merrion street

New charity fundraising guidelines will benefit charities and provide reassurance to public

The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring TD has said that new charity fundraising guidelines being introduced today will protect charities and the public from exploitation by unscrupulous individuals and help rebuild public trust in our charity sector.

Minister Ring was speaking at the launch of the charity fundraising guidelines by the Charities Regulator. Responsibility for charities regulation falls under the auspices of the Department for Rural and Community Development.

Minister Ring said: “These guidelines provide clarity for charity organisations on how they can and cannot raise money from the public. They are designed to help charities and their trustees ensure that they are legally compliant in their public fundraising.”

“The regulation of the charity sector will protect it and the most vulnerable of our citizens from further exploitation by unscrupulous, unprincipled and unethical individuals who have no place in it.
Better oversight of the charities will actually secure the future of the charity sector.

“Today we are setting a new bar for fundraising. The new fundraising guidelines today are another step in ensuring that Irish charities are vibrant, trusted and supported by the public. Many smaller local charities have never been regulated before and as such they too are facing a new dawn. Guidelines that can be put into practice by ordinary people is clearly going to be absolutely vital in restoring a sense of integrity to the charity sector.

“With the publication of these guidelines, we are developing an environment which both regulates and protects Irish charities. Everyone is conscious of the fact that the confidence of the Irish people in the charity sector was dented in recent years. The reputations of the many thousands of volunteers working in these and other charities, and indeed that of the charity sector as a whole, have been impacted.

“However, amid all the headlines, we cannot forget how much we depend on the work performed by our charities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Thousands of kind, decent people work and volunteer in every town and city all over Ireland. Their work is critical to creating and maintaining vibrant rural and urban communities. Were it not for these people, our communities would cease to function in the way we know them.

“To protect all the good charities we have to ensure that the small amount of bad practices are identified and changed. It is assuring to see the Regulator using their investigatory and enforcement powers. This can only be good for the sector. Most charities that run into difficulties need advice and support and that is only in the smallest amount of cases that enforcement is used.

“The report and the new fundraising guidelines have been informed by detailed engagement and public consultation. This is a very promising start and augurs well for the future. The compliance of charities with the requirements of the new guidelines will provide reassurance and increase trust.”