Christian Aid and an agency committed nine breaches of the fundraising code related to a vulnerable individual, including ignoring “no cold calling” signage, an investigation has found.
The Fundraising Regulator this week published investigation findings from a 2024 complaint about Christian Aid and the fundraising agency Gather Campaigns.
The organisations had taken details from a debit card and set up a direct debit for a donor who had cognitive disabilities and speech and hearing difficulties, the investigation found.
“The complainant said the donor’s vulnerability would have been apparent and that the third-party fundraisers had persuaded them to provide debit card details,” the regulator said.
“The complainant said they then had to cancel and replace the donor’s debit card.
“The complainant also said the property displayed signage communicating that charities were not welcome.”
A spokesperson for Christian Aid said the charity stopped working with Gather Campaigns “more than a year ago”.
The spokesperson said: “We are so sorry this has happened. We fully accept all the recommendations and are taking action to ensure this never happens again.”
Video doorbell footage appeared to show one fundraiser reading the signage before continuing with the interaction, the regulator’s investigation found.
The Fundraising Regulator reviewed information from the complainant, the charity and the agency, which included Christian Aid’s vulnerable persons policy, training documents, complaints logs, a response to the complaint and a transcript of the verification call.
“We also reviewed the agency’s policies and training about vulnerability, information about the contract between the charity and agency, and the agency’s arrangements with sub-contracted fundraisers,” the regulator said.
“The charity and agency did not dispute that the donor was vulnerable or that a donation was taken.
“We found that, on balance, the third-party fundraisers should have realised the donor was vulnerable.
“The donor was enrolled for a regular donation and the donation was processed.
“We therefore found breaches of the code about treating donors fairly and people in vulnerable circumstances.”
The regulator found the contract between the charity and agency was “comprehensive” and contained monitoring agreements.
“However, the sample contract between the agency and sub-contracted fundraisers did not provide enough detail about the sub-contractor’s obligations under the Code of Fundraising Practice or monitoring requirements,” the regulator said.
“We found that the charity was overly reliant on the agency to manage compliance further down the supply chain.
“We also found that the third-party fundraisers ignored a ‘no cold calling’ sign on the property which met the criteria set out in the code for house-to-house collections.”
The regulator recommended Christian Aid reviews its arrangements with Gather Campaigns, continues to review and update its own training materials and considers further ways to identify “potential inherent compliance issues”.
Both organisations should consider their monitoring and compliance arrangements with sub-contracted fundraisers, the regulator recommended.
A spokesperson for Gather Campaigns said the agency acknowledged the outcome of the Fundraising Regulator’s investigation.
“We have worked closely with the Fundraising Regulator throughout this process and have accepted its findings and recommendations,” the spokesperson said.
“The matters raised have been addressed, and improvements have been implemented and embedded within our training and compliance processes.
“We recognise the importance of maintaining robust controls and high standards in the delivery of fundraising activity and remain committed to continuous monitoring and improvement.”