July 2016
Rule Book
Street fundraising
Prepared by:
Fundraising Regulator Standards Directorate
+44 (0)300 999 3410
[email protected]
www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk
Contents
1 How to use the Fundraising Regulator rule book……………………………..3
2 Rules for fundraisers………………………………………………………………..5
3 Rules for operational staff………………………………………………………….9
4 Guidance………………………………………………………………..…………….12
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 2
1 How to use the Fundraising Regulator Rule Book
Introduction
Face-to face fundraising is the solicitation of a regular gift to charity, usually by direct debit or
standing order. The purpose of this Rule Book is to set out the standards expected of face-toface fundraisers operating on the street.
The standards were originally developed by the fundraising community through the work of the
Public Fundraising Association (PFRA). In 2015, a Review of Fundraising Regulation chaired
by Sir Stuart Etherington recommended that responsibility for the rulebooks be transferred to
a new Fundraising Regulator to safeguard the independence of fundraising regulation. The
rulebooks were transferred to the Fundraising Regulator at its launch on 7th July 2016.
Decisions on changes to the rulebooks are made by the Fundraising Regulator’s Standards
Committee in consultation with the fundraising community.
These rules are binding on members of the site management system operated by the IoF
Compliance Directorate. Rules are grouped into two categories:
•
Rules for Fundraisers, relating to the conduct of fundraisers engaging with the public
(prefixed “Fr”, e.g. Fr1, Fr2)
•
Rules for Operational Staff, relating to wider organisational practices, the operation of
IoF Compliance Directorate diaries and Site Management Agreements with local
authorities (prefixed “Op”, e.g. Op1, Op2)
Penalties and sanctions
The Fundraising Regulator rulebook is enforced through penalties and sanctions. These are
designed to encourage best practice and raise standards within face-to-face fundraising.
Employers or contractors of fundraisers accrue penalty points if a rule is broken. Each point
accrued has an equivalent value of £1. A monetary bill will be issued when an organisation’s
annual points total equals or exceeds 1000 points. Revenue incurred from penalty point fines
at the end of each financial year is re-invested by the IoF Compliance Directorate into training
and development to improve standards within face-to-face fundraising.
The size of the penalty is dependent on the severity of the discretion.
20 point penalty – for a rule breach that is considered minor.
50 point penalty – for a rule breach that is considered major.
100 point penalty – for a rule breach that undermines a PFRA agreement or causes severe
public distress or anxiety.
200 point penalty – for not supplying a legally compliant solicitation statement
In addition, penalty points will be multiplied for repeat violations of the same rule. Where
a fundraiser breaks multiple rules during a single observation by any of the nominated persons
set out below, each breach will be included as a separate transgression.
Who can report a rule breach?
Penalty points are issued when reported via:
•
IoF Compliance Directorate staff
•
Partner officers eg local authority / BID officers, and
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 3
•
Substantiated public complaints.
Where there is a risk of causing significant public harm or detriment, of undermining public
confidence in charities beyond the breach itself, or where there is evidence of a sector wide
issue that may require changes to the Code of Fundraising practice or new guidance, the IoF
Compliance Directorate may refer a case to the Fundraising Regulator.
Legal requirements
Alongside compliance with the Fundraising Regulator it is the duty of individual members to
ensure that their fundraising practices and those of any organisations they sub-contract are
compliant with the law. Latest guidance on current legislation can be found at www.iof.org.uk
and www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk .
More detailed information on how the rules are applied can be found in the guidance section
at the back of this booklet.
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 4
2 Rules for Fundraisers
RULE Fr1: Best Behaviour
While on duty, fundraisers MUST NOT:
•
act in any way that might reasonably cause members of the public to be or become startled
or anxious
•
act dishonestly or manipulatively, or deliberately seek to make a potential donor feel guilty
•
act in any other way that a reasonable person might judge brings the charity they are
representing into disrepute 1. This includes:
•
smoking or drinking alcohol in charity branded clothing
•
taking or being under the influence of illegal drugs
•
lewd or aggressive behaviour
•
exploiting their position for personal gain (eg. soliciting a job offer,
propositioning someone for a date, or seeking a discount on goods or services)
•
any other behaviour that harms the reputation of the fundraising profession or
the charity being represented in the eyes of the public
Sanction
The penalty is 100 points per incident.
