Briefing: bogus fundraising

Bogus fundraising activity undermines trust and confidence in the fundraising sector and could ultimately reduce levels of charitable giving.

Recent high-profile scandals in Scotland have had a serious impact on fundraising there. In December 2003, a poll for the Scottish Herald newspaper showed that 52 percent of people said they were less likely to give following the media coverage of fraudulent fundraising activity. These incidents helped galvanise the Scottish Executive to take forward the charity regulation and law reform agenda.

Charities rely greatly on the trust and confidence of the general public, and income suffers when this trust and confidence is damaged. Although mechanisms for exposing fraudulent or bogus fundraisers are currently in place, they need to be applied more effectively. Work is underway in the sector to develop a self-regulation scheme which charities can join to demonstrate their commitment to good fundraising practice. However, those who choose to operate outside the law, apply poor practice, or taint the names of genuine charities through their activities, will continue to do so as long as the law is not vigorously applied. It is therefore essential that existing laws are properly enforced.

We believe that Government must tackle bogus fundraising with more effective resourcing and better co-ordination of existing bodies such as the police, local authorities, trading standards and the Charity Commission.