Messrs G Owen & Co Fundraising On The Internet

2010

Ideas for Today and Tomorrow

WELCOME to Messrs G Owen & Co Fundraising on the Internet

TRAINER:TRAINER:

GORDON OWENGORDON OWEN

VOLUNTARY SECTOR & VOLUNTARY SECTOR & FUNDRAISING FUNDRAISING CONSULTANTCONSULTANT

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Internet Fundraising Guidelines and Introduction UK charities have been using the Internet since

the mid-1990’s. Today, the number of charities using the Internet in increasingly diverse ways is mushrooming, and with it grows the range and number of online fundraising opportunities that they are being offered. Charity web sites spring up in different ways, and very often the 'advisor' or the 'expert' being used can have little or no knowledge of the charity and its fundraising practice. It is therefore timely that charity fundraisers are given some guidelines on best practice and the opportunity to take a full and informed role in the development of their organisation's online conduct.

Fundraising on the Internet The guide is brought together a wide range of

relevant skills. These included legal, consultancy, online donation handling, online event management, trading, research, and web publishing. Fundraisers and suppliers/agencies were both represented.

The guidelines presented here address Internet fundraising in two parts. Firstly, they cover your charity's own organisation's web presence in terms of its web site(s) and e-mail communications. Secondly, they cover relationships with third parties who provide charities with a wide range of online services.

Awareness & Experience A basic awareness and experience of the

Internet is assumed but otherwise the guidelines are designed both for those new to using the Internet to fundraise and for those with more experience.

Many of the guidelines will be familiar, since rules covering data protection, trading, contracts and other legal requirements apply as much to online fundraising as to traditional fundraising. Ethical considerations are included also but for the largest part the guidance is of a practical nature.

Fundraising on the Internet The Internet is a vast field and, whilst not every aspect can

be covered here, in their entirety the guidelines may still appear onerous to some organisations. Not all of what is contained here will apply in every case.

The guidance can easily be prioritised into what is law, what is specifically recommended by the ICF and what is understood to be best practice. Charities must balance the information offered here with their organisation's overall context and priorities and form their own judgements. Managing your charity's Internet presence and fundraising is also about managing your charity's reputation and risk. Charities have been known to mischaracterise their relationship with a dotcom as philanthropic or to fall into unrealistic contracts but, as with any contract for service, charities should consider all their online agreements carefully and enlist the advice and expertise of relevant people where they have any doubts or concerns. There can simply be no replacement for due diligence in both the short and the long run for any charity embracing the web.

Guideline Queries?? Finally, these guidelines focus explicitly on

fundraising using the web and e-mail and do not specifically address other new media issues and channels such as digital TV, mobile telephones and handheld devices. The advice here is intended to be general enough to be useful when considering other media.

Groups who has a query, an issue or an addition to these guidelines are encourage to contact the ICF. It is their intention to ensure this document is updated at appropriate intervals, to keep pace with the inevitable changes in online fundraising practice.

FUNDRAISING USING YOUR CHARITY'S INTERNET PRESENCE

OnLine handling of personal data

The capture and handling of personal data online can be a sensitive area, particularly when it comes to the methods used to capture information on visitors. Transparency is usually the best policy. The Data Protection Act 1998 specifically covers the handling of personal data using the Internet.

FUNDRAISING USING YOUR CHARITY'S INTERNET PRESENCE Do not use unencrypted pages for taking credit card payments or donations. Do

not use unencrypted e-mail to send or receive credit card payments or donations and actively discourage people from e-mailing their credit/debit card numbers to your charity. State clearly on your Web site, e-mail list or other communication how you will use individuals' personal data e.g. to mail or e-mail supporters with information related to your charity or other organisations' sites, products or services to contact supporters in the event of a necessary communication exchange requested by you or initiated by your charity, such as to confirm or check supporters' donation details to use in aggregate form, that is not personally identifiable, for analysis to help your charity improve its services and products. Ensure that any consent obtained complies with the Data Protection Act 1998. Explain clearly how individuals may edit or delete their details at any time, or request such changes. Personal data should either be held offline and not on the live Web server or be held securely behind a firewall or in a non Web-accessible database to prevent unauthorised access. Be as transparent as possible, for example in declaring how you intend to use personal information collected by your charity's Web site. Cover how your visitors' movements/activities are tracked (if at all) and whether income is generated simply by clicking through links to commercial participators. Fundraisers should at no time use or encourage unsolicited commercial e-mail (spam), where individuals have not given their consent for their details to be released or used. Fundraisers should understand that currently even the use of legitimate e-mail lists purchased from third parties can cause donor resentment and damage public confidence in the sector.

Acceptable Use Policy # 1 In using the Internet to fundraise and conduct other

activities charities will give Internet access to paid staff and volunteers. In doing so charities should act to protect both the organisation and individuals from any use or misuse of this access. Charities should seek legal advice on establishing such an Acceptable Use Policy.