RULE Fr2: Managing Vulnerability
Fundraisers MUST NOT sign up any person at any time who they may reasonably conclude
is, or may be, incapable of informed consent for any reason. These may include:
•
incapacity due to illness or disability
•
age-related confusion
•
learning difficulties
•
language competence
•
financial competence
•
times of stress and / or anxiety
•
intoxication through drugs or alcohol
•
any other circumstance where capacity is reasonably in doubt
Fundraisers MUST NOT sign up any person under 18 years of age.
Sanction
The penalty is 100 Points per incident.
1
For the purposes of clarification, the mere presence of a fundraiser or fundraisers in a location cannot be
construed as ‘bringing into disrepute’.
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 5
RULE Fr3: Solicitation Statements
Fundraisers MUST make legally compliant solicitation statements.
Further information can be found in the Guidance section below.
Sanction
The penalty is 200 points per incident.
RULE Fr4: The ‘Three-Step’ Rule
Once an approach has been made to a member of the public, a fundraiser MUST NOT take
more than three steps alongside or in pursuance of that member of the public, even if asked
to do so.
For the avoidance of doubt, ‘three steps’ involving fundraisers deliberately obstructing a
member of the public will be considered a breach of Rule Fr5 (see below).
If the member of the public has not come to a halt within the three number of steps allowed
for, the attempted engagement MUST be terminated.
Sanction
The penalty is 100 Points per fundraiser, per incident.
RULE Fr5: Deliberate Obstruction
While on duty, fundraisers MUST NOT deliberately obstruct members of the public.
Sanction
The penalty is 100 points per fundraiser, per incident.
RULE Fr6: Immediate Termination
Fundraisers MUST NOT initiate a conversation or continue to engage a member of the public
if that person clearly indicates – by word or gesture – that they do not wish to be engaged.
Sanction
The penalty is 100 points per incident.
RULE Fr7: Committed Giving
Fundraisers MUST NOT suggest to any member of the public that the engagement they are
attempting to initiate is ‘without commitment’. By definition, all engagements are ultimately
‘about long-term commitment’.
Where the fundraising approach involves a follow-up call (such as prospecting or “2-step”
text fundraising), fundraisers MUST make clear to members of the public that they will be
contacted a second time to solicit a regular donation following their initial engagement.
Sanction
The penalty is 50 points per incident.
RULE Fr8: Financial Ask Transparency
Fundraisers MUST NOT suggest to any member of the public that the engagement they are
attempting to initiate is “not about money” or that they are “not fundraising”. By definition all
engagements are ultimately ‘about money’.
Sanction
The penalty is 50 points per incident.
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 6
RULE Fr9: I.D. Visibility
ID badges MUST include the identity of a fundraiser, who they work for and a phone number
for the relevant Charity or Agency.
In order to facilitate this, ID ought to:
•
be clearly displayed
•
be in the form of a badge secured about the upper front part of the fundraiser’s torso
•
be of not less than credit-card size
•
be of sufficient font size to be readable for people with visual impairments
•
be signed or in some other way authorised (company seal or stamp) by the employing
Agency and/or commissioning Charity
Sanction
The penalty is 50 Points, per fundraiser, per day.
RULE Fr10: Distance Visibility
Fundraisers MUST be identifiable by the public from a distance of 5 metres. Charity branded
clothing:
•
MUST be visible and identifiable.
•
MUST NOT be tied around waists or covered by non-charity branded clothing or other
property, or in any other way be obscured.
•
MUST be clean and in good condition to ensure legibility and brand integrity.
Sanction
The penalty is 50 Points per fundraiser, per day.
RULE Fr11: Members of the public who are ‘on duty’
Fundraisers MUST NOT knowingly approach people conducting official duties on the high
street, such as uniformed officials or tour guides.
Sanction
The penalty is 20 Points per incident.
RULE Fr12: Seated or queueing members of the public
Fundraisers MUST NOT approach:
•
members of the public who are seated on street furniture or in the outdoor seating area
of a private business
•
members of the public in queues e.g for tourist attractions, tour guide groups, bus
queues, cash point queues.
