Charities are being urged to review their relationships with third party face-to-face fundraising firms amid rising complaints, the regulator has warned.

Among concerns is a “change in the employment pool” in the face-to-face fundraising sector.

The Fundraising Regulator has found the sector is being impacted by an influx of salespeople left out of work as “commercial businesses, particularly those in the energy sector have decreased their demand for door-to-door staff”.

But in moving to roles in face-to-face fundraising “this has resulted in an increase in staff being training in a more transactional, sales-oriented approach, and being given less of a grounding in a charitable message”.

The concerns have been revealed in the regulator’s market inquiry report into subcontracting in face-to-face fundraising, which is based on the views of fundraisers.

It is calling on charities to “closely” monitor subcontracted firms and ensure their staff receive “appropriate training”.

“As we have said before, it is crucial for charities to have a clear line of sight to those who fundraising in their name,” said Fundraising Regulator head of proactive regulation and projects Jim Tebbett.

“It is clear from our inquiry and the workshops we ran with charity fundraisers and agencies that face-to-face fundraising is valuable for charities raising money for their causes, and there’s a widespread willingness to do the right thing. However, there are issues with subcontracting that need to be addressed by the charity sector."

Today we’ve published the findings of our market inquiry report, which urges charities to review their subcontracted face-to-face fundraising relationships.

Read more and download the report: https://t.co/fGTRRY1EIB pic.twitter.com/m7KqVtoX32

— FundraisingRegulator (@FundrRegulator) March 26, 2024

The report has been welcomed by Charity Commission head of strategic policy Holly Riley, who said it “puts an important spotlight on the risks and issues that all trustees should be aware of when using subcontractors to fundraise on behalf of their charity”.

She added: “As stated in our guidance, all charities should raise money in a considerate and responsible way, mindful that public generosity can never be taken for granted.”

Other problems with sub-contractors noted in the report has been a failure of the face-to-face fundraising sector to replace experienced managers and workers who moved to other work due to Covid lockdowns.

“The management gap in particular has increased the risk of bad practice,” states the Fundraising Regulator’s report.

When the regulator announced its subcontractor enquiry last year it revealed that poor behaviour including “excessive pressure to donate” and failures to “identify or respect potential donor vulnerabilities”.

“Inadequate training and monitoring by charities and agencies, which enabled such behaviour,” was also found.

This month the regulator's annual report revealed that complaints have risen by 8%.

The number of complaints made about charities to the organisation rose between 2022 and 2023, at the same time as the number of self-reports increased, with more charities reporting themselves for breaches of the Code of Fundraising Practice than before.

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