Making the Pledge - LGA/PFRA street fundraising agreement

BackgroundWhat is face-to-facefundraising?Face-to-face fundraising is the personalsolicitation of a regular charity donation(usually via a direct debit).In 2011/12, PFRA members – professionalfundraising companies and charities runningtheir own in-house fundraising teams –recruited 240,000 new charity donors onthe high street. Charity donors recruited onthe street give around £45 million a year forcharity. This means that almost 6 per cent ofregular charity donors have been recruitedin this way, making it one of the most costeffective and sustainable forms of fundraisingfor charities.The issue for localcommunitiesThe majority of fundraisers are greatambassadors for their charities, but sadlythere is a minority who can make a realnuisance of themselves by harassingshoppers and using over-zealous tactics.Collectors that use this approach can makepeople feel pressurised to donate whenvisiting public spaces, and can also lead toeither congestion or dead zones if poorlypositioned on the high street or town centre.A survey by the LGA showed that more thanhalf of councils feel that street fundraisersare putting potential shoppers off visitingtheir local high street 1 .These issues are of major concern toboth councils, in their role as protectors ofresidents and champions of local economicgrowth, and to charities who depend on thegoodwill connected with their reputation toraise essential funds. A sensible balanceneeds to be struck. This is the aim of thisagreement.What legal powers docouncils have to respond toconcerns?While councils 2 have the power to licensedoor-to-door collection of money or otherproperty by charities and charity cashcollections in a public place, they do not havethe powers to restrict or license face-to-facefundraising where money is pledged (forexample via a direct debit).1 Full results from the LGA face-to-face fundraiser survey can befound at http://tinyurl.com/f2fsurveyresults2 Licensing is the responsibility of the Metropolitan Policein London, while Scotland and Northern Ireland havefundamentally different legal systems. The PFRA is still able tonegotiate voluntary agreements with councils in London and thedevolved administrations.Making the pledge 3

Voluntary agreements havebeen tried and tested inover 50 council areas 4 andwe hope councils will findthis approach to managingstreet collectors aneffective and efficient wayof dealing with problems.“Some days we would have threedifferent groups in the city centre,each with half a dozen collectors,all trying to make sign-ups. It waslike running the gauntlet. Now,I watch the fundraisers and if Ifeel they are being aggressive,I’ll pick it up and feed it back tothe PFRA. There has been amassive reduction in the numberof complaints, down from 50 amonth to two a month, and thePFRA is doing a fantastic job ofmonitoring and managing for us.”Clint Jones, Town Centre Manager atPlymouth City Council4 An LGA survey found that 78 per cent of responding councilswith a voluntary agreement had found it an effective way ofmanaging collections. http://tinyurl.com/voluntaryagreements“Since entering into theagreement, complaints from thepublic have been dramaticallyreduced and operational issuesare swiftly resolved by PFRAstaff. The responsible attitudeadopted by the PFRA andits members helped to turn asituation around.”Jane Dykes, City Centre Manager, Cityof Nottingham“Not only have complaintsdecreased since Bracknellintroduced a voluntary agreementwith the PFRA, but we havepeople coming in from otherareas to visit our high streetbecause they know they won’t behassled.”Councillor Paul Bettison, Leader,Bracknell Forest Council“This Agreement has been ofgreat benefit to both parties,but more importantly, toour town centre customers,where complaints havebeen substantially reducedand problems resolved quickly.”Bob O’Brien, Town Centre Manager,Crawley Borough CouncilMaking the pledge9

About usLocal Government Association (LGA)The Local Government Association (LGA)is a voluntary membership body and ourmember authorities cover every part ofEngland and Wales. Together they representover 50 million people and spend around£113 billion a year on local services. Theyinclude county councils, metropolitan districtcouncils, English unitary authorities, Londonboroughs and shire district councils, alongwith fire authorities, police authorities,national park authorities and passengertransport authorities. www.local.gov.ukPublic Fundraising RegulatoryAssociation (PFRA)The Public Fundraising RegulatoryAssociation is the charity-led self-regulatorymembership body for all types of faceto-facefundraising (F2F). PFRA has asdual role as a regulator in being the bridgebetween councils and charities practisingF2F: maintaining professional standards andensuring fair allocation of fundraising on theground. www.pfra.org.uk10 Making the pledge