Name and type of organisation: Cancer Relief UK (registered charity no. 1122929) and its agency, Recycling Solutions North West Ltd (company no. 00018684)
Fundraising method: Charity bags
Code themes examined: The delivery of a charity bag to a ‘restricted address’ or those displaying a sign indicating its preference not to receive unaddressed mail, complaint handling and third-party monitoring.
Code breach?
- Cancer Relief UK: Yes
- Recycling Solutions North West Ltd: Yes
The complaint
The complainant told us that despite having a sign on their letterbox that stated “NO UNSOLICITED OR UNADDRESSED MAIL”, complaining to the charity and the company, and being on the charity’s “do not deliver list” they continued to receive charity bags from the company on behalf of the charity.
What happened?
The complainant first contacted us in January 2020 to say that despite having a sign that said that they did not wish to receive any unaddressed mail and contacting Recycling Solutions North West to ask that their wishes be adhered to, they continued to receive unwanted charity bags on behalf of Cancer Relief UK.
In line with our process, we contacted the charity directly, advising them of the need to take remedial action to prevent the delivery of charity bags by their distributors to individuals who do not wish to receive them. We asked the charity to respond to the complainant directly.
In January 2021, the complainant contacted us to report that despite many requests, including one made by the regulator, they had received six charity bags delivered by the company on behalf of the charity. We contacted the charity to ask for information in relation to the complaint, and it confirmed that the bags were the result of a “new and inexperienced distribution team” and that the complainant's street had been removed from its distribution list.
In February 2023, the complainant contacted us again to tell us that they had received another charity bag on behalf of the charity. The complainant remained unsatisfied with the charity's response due to the numerous previous deliveries they had received and the similarity of this incident. We agreed to investigate.
In October 2023, the complainant received a further charity bag from the charity.
Our decision
In coming to a decision in this case we have carefully considered the possibility of human errors in the fundraising process, despite the agency's assurance of having training measures in place. We understand that this is often due to the large number of bags each distributor delivers daily and the very nature of the role of a charity bag distributor.
We have also considered the agency's concerns that some of the earlier charity bags delivered to the property may have been fraudulent. However, since January 2020, neither the charity nor the company has disputed whether the bags were delivered by its distributors.
However, despite these considerations, and even after discounting charity bags that were delivered before January 2020, which could have come from fraudulent distributors, the complainant still received five charity bags. The agency does not dispute delivering these bags, even though a sign clearly indicated that the resident did not want them, and the address was on the charity's "do not deliver" list. Based on this, we found that Recycling Solutions North West breached the code standards that relate to persistent fundraising and not adhering to signs that indicate the residence's preference not to be fundraised to.
Since both the charity and its agency failed to co-operate with our request to provide us with a copy of their contract, we have been unable to establish whether the charity is acting in accordance with the Code of Fundraising Practice (the code) and has a contract in place with its agents.
We found that aside from what the charity and agency have told us, we have seen little supporting documentary evidence to suggest that the charity has comprehensive oversight over the work carried out by the company in its name. We have found that the charity has breached the code section related to monitoring its third-party fundraisers and commercial partners and ensuring they adhere to the code.
We also considered the correspondence exchanged in relation to the complaint and can see that both the charity and the company responded promptly and politely when contacted. However, given the charity’s delegated approach to complaints handling and the fact that we have seen no evidence that it has thoroughly investigated with the company why its agents continue to deliver to an address that should have been removed from its distribution list, we found that it breached the section of the code that related to investigating a complaint thoroughly.
Code Sections and Standards considered
Code of Fundraising Practice, version effective 1 October 2019 (last updated 4 June 2021)
Section 1.2 Asking for support
- Standard 1.2.1: breach identified against the agency
Section 2.4 Complaints and concerns about fundraising
- Standard 2.4.3: breach identified
Section 7.2 Contracts and agreements
- Standard 7.2.1 unable to determine
Section 7.3 Monitoring that fundraisers are meeting the code
- Standard 7.3.2: breach identified
- Standard 7.3.2: breach identified
Section 8 Behaviour when collecting money or other property
- Standard 8.4.9: breached identified against the agency
Recommendations
Cancer Relief UK
We recommend that the charity:
- Put in place documented quality measures to monitor the work carried out by its commercial partner on its behalf, specifically focusing on its “do not distribute” list.
- Review and update all compliance training material the company provides to charity bag distributors regarding the use of the "do not distribute" list and the importance of adhering to property signage.
- Review its contractual agreements to ensure they comply with the code and allow it to monitor its agency's work adequately.
Recycling Solutions North West
We recommend that the company:
- Take appropriate remedial action to stop unwanted charity bags from being delivered to addresses that either display a sign indicating the residents' wish not to receive a bag or are on the "do not distribute" list.
Outcome
Cancer Relief UK and Recycling Solutions North West have accepted our findings and recommendations. Recycling Solutions North West has also confirmed that because of this complaint, it no longer works with the distribution team in question.