Fundraising Guidelines Covid-19 July Update

The UK Fundraising Regulator and the Chartered Institute of Fundraising (IoF) have started publishing new guidelines for charitable organizations to restart fundraising activities. The guidelines cover principles that should be applied to all types of fundraising and specific guidelines for some types of fundraising, such as street, door-to-door, and private site fundraising. 

The guidelines aim to support decision making and they set out a framework for charitable organizations to use. Each organization would have to take into account their location, nature of their activities, how prepared they are and to assess the risks involved in restarting operations. Risk assessment results should be communicated to staff and volunteers. All the individuals involved should be consulted before starting any fundraising activity.

We have summarized the guidelines for planning and assessing risk:

• To keep up-to-date and follow the UK Government guidance. All organizations should be updated on news from their specific nation (Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland) as they might have other guidelines and restrictions to the other nations.
• It is important to carry out risk assessments. All risk assessments should be well documented and reviewed on a regular basis. All the risks associated with the specific type of fundraising should be reviewed. Consulting the volunteers and fundraisers is key, as they can give further insight into the risks of their activities. Results of risk assessments have to be shared with the workforce. Employers with over 50 employees are expected to put their risk assessments online.
• The decisions to fundraise should be considered thoroughly and carefully evaluated. Your aim should not be to start fundraising immediately, rather it should be to take a careful approach. Talk to your teams and all partners involved in the fundraising about a timetabled approach. Consider the employees on furlough when assessing the workload of the staff and the resources available.
  

  Start at the right time and in the right way.

• Think about the risks and whether the benefits outweigh them. Discuss whether starting to fundraise would be in the best interest of the public, the fundraising teams, partners, and beneficiaries. Trustees have ultimate responsibility for the charities’ fundraising and they must ensure that all decisions are supervised.
• Communicate decisions through your public-facing communication channels, such as your website. Explain what precautions you’ll be taking to ensure the safety of all that are involved. Don’t forget to also listen to the public and your workforce.

 

In terms of guidelines for specific types of fundraising, the government has outlined frameworks for fundraising in public, including face-to-face fundraising. Face-to-face fundraising is defined as including asking people for donations, both cash and via credit card.

Firstly, it is important to keep good sanitation practices. Clean surfaces, objects and wash your hands as frequently as possible. Keep up with the guidelines for social distancing. The current appropriate social distancing is no less than two meters unless the space does not allow it. Maintain a static position. Do not obstruct the movement of the public. When moving locations make sure you’re keeping a distance to members of the public. Methods for exchanging items should be reviewed. It is best if items are given at a later date, by post, or electronically.