The Fundraising Regulator: Should your charity register?

If you work in the third sector, you’ve probably heard of the Fundraising Regulator. But what is it? How does it work? And should your charity register with it?

What is the Fundraising Regulator?

The Fundraising Regulator is an independent organisation that provides accountability and sets fundraising standards (such as the Code of Fundraising Practice), for organisations in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to follow.

Scottish charities are primarily managed by the Scottish Charity Regulator.

The Fundraising Regulator also maintains the Fundraising Directory and investigates complaints made about fundraising and fundraisers.

Do charities have to register?

It’s voluntary to register with the Fundraising Regulator, but it’s good practice to do so, as it shows your charity is committed to legal, open, honest, and respectful fundraising.

Once registered, charities agree to follow the Code of Fundraising Practice.

How do charities register?

Applying to register is quick and easy. All you have to do is fill out a form on their website and they’ll do the rest.

In terms of the registration fee, it depends on how much you spend on fundraising each year. If you spend less than £100,000, it’s £50. If you spend above that, the fee is higher, and there’s a yearly fundraising levy on top to keep the Fundraising Regulator running.

The costs are listed on their website.

The Fundraising Regulator has plans to increase these costs in the coming years, to better support fundraisers, but they will still be tiered, meaning the amount you pay depends on your fundraising budget.

What are the benefits of registering?

Once registered, you can use the fundraising badge (an icon that says ‘registered with the Fundraising Regulator’) on all your fundraising materials. This is a great way to demonstrate to the public that you’re a trustworthy and legitimate organisation.

Considering charity scams increased during the COVID pandemic, it’s more important than ever to show potential donors that their money is safe in your hands.

As well as the badge, every charity registered with the Fundraising Regulator is added to their Fundraising Directory.

Corporates often check the directory for charities to support, so registering could bag you a partnership.

Registered charities can also access fundraising support, training, and advice. Some of it is generic and available for everyone, but some can be tailored directly to your organisation. Either way, it can help you level up your fundraising potential.

Looking for fundraising talent? That’s our area of specialty. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to find out how we can help.

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Charity in the royal blood: Queen Elizabeth’s incredible charitable legacy

Along with the rest of the world, we at Bamboo were shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, May 8.

We send our deepest condolences to her family.

In tribute, we’re reflecting on the incredible work she did for charitable causes during her 70 years on the throne, and the powerful legacy she’s left behind.

Throughout her reign as Britain's longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II was a patron of more than 600 charitable organisations across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. From Cancer Research UK and Girlguiding to The Bible Society and the RNIB, her support spanned a wide range of causes, and she helped to raise a staggering £1.43 billion during her reign.

Here’s an insight into the Queen’s association with just a few of her favoured causes.

British Red Cross

As a young princess, the Queen travelled overseas to visit Red Cross nurses working on the frontline. She then became a patron of the charity in 1949.

She made personal visits to many people facing bleak times, cheering them up in their darkest hours. One of her earliest visits was to a Red Cross hut caring for tuberculosis patients in 1951.

Since her coronation, she maintained a keen interest in the charity’s vital work supporting people in crisis in the UK and across the world.

From financial donations for those hit by disasters at home or travelling overseas to meet the victims of crises in the UK, the Queen spent nearly a lifetime supporting the charity.

Leonard Cheshire

When Leonard Cheshire died in 1992, the Queen singled him out for praise in her Christmas message. Recalling a visit to one of his Homes, she said “this shining example of what a human being can achieve in a lifetime of dedication can inspire in the rest of us a belief in our own capacity to help others,” she said.

She was a patron of his charity, Leonard Cheshire, from 1980 and held a reception at St James’s Palace in 2014 to celebrate the charity’s work, which supports disabled people in the UK and across the world.

YMCA

The royal family’s association with the YMCA dates back to 1894 when its founder Sir George Williams was knighted by Queen Victoria.

Over 120 years later, that association remained strong. The Queen was a patron of the iconic charity, which received an annual gift from the Privy Purse. For the YMCA’s 150th anniversary in 1982, the Queen attended a service at Westminster Abbey.

The Queen of Fundraising

According to data collected by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), the Queen was among the world’s largest supporters of charities, doing more than any other monarch in history.

John Low, chief executive of CAF sums up the Queen’s philanthropic legacy perfectly: "the Queen has set an amazing example when it comes to her charitable support making an enormous difference to millions of people up and down the country. We want to promote a culture where supporting charities by giving time or money is the norm. The Queen's work for charities of all types is an example to all of us." 

Charities opinions sought on Government's ten-year mental health review

Mental health is a hot topic, both in the third sector and beyond. People have long been campaigning for it to be put on an equal footing with physical health.

Well, it seems the Government has listened.

This week, they’ve issued a call for evidence to inform a new ten-year mental health plan, and they want to hear from you.

In the words of the Department of Health and Social Care, “we need to take a radical, cross-society approach to promote wellbeing, intervene earlier, improve treatment, and support people with mental health conditions to live well”.

This is something we can all get behind.

