation system.

Martin Sime, chief executive of SCVO, said: “Charities who raise donations from the public have got work to do to agree how self-regulation of fundraising should work in Scotland. It’s a vital task because the whole sector relies on people having trust and confidence in charity so I’m hoping that as many organisations as possible, including senior staff and trustees can get involved in the process.

“This event will kick-start the critical process of designing a new system of self-regulation which is owned by the sector and fit for our purposes. There are important choices to be made and decisions to be taken which affect us all so I hope everyone will make a special effort to take part.”

Book a place at Designing the Regulation of Fundraising in Scotland