7.Public fundraising
This section covers collections of money or other property (including goods and regular gifts) for charitable institutions, whether these are carried out on the street, door to door or on private sites. It includes secure collection procedures and standards to make sure you respect people and places.
The law on collecting money or other property varies, depending on how and where the collection takes place. In most cases, for collections on public land you will need a licence or permission to collect from the relevant licensing authority (or in Northern Ireland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland). On private land, you will need permission from the person responsible for the site.
7.1 Behaviour when collecting money or other property
In this section, ‘you’ means a charitable institution or third-party fundraiser.
While fundraising you must behave in a way which reflects well on the charitable institution and fundraising in general.
For example, you must not act in a way that:
- could reasonably upset or cause anxiety to potential donors;
- is dishonest or manipulative, or tries to make potential donors feel guilty; or
- could damage the reputation of the charitable institution or fundraising in general, including:
• using inappropriate language or behaving in a crude or aggressive way;
• smoking, vaping, drinking alcohol and so on; and
• using your position for personal gain.
You must be clear and honest about your intention to fundraise when approaching potential donors.
For example, if you are fundraising you must not say that a conversation is ‘not about fundraising’ or lead the person to believe you are asking for a one-off donation if you are asking for regular gifts.
7.2 Street and private-site collections
In this section, ‘you’ means a charitable institution or third-party fundraiser.
If any of the standards in this section contradict or conflict with any conditions included in a licence granted by a licensing authority or in an agreement you have with the owner or manager of a private site, the licence or site agreement will apply.
You must avoid approaching the public at unsuitable moments. For example, when they are:
- in a queue or sitting down, unless they are at your promotional stand or waiting to take part in your fundraising activity; or
- clearly working or carrying out official duties.
If you have approached a member of the public, you must:
- not take more than three steps alongside them or follow them; and
- if they have not come to a stop within the three steps allowed, you must end your attempt to talk to them.
If you have successfully started a conversation with a person, you can take more than three steps to escort them to a promotional stand or to a different part of a promotional stand.
You must treat the locations where you are fundraising with respect and must not leave bags or other property unattended, or cause an obstruction or nuisance to the public or other businesses.
For street collections and collections on sites managed by a local authority, this includes not positioning yourself within three metres of:
- a shop entrance;
- a pedestrian crossing;
- a cash machine;
- a station entrance;
- a market stall; or
- a street trader, vendor or busker.
If you have a stand for your collection, you must remain within sight of it.
For private-site collections booked with a retailer, you must work within one metre of the promotional stand (or equivalent). If the collection is taking place at a shopfront, the promotional stand must be no more than one metre away from the shopfront.
You must carry out street fundraising at appropriate times. These are:
- between 9am and 7pm, Monday to Saturday; and
- between 10am and 7pm on Sundays and public holidays.
If different times are stated in a Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIoF) site management agreement, you must keep to the times in the agreement.
7.3 Door-to-door fundraising
In this section, ‘you’ means a charitable institution or third-party fundraiser.
You must not carry out collections at properties where residents have made it clear they do not want to be disturbed. This includes:
- properties with a sign saying ‘no cold-callers’ or similar; and
- groups of properties in an area where cold-calling is not allowed (no cold-calling zones).
Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIoF): No cold calling zones and stickers
You must approach properties and residents respectfully. This includes:
- taking extra care when visiting properties after dark or in isolated locations;
- not approaching properties in groups of more than two fundraisers at a time;
- only knocking on the front door or main entrance unless a resident asks you to knock somewhere else;
- not asking to enter a property and only entering if you are given clear permission by a resident;
- not using permission from one resident to enter a building which contains separate properties (such as a block of flats) as permission to approach other properties in the building; and
- not stopping residents from shutting their door (for example, by putting your foot in the doorway).
You must carry out door-to-door collections at appropriate times. Unless your licence or an exemption order says otherwise, these are:
- between 9am and 9pm, Monday to Saturday; and
- between 10am and 9pm on Sundays and public holidays.
If you need to make a second visit to a property for your collection, you can only do this outside the above times if you have permission from the resident.
7.4 Licences, permission and identifying fundraisers
In this section, ‘you’ means a charitable institution or third-party fundraiser.
You must make sure you have appropriate permission before starting your fundraising activities and that your activities meet the requirements of the licence, permit, exemption order or permission which applies to them.
The requirements of licences and permits vary but, in general, you will be expected to:
- apply to the relevant authority in good time before the collection is due to take place;
- only fundraise on the dates, at the times and in the areas that are allowed;
- carry out appropriate due diligence on fundraisers;
- make sure fundraisers meet minimum-age requirements; and
- provide the necessary official materials and appropriate authorisations to fundraisers.
Some licences and permits may also require you to provide the names and details of individual fundraisers in an area. Some charitable institutions will provide a certificate of authority to volunteers or collectors to show they are legitimate fundraisers.