The consultation is open until 7 July and aims to find out what people think about mental health and wellbeing and how support services can be improved.

They want responses from everyone who has personal experience of poor mental health, as well as those who work to support them.

This is where charities come in.

The Department of Health and Social Care is seeking answers to a few key questions:

• How can we all promote positive mental wellbeing?

• How can we all prevent the onset of mental ill-health?

• How can we all intervene earlier when people need support with their mental health?

• How can we improve the quality and effectiveness of treatment for mental health conditions?

• How can we all support people living with mental health conditions to live well?

• How can we all improve support for people in crisis?

The answers will be used to inform a ten-year plan to improve the support that’s available and reduce the number of people who develop mental health conditions.

If your charity supports people with mental health issues, you have a unique opportunity to communicate where the system is failing and how it can be improved.

Want to have your say? You can do so here.

Are you interested in working for a mental health charity? We can help you find the right role at the right charity. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 to find out how.

Fraudsters exploit Ukraine crisis to steal money

Times of crisis bring out the best in humanity, but they also bring out the worst in scammers.

Following the outpouring of support for the people of Ukraine, we were disappointed to see the National Fraud Reporting Centre issue an urgent warning for people to be vigilant of scammers looking to exploit the crisis to steal money.

The organisation received 196 reports of bogus requests to fundraise for victims of the crisis, with some claiming to be from Wladimir Klitschko, the brother of Vitali (the mayor of Kyiv).

Let’s take a look at some of the scams circulating and how you can protect yourself.

Donation Scam

The most prevalent scam is the 'Donation Scam', where fraudsters attempt to lure you to open your wallet with elaborate, emotional fake appeals for ‘solidarity with the people of Ukraine’ or urge the public to ‘help fund the country's defense efforts’.

Advice: Donation requests from charities you don't recognise should raise a red flag. Check the charity’s legitimacy on the Charity Commission website before opening your wallet. Even if it checks out, it could still be fake. So rather than click on the link in the email, donate directly on the charity's website.

‘Helping people move out of Ukraine’ Scam

Some scams ask people to assist in ‘moving money out of Ukraine’.

Similar to the Nigerian Prince scam, victims are asked to make an advance payment or share their personal details to help.

These scams are easy to spot as they’re poorly worded and generic.

Advice: If you receive a message like this, delete it, and report it to the Financial Conduct Authority.

Cryptocurrency Scam

Some scam artists are defrauding people via cryptocurrency channels.

They use phishing emails to ask people to donate Bitcoin or Ethereum via fake crypto addresses, which they claim are connected to the Ukrainian government or prominent NGOs.

Advice: If you’re only given the option to donate in cryptocurrency, it’s fake. Report it.

Spoof Websites

Some scammers have set up ‘spoof’ websites that look like official registered charities.

Advice: Tell-tale signs include long, convoluted web or email addresses, and spelling/grammar errors.

Final Word

The best way you can help is by donating to a reputable charity such as the DEC.

Looking for reliable fundraisers to help you manage your donations? We can help. Call us on 0203 750 3111 to find out how.

The pros and cons of cryptocurrency donations

The world of cryptocurrency is growing rapidly. But should your organisation adopt it as a method of receiving donations?

Before we can answer that question, let’s look at what cryptocurrency is.

The financial website eToro explains it as ‘a form of electronic money that exists online without any bank or government control, instead working on a peer-to-peer basis.’

A number of charities, such as Save the Children and Helping Households Under Great Stress (HHUGS), have started accepting cryptocurrency donations.

The benefits

1. It’s international

Donations made through cryptocurrencies can arrive from anywhere in the world. And they incur much lower fees than other forms of international currency. If a large chunk of your donor base is overseas, offering them the option to donate via cryptocurrency will ensure you receive a higher percentage of their money.

2. There’s potential for high-value donations

The Children’s Heart Unit Fund received over £100,000 in cryptocurrency donations in the course of a year, with a whopping £70,000 coming from just one donor.

3. It’s easy to set up

You don’t need to be a tech wizard to get set up. Fundsurfer has created an easy-to-follow guide, which you can view here.

The drawbacks

1. Its value is unstable

In an article for The Independent, the Vice President of Fidelity Charitable - an American organisation that helps people support charitie through investments – says, ‘you can have a situation where somebody donates cryptocurrency, and if we don’t sell it right away, it could lose 20% of its value in a day.’

2. It’s bad for the environment

The blockchains which cryptocurrencies rely on to function use a lot of non-renewable energy.

Bitcoin - the most popular cryptocurrency - uses more electricity to function than the entire country of Norway, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index.

The environmental impact turns some people off - particularly people invested in sustainability and environmental causes.

3. It’s hard to conduct due diligence

The UK Charity Commission advises charities to perform due diligence to avoid accepting donations of proceeds from criminal activities, but their advice doesn’t cover cryptocurrency - yet.

The Commission is figuring out how to deal with it, so it’s worth doing a comprehensive risk assessment before jumping in.

Looking for a cryptocurrency-savvy fundraiser to join your team? We can help. Call us on 0203 750 3111 to find out more.