After a summer of negative press and public inquiries into charities, Sir Stuart Etherington’s review into fundraising practice has been endorsed by the government and big change is coming for the charitable sector.
At an event on Friday organised by the National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), its chief executive, Sir Etherington, along with William Shawcross, chair of the Charity Commission; Rob Wilson, the minister for civil society; and Lord Grade, the interim chair of the new fundraising regulator, gathered to update the sector on what has happened and what will happen next. Here’s what you need to know.
The Etherington report recommendations are going to happen
The first thing charities need to understand, according to everyone on the panel, is that the Etherington review is going to be implemented in full. Including the Fundraising Preference Services (FPS), which allow individuals to opt out of communications with the charity, that has caused some in the sector to worry.
Rob Wilson made it clear that the government felt it needed to take meaningful steps towards change and argued the sector must understand how close it came to statutory regulation. He said it had been “on a knife-edge” but that he believed self-regulation was possible and in the sectors interests.
Etherington, perhaps unsurprisingly, agreed arguing that the sector needed to take his recommendation on board, to “demonstrate we have taken full responsibility and demonstrate we are building relationships with donors and the public more widely, so confidence is not only restored but strengthened”.
Even Lord Grade, who at times seemed to want to cast himself as the good cop to Etherington’s and Wilson’s bad cops, said: “You won’t get sympathy if you think we are going to undo Etherington. That boat has sailed.”
If for some reason it was not to happen the minister was very clear that “statutory regulation is still on the table”.
Trustees are going to be expected to take a lot more responsibility
Shawcross focused on how the review heard trustees were too often remote or absent all together when it came to fundraising. “Trustee’s eyes were off the fundraising ball” and this led to “horrible practices”.
He explained how the Charity Commission had revised its guidance to put a much greater emphasis on the trustees, reminding the audience trustees “have overall responsibility for fundraising in their charities and their role in that is absolutely key”. The new guidance is based on six principles, which include the board “overseeing the fundraising others carry out for [their] charity”.
There is a scope for charities to influence the details
Etherington repeatedly stressed that while the direction of travel is fixed, the specifics of how things will work, especially the nervously-anticipated FPS, are yet to be determined. He called on charities to get involved as much as they possibly could.
Rob Wilson was concerned some of those worried by the FPS were working from crude predications. He had “no problem with a system that allows the public to make a more nuanced choice”. As long as it included an opt-out and protected the vulnerable. He even wanted the working group to consider whether small charities should be included in it at all.
Lord Grade expressed his personal experience from working at the BBC, saying: “I know how annoying it is, I know how ignorant regulators can be” and committed to listening to sector voices.
He also revealed that the working group on FPS will be headed by George Kidd, chair of the direct marketing commission, who was also in attendance. Kidd expanded on the decisions yet to be made (which include whether the services should be opt in or out), again stressing the need for collaboration with the sector.
But perhaps not that much time
Lord Grade made it clear that his role was to implement the recommendations by the end of 2016, including FPS. He expected there would be mistakes made at first and that there would be unintended consequences saying: “This is a new regulator, we’re going to be learning all the time,” but argued that the benefit of not being a statutory regulator (though one supported by the powers of the Charity Commission) is it “will be nimble, and act quickly”.
The other panellists agreed that the new regulator had to be up and running quickly, which some in the audience felt did not chime with their previous comments regarding commitment to consultation. There was also some consternation around Lord Grade’s revelation he would be appointing a CEO as a speedier route to getting started than going through, an open application process.
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