Local Authorities

This page is aimed at Local Authorities and ‘gatekeepers’. That is people who have a stake in the access of fundraising organizations to fundraising sites, be they Licensing Officers, Town Centre Managers, private site owners or other council officials, the PFRA can work with to maximise the opportunities for fundraising.

The PFRA would like to begin by taking the opportunity to thank all the people who donate to charity by direct debit or any other means from your borough.

It is the opinion of the PFRA that there is currently no legislation covering face-to-face fundraising. The street collection legislation (Police, Factories etc (Misc Prov) Act 1916, Section 5) applies only to collections of money or the sale of articles for the benefit of charitable or other purposes not in the ordinary course of trade. However, as no money changes hands when Direct Debit forms are signed, this legislation cannot be applied to face-to-face fundraising.

Furthermore, it is completely unnecessary to apply this type of legislation to face-to-face. The 1916 Act was brought about to counter the relative ease of opportunity for fraud or theft of cash collections. Whereas in face-to-face it is impossible for fraud to take place. A direct debit agreement is from the donor to the charity and regulated by Direct Debit guarantee. The donations go directly to the Charity and cannot be diverted to any other destination. This is a highly cost-effective form of fundraising, giving charities as much as a 500% return on investment.

However, to sustain this level of income, all parties agree that it is necessary to limit the frequency of collections in any one area. To this end the PFRA has entered into a number of voluntary agreements with Local Authorities to regulate and allocate access to fundraising sites.