Blog

22 October 2018, 11:22

Charity Fraud Awareness Week 2018 - Charity Fraud Out

Alan Bryce of the Charity Commission talks about what’s in store for Charity Fraud Awareness Week 2018, and what you and your charity can to do get involved in this campaign to combat fraud in the sector.

Fraudsters are the only people who benefit when charities do not talk about fraud. Fraudsters do not want charities to share information on current and emerging fraud risks and certainly do not want charities to recognise and celebrate good practice in tackling fraud. Above all, fraudsters would rather that charities are vulnerable to exploitation and do not develop a strong counter fraud culture that protects the valuable funds, good will and trust invested in the sector. That is why the Charity Commission, the Fraud Advisory Panel and Charities Against Fraud (a partnership of over 40 charities, regulators and charitable professional bodies) are launching the third national Charity Fraud Awareness Week.

Running 22-26 October, Charity Fraud Awareness Week 2018 promotes openness and honesty about fraud. It brings together the charity and not-for-profit-sector to raise awareness and share good practice. It is an opportunity for trustees, employees, volunteers and the wider public to learn more about the growing threat from fraud, to celebrate the increasing number of charities who have successfully tackled fraud and for everyone involved with charities to play a vital part in reducing the harm caused. Last year’s charity fraud awareness campaign resulted in over 10 million social media impressions – clearly the wider public wants and expects charities to play their part in the fight against fraud.

It is encouraging that each year, more and more charities have become involved with Charity Fraud Awareness Week. In 2017 some charities ran their own awareness week, aligned with the national campaign; many others shared the accompanying free webinars and guidance produced. What’s more, a number of charities made submissions for the inaugural 2017 Charities Against Fraud Awards. These actions demonstrate the type of clear commitment and strong tone from charity managers that the wider public, beneficiaries, donors (and of course, the regulator) increasingly wants to see.

For Charity Fraud Awareness Week 2018, there will again be a series of free webinars, online discussions, Q&A opportunities with experts, helpsheets and checklists about a number of current and emerging fraud threats. Charities can also make nominations for the 12 free places that are available for charity staff on an accredited counter fraud training course. There will also be the first ever on-line fraud awareness toolkit developed specifically for trustees, charity staff and volunteers.

Charities are strongly encouraged to actively support the week via social media and their own trusted networks, by downloading the campaign’s UK Supporters Pack – for the first time an international supporters pack is also available. See bit.ly/FraudAdvisoryCFAW for all 2018 campaign information and supporting material.

What’s happening in Charity Fraud Awareness Week

Each day during Charity Fraud Awareness Week 2018 the campaign will focus on particular topics. More information can be found at bit.ly/GovCFAW.

Monday 22 October

Cyber fraud (current and emerging threats)

Tuesday 23 October

Grant fraud (due diligence and partnership working)

Wednesday 24 October

Donation fraud/ legacy fraud

Thursday 25 October

Insider fraud

Friday 26 October

Moving money safely

How to get involved

If your charity, or you individually, want to be involved with Charity Fraud Awareness week there’s a number of ways to get involved –

• Download a UK supporters’ pack from the Fraud Advisory Panel website ly/FraudAdvisoryPack
• Download an international edition of the supporters pack from the Fraud Advisory Panel website ly/FraudAdvisoryPackInt
• Develop your own counter fraud activities aimed at staff and volunteers, members and beneficiaries, donors and supporters, for example staff awareness training
• Join the conversation on Twitterby promoting your own counter fraud messages or retweet ours using the hashtag #CharityFraudOut

Additional Charity Commission guidance is available at www.gov.uk/guidance/protect-your-charity-from-fraud.