By Zoe Unankah, Cancer Research UK
Fraud in Fundraising
Our supporters raise millions of pounds each year to reduce the impact of cancer on people’s day-to-day lives through research, influence and information. Research that continues to break boundaries, for example, Cancer Research UK funded groundbreaking studies used to develop the HPV vaccine which is expected to prevent almost 90% of cervical cancer cases in the UK.
Fundraising fraud can be defined as when donations meant for a specific charity are withheld either in full or in part or redirected away from the intended recipient. We must acknowledge that this risk is always present and try our best to reduce it by developing proportionate controls, that encourage fundraisers and deter fraudsters. It is everyone’s responsibility to be watchful and lead with integrity.
Some fraud related issues in fundraising could be:
- Cash skimming – this may occur with street fundraisers or independent fundraisers whose donations are predominantly cash. Fraud may be more difficult to detect if our record shows that we are still receiving donations from the supporter but are unaware of the total amount that was raised.
- Bogus fundraisers – these are fundraisers who pose as CRUK supporters but had no intentions of donating any of the funds raised to us. We may not have ever had contact with them and would not have their contact details. In these instances, we rely heavily on detailed information from other supporters and complainants.
- Ghost fundraisers – these are fundraisers that have reached out to CRUK for fundraising materials with the intention to raise money for us but later decide to donate to a different charity, private charity (e.g. friend in need) or local hospice. It’s also important to investigate these cases as it doesn’t always mean any fraud has taken place. They may have just decided not to fundraise all together!
- Crowdfunding fraud – these are groups or individuals who fundraise for us using online fundraising platforms not linked to CR UK and fail to send us the donation. E.g. someone uses a crowdfunding page stating that they are raising money for us but never sends us the donation, it is in effect a type of ‘skimming’ but instead of the cash being in a bucket it’s in a bank account.
Safeguarding charitable funds and ensuring donor trust
Some of the ways we help to prevent fraud and protect our charitable donations is through due diligence.
We can do this by implementing measures to ensure fundraising compliance with our supporters fundraising plan before issuing them letters of authority. This lets us know what type of fundraising activities they’ll be doing, when, where and how much we can expect from them.
We can also check to see if we have previously sent them fundraising materials and find out whether we received a donation from their activities.
We communicate with online fundraising platforms and other charities and, where appropriate we share information which could help in recovering donations or referring the matter to the Police.
Keeping on top of referrals from members of the public about suspicious fundraisers and investigating these cases as early as possible demonstrates that the referrals are taken seriously. Consequently, building trust between us and our supporters.
It’s essential that if a fundraiser wants their donation to go to a specific cause, we follow their wishes. For instance, if John raises £500 for Cancer Research UK with a focus on children’s cancer, we will allocate his donation exclusively to our children’s cancer research fund. It will not be redirected to other areas, such as breast cancer research, ensuring full transparency and respect for the donor’s intent.
Most importantly, we need to spread awareness of fundraising fraud, one way we do this is through Anti-Fraud training sessions and explain how suspicions can be reported to us. We use Charity Fraud Awareness Week to leverage interest, showing that it is a sector wide problem, and that we cannot be complacent. We make sure to highlight what fraud may look like in different departments of the organisation. This builds an organisation wide Anti-Fraud culture.