To measure how well street fundraisers comply with the code of practice, PFRA runs a mystery shopping programme, which is conducted on our behalf by Mystery Shoppers Ltd, the leading organisation for this type of activity. We have been running this programme with Mystery Shoppers Ltd since 2006.
We aim to test the performance of 32 fundraisers each month (a target we have steadily increased since April 2009) in various locations around the UK, not just in how well they adhere to the code of practice, but also their professional demeanour and skills and effectiveness as charity fundraisers. Outside of our mystery shopping programme, PFRA's Head of Standards also conducts weekly 'patrols' in London to observe fundraisers and will report any poor practice he encounters directly to the agency/concerned.
We expect fundraisers to achieve a score of at least 90 per cent when they are mystery shopped. During 2009, the mean (average) score for all mystery shopping interactions was 91 and the median (the halfway point of all the individual scores obtained) was 95. For the first four months of 2010, we have recorded scores of 95.6 (mean) and 95.5 (median).
To put this in context, during 2009, 62 per cent of the 197 fundraisers mystery shopped reached or exceeded our expected score of 90 per cent. We consider that a fundraiser who scores below 85 per cent is probably in need of retraining. It is very unusual for a fundraiser to score 80 per cent or below.
If they do, it is generally for failures related to skills as a fundraiser or general professional demeanour, such as a scruffy or obscured badge, rather than a serious code breach such as a failure to disclose that they are a paid fundraiser.
On rare occasions, fundraisers who have returned low mystery shopping scores have been disciplined by their employer organisations. Just once has a mystery shop resulted in the dismissal of a fundraiser (for claiming to be a volunteer).
We have not uncovered any obvious trend whereby particular failings crop up again and again. Instead, our mystery shopping programme tells us that F2F on the street is generally carried out to a high degree of professional competence and code compliance.