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Ethical fundraising

The Charity is diligent about ensuring best practice and procedures across all its facets, including fundraising activity.   

Please read more about our promise to our Supporters which is set out in our Ethical Fundraising Policy below. 

Arthur Rank Hospice collection tin

About Arthur Rank Hospice Charity

The Arthur Rank Hospice Charity’s (ARHC) objectives are to relieve the sickness and suffering of people with life limiting conditions and to assist their families or carers (the ‘beneficiaries’) in Cambridgeshire and the surrounding areas by any of the following:

  • Providing financial and volunteer support towards the establishment and management of the Arthur Rank Hospice, Cambridge and other hospices;
  • Providing services, facilities, equipment or grants for Beneficiaries
  • Delivering any other benefit which relieves the sickness or suffering of Beneficiaries

Our Supporter Promise

To enable us to achieve these objectives it is important that we raise funds to cover revenue and capital costs. In our efforts to raise money it is also important to us that we adhere to the Fundraising Standards Board's Fundraising promise to be open, honest, fair and legal. This policy seeks to cover the ethical issues and social responsibility within fundraising. All Arthur Rank Hospice Charity staff involved directly or by association, in raising funds have a responsibility to be aware and have a thorough understanding of the ethical issues referred to in this policy.

Fundraising Regulator 

We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and adhere to their Code of Fundraising Practice, which you can read more about on their website, by clicking the logo below:

If you haven't recently received a copy of the Newsletter, Light Up a Life Leaflet or Founders Booklet it may because you have not given us the necessary permission. You can stop communications or agree to receive post, emails or telephone calls from us and clarify how you would like us to stay in touch by visiting arhc.org.uk/contact-preferences/arhc.org.uk/me or calling us on 01223 675909.

Supporters

The Arthur Rank Hospice Charity respects the rights of its supporters to transparency in regard to the way we manage the charity and spend our funds, we will comply with the Charity Commission and UK law in every respect, including those regarding openness and honesty with our supporters and members of the public.

  • We will protect the privacy of our donors and we will never share donor information with a third party.
  • We will never buy data from another organisation with the intention of contacting people to request financial support.
  • In all our communications with our supporters, we will give them the opportunity to select the communications they wish to receive from us or to be removed from our database all together.
  • We will never pressurise donors to increase their level of support to us.
  • We will respond quickly to any complaints about our fundraising methods.

Acceptance Criteria

When deciding whether to accept any particular donation, the Chief Executive and the Trustees have a duty to demonstrate to the Charity Commission that they have acted in the best interest of the charity, and that association with any particular donor does not compromise ARHC’s ethical position, harm our reputation or put future funding at risk. The ARHC complies with all relevant legislation including money laundering rules, the Bribery Act and Charity Commission guidance, including terrorism and political activity. ARHC therefore would not accept any donations in any of the following circumstances, where:

  • The support is known, suspected to be or derives from the proceeds of crime
  • Would help further a donor’s personal objectives, which conflict with those of ARHC
  • Would lead to a possible decline in support for ARHC, and so jeopardise future fundraising
  • Would in any way significantly damage our reputation

Use of donations

If donors wish to make a request that their donation be used for a specific area of the service, providing they make this clear at the point of donation, we will endeavour to restrict the donated funds for that purpose.

Naming rights

On occasion donors ask that a donation be used for a specific item and that a commemorative plaque is placed in memory of someone nominated by the donor. Whilst we do have specific fundraising campaigns that offer naming rights – for example with our capital campaign, in general are unable to offer this opportunity as we believe that an abundance of ‘in memorium’ plaques in the hospice or the gardens creates a less positive environment for patients living with life limiting illnesses or those coming to the end of their lives.

Our Lottery

Our lottery (Your Hospice Lottery) provides an essential source of income for the charity. We outsource the running of Your Hospice Lottery to St Helena’s Hospice. St Helena’s had run their own Lottery for many years and before agreeing to work with them we investigated their approach and reputation and were assured that their approach is ethical, fair and transparent. More than 85% of our Lottery players have been recruited through cold calling by canvassers and this has resulted in raising income of more than £1.1million date (June 2021). All canvassers are thoroughly vetted and they adhere to a strict code of conduct and we are confident that their approach is polite and informative. More information about Your Hospice Lottery can be found HERE.

In the rare occasion when a canvasser has been found to be too persistent, we have investigated their approach and if the complaint is upheld, that canvassers contract is terminated.