The FPS working group: where we are

Those who were watching the summit on the future of fundraising self-regulation will already know that George Kidd has been appointed by Lord Grade to chair the working group on the FPS.

NCVO’s board of trustees has agreed that NCVO should provide secretariat support to George, so we have been helping him get the working group up and running. Here is an update on progress so far.

Terms of Reference

The Terms of Reference make clear that:

• The purpose of the working group is to determine how the FPS should be set up and operate in practice
• The FPS will need to give the public greater control over their interactions with charities and genuine choice about whether and how they are approached with fundraising requests
• The design of the FPS will need to minimise the burden for both charities and the public
• The FPS must include a simple option to completely opt out of all fundraising communications from all charities
• However, the FPS should also provide people with the option to remain opted-in to communications from certain organisations.

Read the full terms of reference

Membership

Understandably there has been a huge amount of interest from people to get involved in the group; we have been overwhelmed with requests from fundraisers, regulatory experts, data experts and marketing professionals to name a few.

So it is inevitable that there will be some disappointment for all of those who are not in the group, but hopefully they will also be reassured a wide and strong representation from the following members:

• Geoff Beck, Group Risk and Compliance Manager and Data Protection Officer, Help for Heroes
• Lynda Thomas, Chief Executive, MacMillan Cancer Support
• Catherine Cottrell, Deputy Executive Director of Fundraising, Unicef
• John Mitchison, Head of Preference Services, Compliance and Legal, Direct Marketing Association
• Ruth Thompson, Deputy Chair and board member, London Travel Watch (a consumer watchdog)
• Stephen Lee, Visiting Professor of Voluntary Sector Management,Cass Business School; former Director, Institute of Fundraising
• Pauline Broomhead, Founder and Chief Executive, Foundation for Social Improvement

Consultation process

The group will of course consult extensively, to ensure the widest range of views feed into its work.

We are planning the following:

• A series of roundtables to engage with charities of all sizes and from across different parts of the sector
• Some consumer focus groups to hear the user experience
• A number of evidence sessions with representative bodies

In the new year, we will also be holding an online survey, which will focus on specific options and possible ways in which the FPS can operate.

Anyone who wishes to send their comments now can do so already by emailing george.kidd@fpswg.org.uk.

Next steps

The working group will have its first meeting in early January, when it will discuss these plans in more detail so further announcements will follow.

In the meantime, if you have any questions please email me elizabeth.chamberlain@ncvo.org.uk or leave a comment below.