Sanction
The penalty is 50 Points per incident.
RULE Fr13: Proximity to street features
Fundraisers MUST NOT position themselves within 3 metres of a:
•
shop entrance
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 7
•
pedestrian crossing
•
cashpoint machine
•
station entrance
•
market stall
•
street trader, vendor, big issue seller or busker
Sanction
The penalty is 50 Points per incident.
RULE Fr14: Unattended bags
Bags MUST NOT be left unattended on the public highway. A team member MUST always
remain within 3 metres and line-of-sight of a ‘team bag’ (where one is used).
Sanction
The penalty is 100 Points per incident.
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 8
3 Rules for Operational Staff
RULE Op1: Solicitation Statement Submission
At the point a donor agrees to make a donation through a Direct Debit, Fundraisers employed
by agencies are required by law to declare what the company they work for will be paid and
explain how this fee was calculated. Before commencement of a new campaign, members
MUST submit their planned solicitation statement (including the notifiable amount) to the IoF
Compliance Directorate to have its compliance reviewed and confirmed.
Further information on solicitation statements can be found at www.pfra.org.uk and
www.iof.org.uk .
Sanction
The penalty is 100 Points per campaign.
RULE Op2: Poaching of Staff
Site Management System members MUST NOT solicit other member’s agents/staff, while
those other agents/staff are on duty.
Agents or members of staff acting in whatever capacity of one Site Management System
member MUST NOT use any IoF Compliance Directorate contact list to solicit another
member’s agents/staff to enter the first member’s employment.
Sanction
The penalty is 100 Points per incident.
RULE Op3: Sub-Contractors
All Agency members that employ sub-contractors to deliver any part of their F2F donor
volumes MUST:
•
provide the IoF Compliance Directorate with the name and location of each and every such
sub-contractor throughout the entire supply-chain, so that the IoF Compliance Directorate
can reliably confirm their status, and refer matters accordingly, in the event of quality
comments or complaints
•
include in their contractual arrangements a clear requirement for each and every such subcontractor throughout the entire supply-chain to comply with all Fundraising Regulator
rules, in the same manner as if they were the lead member contracting them.
Sanction
The penalty imposed for breach of this rule is 100 points per incident.
RULE Op4: Standard Street Operating Hours
Fundraising MUST NOT commence before 9am Monday-Saturday or 10am Sunday and public
holidays, or continue after 7pm on any day; or as otherwise provided for in an IoF Compliance
Directorate agreement.
Sanction
The penalty is 50 Points per team, per day.
RULE Op5: Staff recruitment teams
Staff recruitment teams MUST NOT work on or immediately adjacent to a site that has been
allocated to, or is otherwise being worked by a fundraising team.
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 9
Sanction
The penalty is 100 Points per individual, per incident.
Operational rules relating to IoF Compliance Directorate controlled
sites
The following additional operational rules apply to PFRA / IoF Compliance Directorate
controlled sites.
RULE Op6: IoF Compliance Directorate controlled sites – Site
Delineation
Fundraisers MUST comply with all site conditions, including the delineation of sites.
Sanction
The penalty for an authorised team working outside of a delineated site is 100 Points per
team, per incident.
The penalty for an unauthorised team being present within an IoF Compliance Directorate
controlled site, is 100 Points per fundraiser, per day.
RULE Op7: Frequency of Fundraising
Fundraising MUST NOT take place more frequently than a site agreement allows for, unless
special circumstances/exceptions have been negotiated and confirmed in advance with the
IoF Compliance Directorate or the site access controller.
Sanction
The penalty is 100 Points per fundraiser, per day.
RULE Op8: IoF Compliance Directorate controlled sites – Excess
Fundraisers
Fundraisers MUST comply with all site conditions, including the number of fundraisers.
Sanction
The penalty is 100 Points per excess fundraiser, per day.
RULE Op9: Diary changes
All changes to IoF Compliance Directorate diaries MUST be made by 11am on the day of the
visit.
If a team permanently leaves a fundraising site, for whatever reason, at any point during the
day, members MUST notify the IoF Compliance Directorate immediately.