Such a policy could include the following issues:- Whether personal use of the Internet is acceptable, and if so at what

times. Instruction in responsibilities with regard to adhering to copyright and other intellectual property legislation. Whether access to certain Internet resources e.g. pornographic Web sites are not permitted from a charity PC/Mac or other access device. Staff should be expected to monitor and respond to e-mail messages within a set period. Compliance with requests to remove e-mail addresses and other personal data from your charity's database. The transmission of e-mail that may be deemed harassing, libellous, defamatory, obscene, threatening, abusive or hateful to recipients. Avoidance of propagating chain e-mail letters, virus "warnings", and other inappropriate attachments.

Acceptable Use Policy # 2

The more advanced the site, the more chance that all sorts of different copyright works have been used e.g. photographs, music, film, sound, graphic design and animation. Check you have the necessary global permission to use any copyright works not created by employees of the charity.

If your Web site has been designed by an agency, get them to warrant that the site does not infringe any third party rights and that you have the necessary licences to use all the software involved in running the site. Some specialist software companies will give

permission free of charge to charities.

Acceptable Use Policy # 3 Check as well that all assets and integral

components e.g. scripts, used to create the sites are assigned to you on delivery; this should be clearly stated in the contract. For example, components could include copy, code, programs, images and sound files. However, this may not be always possible. Some companies share code across clients, and therefore cannot assign the intellectual property rights to a single client. In these instances, you should insist that your charity is given a lifetime licence to use the code and develop it 'for non-commercial gain'. It is also handy to ask for a detailed style sheet of the site's design so that you know which fonts and colours have been used.

Acceptable Use Policy # 4 You could should not infringe someone

else's intellectual property in other ways e.g. words used as "metatags" can infringe registered trade marks (so ensure that you have permission to use them) linking to other sites without permission could give rise to copyright infringement claims. It is good practice to seek such permission. You might also choose to ensure that external sites linked to on your charity's site should open in a new, separate browser window, so that you do not alter the external site's page layout in any way.

Acceptable Use Policy If your Web site includes a chatroom, or noticeboard,

guestbook, or archived copies of e-mail discussion lists, then you could be held liable if you allow libellous statements to be published on the site, however temporarily.

Groups are recommended that you speak to your legal advisor and your charity's insurance company to establish what kind of AUP best suits your charity. This will help you to identify areas where you need to protect yourself or your staff and limit any liability you may have. In most cases you can assume your Internet activities are excluded from your insurance cover unless you have asked explicitly for them to be assessed.

Minimum legal statements for a Web site Groups are recommended that all applicable items from numbers 1 to 6 should be included on your web site and that a copyright symbol should appear on every relevant page.

Acceptable Use Policy Company registration number Privacy

policy Security statement (on personal data handling) Copyright statement.

Terms and conditions of use, and disclaimers e.g. regarding accuracy or currency of data, and external links to third-party Web sites.

Charities should also consider displaying prominently and consistently their logo or trademark, together with the logos of any relevant membership organisations or kitemarks to which they belong or subscribe.

Acceptable Use Policy Copying from Web sites happens all the

time and is difficult to prevent. However, if you use the © symbol on all your pages, it shows that the charity is the copyright owner of material on the site and acts as a warning against copying. On the other hand, there are some pages you might want actively to encourage visitors to copy e.g. sponsorship or donation forms, so make it clear which pages can be printed off.

Acceptable Use Policy If your organisation is a registered charity with gross

income in the last financial year of more than £10,000, then its status as a registered charity must be stated in English on all documents soliciting money (Charities Act 1993 Section 5). It is sensible to assume that documents soliciting money include web-sites and emails soliciting money. Anyone who designs a site and fails to include this is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of up to £1,000. The charity number should also be included as a matter of course, as this will give some donors a sense of security that their money is going to a regulated charity. Of course, some charities may wish to have the site owned by their trading subsidiary.

Acceptable Use Policy Remember that codes of

practice such as the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion apply equally to the Internet. Charities that are companies should also show their registered company number, status and registered office address.

Internet Sites to View For those who have access to the Internet, please look at the

following web sites – perhaps even register to improve your changes of fundraising and to create further awareness of your group/organisation and its work. It is an ideal opportunity to raise the profile of what you do:-

http://www.smartchange.org/index.phtml http://www.fundraisingdirect.co.uk/ http://www.smartchange.org/index.phtml http://www.vouchers4charity.co.uk/ http://www.justgiving.com/ http://www.charitydays.co.uk/ http://www.securegiving.co.uk/shopping_carts.html http://www.donateasyouspend.ws/ http://www.efundraising.org/ http://www.trustfunding.org.uk/trustfunding/Login.asp

Where to Get More Information Help Support

Gordon Owen e-Mail: gowenandco@yahoo.comWeb Site: www.gowenandco.co.uk

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