Fundraising Regulator issues report highlighting need to give donors clear information about how funds will be distributed

Fundraising Regulator issues report highlighting need to give donors clear information about how funds will be distributed

The Fundraising Regulator has published the summary of its investigation into Sportivater, a company fundraising for school sporting events. The Fundraising Regulator found that Sportivater had committed six breaches of the Code of Practice.

The complainant initially approached the Fundraising Regulator regarding an event Sportivater held at their child's school. Whilst in itself this was outside the regulator's remit as the school was not a charitable organisation, Sportivater did work with several charitable schools.

The Fundraising Regulator found that some statements Sportivater made to potential donors could be misleading, and that the company did not make clear enough that it might retain 100% of donations if the event did not raise enough funds to cover its fee. The Fundraising Regulator concluded that the font used to present information about its process on paper sponsorship forms was 'too small to be widely accessible'. Additionally, Sportivater's legally required solicitation statement did not comply with the Code as it was not detailed enough.

The report recommended multiple changes to Sportivater's marketing materials, including increasing disclosure text size and making clear donated funds would in the first instance pay for the event.

The Fundraising Regulator also found that four education trusts had also broken two sections of the Code relating to third-party fundraisers in relation to their work with Sportivater, although noted that it would not necessarily have been clear to the schools at the time that they were entering into a professional fundraising agreement.