Concerns Over NI Charity Fundraising

Over 150 concerns regarding charities have been submitted to Northern Ireland’s regulatory body over the past 18 months.

The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI) said the majority of problems were raised by the public and concerned fundraising activities specifically.

Queries submitted to CCNI included questions regarding on-street collections, charity shops and the availability of annual accounts.

The body has published a new report to advise charities accordingly. CCNI was granted powers to investigate charities in February 2011.

The report stated: "Charity fundraisers must comply with the law as a minimum standard but they should also meet the reasonable expectations of charity supporters. The public shouldn't be afraid to question a charity collector to ask where donations are going."

One particular example of foul play was passed on to the PSNI, after it was revealed an on-street collector had not been granted permission, and that they had not been collecting on behalf of a registered charity.

Following problems with transparency over some charities’ accounts, CCNI stated: "At a minimum, charities should be preparing annual accounts, presenting these to members and supporters at an Annual General Meeting (AGM) and making them available on request."

CCNI chief executive Frances McCandless said "There are codes set up by the Fundraising Standards Board, and actually the public can complain to the Fundraising Standard Board if the charity has signed up to their codes, and a lot of the charities in Northern Ireland have.

"The thing for the charity to remember, and for the public to remember is that, even if someone is action on the behalf of the charity, it is the charity's responsibility to make sure they are acting properly and fairly."

(IT)