Tag: Charity Commission

Charities at risk of ‘underestimating’ online fraud as one in eight experienced cybercrime last year

Stuart Mitchell

The Charity Commission is warning charities against the risk of online fraud, as a new survey found around one in eight charities (12%) had experienced cybercrime in the previous 12 months. This follows earlier findings indicating that the pandemic prompted increasing numbers of charities to move to digital fundraising and operating, exposing them to the risk of cybercrime. Most concerningly, the survey highlighted a potential lack of awareness of the risks facing charities online, with just over 24% having a formal policy in place to manage the risk. Similarly, only…

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Charity Commission aims to release £25 million for charities in Wales

Stuart Mitchell

The Charity Commission has announced the launch of the Revitalising Trusts Programme in Wales. The programme is run in partnership with Community Foundation Wales, with funding from the Welsh Government. The Commission plans to contact over 200 charities in Wales to release a target of £25 million that is currently lying idle in dormant accounts. The programme works by identifying charities in Wales that are either inactive (meaning they have had no income or expenditure over the last 5 years) or ineffective (having spent less than 30% of their total…

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Watchdog warns charities and the public to protect themselves against fraudsters amid pandemic

Stuart Mitchell

The Charity Commission is warning trustees and donors to strengthen their defences as it fears the pandemic has created environments that are enabling charity fraud. Charities have reported being victims of fraud or cybercrime 645 times since the start of the pandemic in March, amounting to £3.6 million in total losses to charities. The true scale of fraud against charities is believed to be much higher, as fraud is known to be underreported. The regulator is concerned that remote working and virtual activities and sign-off processes, combined with charities’ tendencies…

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Charity Commission publishes new guidance for charities with close links to non-charitable organisations

Stuart Mitchell

Charities are being told to ensure the close relationships some enjoy with non-charitable organisations are made clear to people outside their charity and never used to advance non-charitable agendas and interests. Amid concerns that some relationships between charities and non-charities have damaged public confidence in charity, the Charity Commission has published new guidance. The Commission says its casework has identified examples where charities have not managed their links to non-charitable organisations with care, in some cases allowing charities to be misused to further non-charitable interests, including commercial or private interests.…

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Charity Commission opens statutory inquiry into The Save the Children Fund

Stuart Mitchell

The Charity Commission, the charity regulator for England and Wales, has opened a statutory inquiry into The Save the Children Fund (registered number 213890) over concerns about the charity’s handling, reporting and response to serious allegations of misconduct and harassment against senior staff members in 2012 and 2015. The Commission was in regulatory engagement with The Save the Children Fund in 2015-16, after the charity reported a serious incident relating to allegations of misconduct and harassment against a senior staff member; the regulator also received an anonymous complaint about the…

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