Charities that bully donors could face fundraising ban

He said: “We are very supportive of a new approach to the self-regulation of fundraising and of the creation of a single regulator with robust new powers”. It would be the owner and enforcer of the code of fundraising practice – which now sits with the Institute of Fundraising (IoF) – and be able to proactively investigate breaches of standards (rather than wait for complaints from the public) and be responsible for convening all relevant bodies to ensure cooperation on fundraising issues.

Measures proposed in NCVO chief executive Sir Stuart Etherington’s report, widely expected to be implemented in full, include the creation of a new charity regulator, answerable to Parliament and of a “preference service” allowing members of the public to opt out of being contacted.

Two regulatory bodies would be merged, with the responsibility for setting standards taken away from one of them, the Institute of Fundraising.

A new watchdog is needed to keep an eye on charity fundraisers, according to a cross-party review of the sector.

Sir Stuart Etherington, from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, who headed up the review, said the Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB) “really doesn’t have the clout or the sanctions” to stop charities who are overstepping the mark. Charities which seriously or persistently breach the rules would be named and shamed and could be forced to halt their fundraising until problems are resolved.

It added that although charities were in their right to ask the public for money, the public also had the right to be left alone by fundraisers. “This has been a clear wake-up call and now is the time to tighten the standards”.

Scotland’s social justice secretary Alex Neil, welcoming the report, said: “We want to make sure no-one can prey on the most vulnerable people in our society and that we can continue to place our trust in our charitable sector here in Scotland”. The recommendations represent a new approach to fundraising self-regulation. “But they should inspire people to give, not pressure them to”. “Now we want to see charities and other third sector organisations come together to find the answers to these challenges, and to set out a much more rigorous approach to self-regulation which everyone can trust”. The levy would apply to organisations spending £100,000 or more on fundraising each year and would be stepped so that those spending more would contribute more. As part of our commitment to leading the way in good practice and supporting others to do so, we have created an interactive telephone fundraising training package to ensure telephone fundraisers recognise vulnerability and handle contact with individuals in a way that is sensitive to their individual needs.

‘I understand the public are frustrated when they feel they can’t easily control what they receive from charities.

Lord Wallace said: ‘Charities are playing an ever-greater role in society.