The penalty is 50 points per incident.
RULE Op10: Dropping Sites
Members MUST NOT book, reserve or retain capacity that they knowingly do not intend to use
(or come to know they will not be able to use before the time and date concerned), in such a
way that another member is deprived of a fundraising opportunity.
Such capacity MUST always be returned to the IoF Compliance Directorate or other relevant
site access controller for redistribution at their absolute discretion, in as timely a manner as
possible to allow for such redistribution, unless special circumstances/exceptions have been
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 10
negotiated and confirmed in advance with the IoF Compliance Directorate or the site access
controller.
Sanction
The penalty is 100 Points per incident.
RULE Op11: Bidding deadlines
Bids for National Site Diaries (NSDs), London Site Management system (LSM) and LSM
Pool diary MUST be made before the relevant deadlines.
Sanction
The penalty is loss of fundraising capacity.
RULE Op12: IoF Compliance Directorate controlled sites – SMA
Conditions
Members MUST adhere to any extra local conditions contained within a Site Management
Agreement beyond the Rule Book, eg. notifying gatekeepers of intended visits or fundraisers
carrying check lists.
Sanction
The penalty is 100 Points per incident, per day.
RULE Op13: Overbidding
Members MUST NOT overbid by more than 20% of the total number of staff they plan to
field.
Sanction
The penalty is 20 points per incident, which will double with each consecutive failure to
comply.
RULE Op14: National Site Diary (NSD) deadlines
All NSD deadlines MUST be complied with.
Sanction
The penalty is 20 points per incident.
RULE Op15: Rota Submissions
All relevant rotas MUST be submitted before the relevant deadlines.
Sanction
The penalty is 20 points per incident.
RULE Op16: New Site Testing
Prior to commencing operations in any location where a IoF Compliance Directorate Site
Management Agreement is not yet in place, members MUST inform the IoF Compliance
Directorate of the full and precise terms of the access agreement.
For the purposes of IoF Compliance Directorate diarising, ‘new’ sites opened up in this way
may be operated by the originating member(s) with ‘test exclusivity’ for up to 3 months (see
Guidance section). This period is calculated as running from the date of the first fundraising
visit, or from 14 days from the date that access permission was granted, whichever is the
sooner.
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 11
At the conclusion of the ‘test period’ a full report of the site’s viability MUST be presented to
the IoF Compliance Directorate in order that the site can be incorporated into a formal SMA
and/or normal diary procedures, and fair and equitable access can be granted to all members
in the normal way.
This rule applies equally to all forms of face-to-face activity including prospecting.
Sanction
The penalty is 100 points per incident.
4 Guidance
Penalties and sanctions
Employers or contractors of fundraisers will accrue penalty points as rules are broken. Where
the employer or contractor is operating on behalf of another fundraising organisation, the
member being represented when rules are broken will be notified of the points accrued.
Rules for
Fundraisers
Rule
Penalty
points
Applied
Fr1: Best Behaviour
100
per incident
Fr2: Managing Vulnerability
Fr3: Solicitation Statements
Fr4: The "Three-Step" rule
Fr5: Deliberate Obstruction
Fr6: Immediate Termination
Fr7: Committed Giving
Fr8: Financial Ask Transparency
Fr9: I.D. Visibility
100
200
100
100
100
50
50
50
per incident
per incident
per fundraiser, per incident
per fundraiser, per incident
per incident
per incident
per incident
per fundraiser, per day
Fr10: Distance Visibility
50
per fundraiser, per day
Fr11: Members of the public
who are ‘on duty’
20
per incident
50
per incident
50
per incident
100
per incident
Fr12: Seated or queueing
members of the public
Fr13: Proximity to street
features
Fr14: Unattended bags
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 12
Rule
Penalty
points
Applied
Op1: Solicitation Statement
Submission
100
per campaign
Op2: Poaching of Staff
100
per incident
Op3: Sub-Contractors
Op4: Standard Street Operating
Hours
Op5: Staff recruitment teams
100
per incident
50
per team, per day
100
per individual, per incident
per team, per incident
(authorised team outside
delineated site)
Op6: PFRA controlled sites – Site
Delineation
Rules for
Operational Op7: Frequency of Fundraising
staff
Op8: PFRA controlled sites –
Excess Fundraisers
Op9: Diary changes
Op10: Dropping Sites
100
100
100
50
per fundraiser, per day
(unauthorised team in
PFRA site)
per incident
per excess fundraiser, per
day
per fundraiser, per day
100
loss of
capacity
per incident
Op12: PFRA controlled sites –
Local Conditions
100
per incident, per day
Op13: Overbidding
20
per incident (doubling with
each consecutive breach)
Op14: National Site Diary (NSD)
deadlines
20
per incident
Op15: Rota Submissions
20
per incident
Op16: New Site Testing
100
per incident
Op11: Bidding deadlines
Repeated violations
In addition to the penalty points outlined, penalty points will be multiplied for repeat violations
of the same rule. In any given period, every third repeat infringement will incur a penalty
which is twice the normal sum. Where a fundraiser has made multiple rule transgressions of
different severities during one observation by any of the nominated persons set out below,
each breach will be included as a separate transgression.
