17/10/11
- Companion volume to street rule book
- New rules that are binding on PFRA members
- New doorstep quality control regime to be phased in over next year
New rules for doorstep fundraising come into force on Monday October 17 when the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association – the self-regulatory membership body for face-to-face fundraising – publishes the second volume of its interpretation of the code of practice.
The PFRA Rule Book (Door) contains new rules and guidance on existing requirements of the Institute of Fundraising’s Code of Practice on Face-to-Face Activity.
Much of the content of the doorstep Rule Book mirrors the street Rule Book, but omits rules that pertain exclusively to street fundraising, such as the three-step rule. New rules specifically about doorstep F2F are:
- Fundraisers ought always knock or ring at a property’s main entrance and not use side entrances or back doors, unless a resident gives permission to do so
- Fundraising may only take place between 9am and 9pm (10am on Sundays and public holidays) unless fundraisers have permission to visit outside these hours
- Fundraisers should take extra care when calling once darkness has fallen so as not to cause alarm or distress to householders.
As with the new street rules, breaches of the doorstep rules will incur penalty points, which, after a six-month trial and a review, will be converted into fines at £1 per point. Once a fundraising organisation passes a 1,000-point threshold, they will be liable to monetary fines.
PFRA is also announcing a doorstep quality control programme to complement street mystery shopping. The three stages to this programme will be phased in over the next year.
Stage 1 – Inspection of training programmes. PFRA’s standards team will attend training sessions to assess how well the requirements of the code and Rule Book are communicated to fundraisers. PFRA staff have already attended training run by doorstep agency Tim Lilley Fundraising Consultancy, while Greater London Fund for the Blind, which is setting up an in-house team, has invited PFRA to attend its training.
Stage 2 – Shadowing of fundraising teams. Within the next six months, PFRA’s standards team intend to begin shadowing fundraising to observe how they operate on the ground.
Stage 3 – Feedback process. Within a year, PFRA aims to have in place on our website a customer feedback mechanism whereby members of the public can post comments and observations about doorstep F2F. This will not be a complaints process as there is already an established PFRA complaints process that any resident can use.