Susan Smith says the FRSB's final report into the circumstances of Olive Cooke's death is as uninspiring as the regulator has been
The Fundraising Standards Board’s (FRSB) rather underwhelming final report into the circumstances surrounding the death of 92-year-old poppy seller Olive Cooke last year has revealed she was overwhelmed with requests for donations. You don’t have to be a fundraising expert to have seen that conclusion coming.
While the fundraising industry has been exonerated of responsibility for the death of Mrs Cooke, who was depressed when she took her own life in May last year, it’s clear that she was still a victim of over-zealous demands for help.
It’s fitting therefore that as well as being the final report into the saga that led to an avalanche of criticism of UK fundraising practise last year, it will also be one of the last significant reports the now widely denigrated FRSB will make.
Of the 20,000 registered charities in Scotland only 200 have an income over £1m, while more than 16,000 have an income under £100,000
The self-regulating body, which was set up a decade ago following a series of fundraising scandals in England and Scotland, is being phased out and replaced by a new UK Fundraising Regulator, chaired by Michael Grade. It aims to be up and running by the summer and taking over responsiblity for the fundraising code of practise. It will also be monitoring charities to make sure they observe the new Fundraising Preference Service, which will allow people to opt out of receiving requests for donations, and ensure they observe tougher new rules on the sharing of donor data.
In Scotland, however, the sector isn’t too happy with the idea of fundraising being regulated by London. Media reports of poor practise in fundraising last year focused on UK-wide call centres and large household name charities. No Scottish headquartered charity was implicated and many feel that that the whole thing has been blown out of proportion, focusing as it does on just a small pocket of hard-core target driven fundraising charities.
Household name UK-wide charities provide life-saving services across the UK and internationally with annual budgets of hundreds of millions of pounds. They require high levels of public giving to keep these enormous enterprises going and our society is better because of them. However, that is not the norm in Scotland. Of the 20,000 registered charities in Scotland only 200 have an income over £1m, while more than 16,000 have an income under £100,000.
In Scotland therefore the debate is still ongoing about what to do once the FRSB is dissolved. A Scottish fundraising review chaired by Enable Scotland chief executive Thereasa Shearer will present recommendations to the sector next month. It is expected to put forward options likely to include sticking with the UK, creating a Scottish stand-alone regulator, or creating a system that dips into both. Voluntary organisations will be invited to feed back before the end of March with recommendations for action going to the Scottish Government soon after the Holyrood election.
Whatever happens, let’s hope it is enough to put to bed all the recent criticism of charity fundraising and ensure charities can live up to the high standards the public expects. No charity set up to make society better should be known for making vulnerable people’s lives more difficult.
