The Fundraising Regulator’s Annual Complaints Report has been published and reveals complaints regarding fundraising practices more than doubled compared to the previous year.

Door-to-door fundraising, which has a long history of controversy and discomfort for many charities, was responsible for one-fifth of the total number of complaints. 

Door-to-door fundraising is almost exclusively subcontracted out by charities to professional fundraising organisations. It is, therefore, difficult for charities to maintain control over professional fundraising companies' practices, compared to their staff and volunteers. It is mall charities in particular who are vulnerable as they often utilise the lesser known (mostly cheaper) companies, whose commitment to high standards can often be more notable for their absence.

I have had a few conversations in the past few months with professional fundraisers and charities alike regarding the prospect of using body-worn cameras to try to address this issue. Body-worn cameras when first introduced were alarming to much of the public, however, the public is now used to seeing many sections of society wearing the tech. Indeed, only yesterday Lidl announced all its store colleagues would be supplied with them so their daily familiarity will only increase.

Charities may wish to consider whether to impose the use of body-worn cameras to enable them to meet their monitoring obligations upon professional fundraisers and to enable them to defend claims of impropriety when valid, hopefully.