To impose penalties the IoF Compliance Directorate will use the civil standard of proof (i.e.
on a balance of probabilities, or “more probable than not”).
Each point accrued has an equivalent value of £1. A monetary bill will only be issued when
an organisation’s annual points total reaches or exceeds 1000 points.
Reducing points accrued
Members can view their penalty points data through their dropbox account.
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 13
Additionally, Members will be notified as follows:
500 Points Accrued – IoF Compliance Directorate Compliance Manager writes to the
member’s Primary Contact outlining the financial implications for penalty points accrued. An
update will be required from the member concerned, outlining the process by which
performance will be addressed.
1000 Points Accrued – IoF Compliance Directorate Head of Standards and Allocations writes
to the member’s Head of Individual Giving/Supporter Acquisition (or equivalent), confirming
that the financial threshold has been reached and requesting a meeting to draft a turnaround
plan.
3000 Points Accrued – IoF Director of Compliance writes to the Director of
Fundraising/Managing Director of the member organisation notifying them of the
performance issues and asking that this be addressed by the Board.
Members therefore have regular opportunities to consider operational changes to avoid
continuing to accumulate points.
Appeals Process
Appeals will be heard by:
1.
IoF Compliance Directorate Head of Standards. If s/he is unable to resolve the appeal to
the satisfaction of the appellant, it will be heard by a…
2.
Penalty Appeals Panel. The Panel will be convened of 3 Directors (none of whom must
have any current contractual relationship with the appellant) to hear the appeal. The
findings of that Panel will remain final.
In cases which go to the Penalty Appeals Panel, a deposit of 25% of the cost of the penalty is
required to make that appeal. This covers the administrative costs of processing the appeal.
In the event that:
•
the penalty is upheld, the deposit is forfeited.
•
the appeal is upheld, the deposit is returned
To ensure timely information gathering and appeal processing, appeals must be made within
one calendar month of the penalty points being issued.
Year end
At the end of each financial year (31st March) and when their balance for those who have
accrued more than 1000 points is cleared, all members’ points will return to zero.
Should a member accrue a yearly total that is less than the 1000 point threshold, their points
total will be erased without any payment being required.
Referral to the Fundraising Regulator
In cases where evidence of a severe compliance breach exists, the IoF Compliance
Directorate may refer a case to the Fundraising Regulator. This may include cases where there
is a risk of causing significant public harm or detriment, of undermining public confidence in
charities beyond the breach itself, or where there is evidence of a sector wide issue that may
require changes to the Code of Fundraising practice or new guidance.
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 14
Solicitation Statements
At the point a donor agrees to make a donation, F2F fundraisers MUST make a ‘solicitation
statement’ (also known as ‘disclosure’) – a declaration of the fee the company they work for
will be paid and how this was worked out, verbally or in writing.
A disclosure statement MUST be made for any kind of financial ask through any medium –
such as, but not limited to, Direct Debits, SMS, QR Code, credit cards and near field
communication (NFC, contactless card payments).
