What If Every Form Of Fundraising Had 'Solicitation Statements'?

Did you know in Northern Ireland face-to-face fundraisers are required to make a 'solicitation statement' at the point of sign-up? They must also disclose the 'notifiable amount' - the amount the charity pays the agency that employs them. It runs along the lines of:

“I am a professional fundraiser employed by Fundraising Ltd. on behalf of CharityAid. We expect to be paid approximately £200,000 in connection with this particular appeal, and the method used to determine our payment was calculated on the fixed cost of £200 per donor. We expect to raise at least £516,000 for the charity from this particular appeal."

There's no regulation like this down south yet, but we introduced our own declaration regardless, along the lines of:

“I am a professional fundraiser employed by Fundraising Ltd. and regulated by the 2009 Charities Act and the Irish Fundraising Forum for Direct Recruitment’s Code of Practice. The charity pays Fundraising Ltd. a fixed fee to undertake this public face-to-face fundraising work and to recruit long-term regular givers. This is one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways to raise funds.”

Regardless of what I think about having to declare the fees and costs and the wording of the statement, I began to think what other media would look like if they were subject to similar rules.

Mail
A declaration on the front of the envelope

Television

A banner declaration visible from the start of the ad.

Newspaper

Small print on every ad.

Although, to be comparable the small print would have to be at the top - the first thing visible.