Fundraising Regulator: Exemption orders
You must make sure fundraisers are suitable for the work they are doing. This includes:
- carrying out appropriate due diligence; and
- making sure fundraisers are at least the minimum age required to carry out the activity.
You must make sure fundraisers have the appropriate official materials and any formal authorisation needed to carry out their fundraising. You must also keep a record of the fundraising materials you issue and when they are returned.
Under regulation 4 of The Public Charitable Collections (Scotland) Regulations 1984 organisers of collections are legally required to record:
- the name and address of each collector, and the number of collecting envelopes issued to them; or
- the identification number marked on the collecting box given to each collector.
Identifying fundraisers
You must make sure that fundraisers and vehicles used for fundraising activity can be clearly identified as representing your charitable institution.
Door-to-door, private-site and street fundraisers should be identifiable by clothing that clearly displays the charitable institution’s branding. This does not apply to in-aid-of volunteers, or fundraisers who are using a stand that can be identified by the charitable institution’s branding.
You must make sure that your fundraisers have appropriate identification for the activity they are carrying out.
Under the code, fundraisers do not need ID badges for the following activities, but fundraisers should be clearly identifiable.
- Distribution and collection of charity bags
- Cash collections by volunteer fundraisers
- Cash collections on private sites (unless the site owner says fundraisers must wear ID badges)
If ID badges are needed, they must:
- be at least the size of a credit card;
- be displayed in a place where potential donors can see them clearly (usually on the upper front part of the fundraiser’s body);
- not have been tampered with; and
- be accessible to people with sight difficulties (for example, the information on the ID badge could be available in large print).
All ID badges must contain:
- the identity of the fundraiser;
- a recent photograph of the fundraiser;
- the name of, and contact details for, the charitable institution the fundraiser is collecting for, or the third-party employer; and
- a signature or other authorisation (such as a company stamp) from the charitable institution or the professional fundraiser who employs the fundraiser. ID badges for professional fundraisers must also include the name and contact details of the third‑party employing the fundraiser.
7.5 Convenience giving and unstaffed collections
In this section, ‘you’ means a charitable institution or third-party fundraiser.
Convenience giving and unstaffed collections are easy ways for people to donate money or other property and often don’t need a fundraiser to be present. However, it is important that potential donors have access to all the information needed to make an informed donation.
Collection methods for convenience giving include:
- tap-to-donate and other automated collection methods, such as texting a dedicated number or using a QR code; and
- adding donations to payment transactions, for example by rounding up a bill in a shop or restaurant.
Unstaffed collection methods include:
- static collections;
- clothing and goods donation banks; and
- charity bags that are distributed door to door.
Requests for donations through direct marketing are covered in section 8 Fundraising communications and advertising.
Part II of the Charities Act 1992 and part 2 of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 set out the legal requirements that apply when another organisation receives a payment or other benefit for managing static collection boxes on your behalf.
General standards for convenience giving and unstaffed collections
You must make sure that, before making a donation, donors can see clear, accurate and up‑to-date information about the collection. This includes:
- the name of the charitable institution receiving the donation; and
- the charitable institution’s registration information (charity number or company number) and their contact details.
If a collection is organised by a third-party collector, the information must also include:
- details of how any fundraising partners will be paid as part of the collection; and
- the name and contact details of the collector, if this is different from the charitable institution.
You must make sure donors can easily find the following information.
- Details of the processing fees involved in the donation.
- Details of any secondary purpose which donations may be used for.
If space is limited and it is not practical to include this information at the location of the collection, you should provide a short link to a webpage containing these details.
Static collections and clothing and goods donation banks
You must have a written agreement in place with the site manager or owner of the location where the collection is taking place. The agreement must include:
- details of who is responsible for collecting and processing donations;
- details of how and when collections will be made;
- information on how the collector or the site manager or owner can end the arrangement; and
- details of how the site manager or owner must report any theft of donations or damage to the collection box or donation bank.
Donations by text message
You must use charity short codes when asking for donations by text message.
Ofcom is the lead regulator for content, goods and services charged to a phone bill and provide guidance on this topic.
Roundups and automatic donations
If a charitable institution is aware that an organisation is offering a way to automatically add a donation to a payment transaction (such as by rounding up a bill in a shop or restaurant), they must take reasonable steps to make sure the organisation gets the donor’s permission (for example, by asking them to tick an opt-in box).
If donors have agreed to make regular payments, for example, with a bank account which includes a donation in every transaction, they will not need to give permission for each individual donation.
Charity collection bags
You must not distribute charity bags (or related materials) at properties where residents have made it clear they do not want to receive them (for example, with a sign reading ‘no charity bags’ or similar).
Charity bags should meet the standards set out in the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA’s) guidance Charitable door-to-door collection bags.