Fundraisers contracted or subcontracted by a fundraising organisation on behalf of a charity
MUST also disclose the ‘notifiable amount’: the actual amount that is being paid to the
fundraising company for carrying out this particular piece of fundraising (or best estimate if
the actual figure is not known), as accurately as possible.
Examples of solicitation statements that comply with the requirements of the Charities Act
2006 are:
I work for fundraising company x and we are working for the benefit of charity y. My
organisation is being paid £w to recruit supporters like yourself to make regular donations to
charity y. This fee was determined in the following way [method z].
Or
I work for fundraising company x on behalf of charity y. We expect to be paid £w in
connection with this particular appeal, and the method used to determine our payment was
[method z].
Fundraisers employed directly by a charity are not required to disclose the notifiable amount.
The required accuracy of ‘Contextualising Information’ offered in connection with
Solicitation (‘Disclosure’) Statements
While the law clearly states that required information (such as the “notifiable amount”) MUST
be “as accurate as possible”, it is technically silent on any additional contextualising
information that fundraising organisations may choose to offer donors.
It is the view of the Fundraising Regulator and the IoF Compliance Directorate that if
additional information is to be offered at the same time and in the same context as the
legally-required information, it OUGHT to be of the same quality – that is, it should be as
accurate as possible. Therefore, if members wish to make reference to total net income,
anticipated returns on investment, etc., they OUGHT to have regard to all the relevant factors
of which a competent operator (and/or member of the PFRA) ought to be aware – such as,
but not limited to, attrition, VAT, lifetime value estimates, upgrades etc.
Glossary of terms
This section provides the IoF Compliance Directorate’s interpretation of the key terms used
within the rulebook.
Approach
Any attempt to engage with a member of the public with the intention of soliciting Direct Debit
donations or contact details.
“Deliberately”
Intentionally, as opposed to accidental, or caused by the actions of others (e.g. a street
trader deliberately moving their stall towards the team, thus reducing their operating space).
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 15
“Exclusivity”
“Exclusivity” for the purposes of establishing new capacity by ‘testing’ means that the PFRA
will not broadcast the existence of operations in a relevant site or offer use of that site to
other members, nor is the user member obliged to publicly declare such operations, unless
and until one of the following circumstances occur:
•
the test period is concluded
•
the test operations engender a formal complaint from the gatekeeper that requires the
intervention of the IoF Compliance Directorate
•
another member becomes aware of the activities in the course of their own operations
•
for any other reason the activity becomes public (including, but not exclusively media
interest, critical blogging etc.) to a degree which, in the absolute discretion of the IoF
Compliance Directorate, the matter requires IoF Compliance Directorate intervention.
Fundraiser
An individual who raises money or collects contact details from members of the public
(‘prospects’) for a charity.
“Obstruct”
Any deliberate action that causes a person to:
•
involuntarily stop
•
suddenly change direction in order to get past the fundraiser and continue their journey.
Obstruction does not apply to people who choose to alter their direction of travel (by crossing
the road, for instance) so as not to engage with a fundraiser.
“On duty”
Any occasion in which an individual is identifiable as working – e.g. through wearing branded
clothing, proclaiming they work for a specific charity or any other means that identifies them
as a charity representative. Fundraisers can therefore be guilty of bringing their charity into
disrepute outside of normal working hours, and at times when they are not actually working
as a fundraiser, if they fulfil any criteria that identify them as charity representatives.
Prospecting
An activity where only the contact details of members of the public are collected, for
subsequent contact by the charity, rather than the bank details necessary to set up a Direct
Debit mandate (or similar committed gift). Prospecting and prospectors are included where
this document refers to fundraising or fundraisers.
Subcontractor
A company undertaking work according to a secondary contract agreed with a main
contractor.
Team Leader
The team leader is the person within the fundraising organisation who has immediate and
on-site supervision of the activity (e.g. manages the team, ensures sites are appropriately
and safely used, ensures appropriate conduct of fundraisers/agents and understands the
charities complaints process). Alternatively, in the case of door-to-door fundraising, the team
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 16
leader can be the person within the agency or the charity who supervises the activity but may
not be on site. The team leader might not always be actively fundraising.
Fundraising Regulator Rule Book (Street) 17