Charities minister Kevin Brennan and Institute of Fundraising chief executive Lindsay Boswell are divided over who instigated a meeting between them to discuss complaints
from MPs about direct mail. According to Brennan’s office, the minister summoned Boswell (pictured) to a meeting on 6 May to demand assurances that the fundraising sector was doing something to improve standards within DM. Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB) chief executive Alistair McLean and Stephen Pidgeon, chair of the committee that recently rewrote the Institute’s code on direct mail, also attended. Charity Commission senior policy adviser Chris Higgins was there too. In a statement after the meeting, Brennan said: “I am very concerned about some direct mail fundraising practices damaging public confidence in charities. “I have met with the Institute and FRSB to seek reassurances that decisive action to eradicate bad practice is being taken.” A spokesman for Brennan’s office confirmed that “it was the minister who raised the issue and offered a meeting to the Institute of Fundraising”. And a Charity Commission spokeswoman said: “The Office of the Third Sector hosted the event and invited the Charity Commission along.” But Boswell told Charity News Alert that he had instigated the meeting after hearing that Brennan was getting complaints about direct mail from fellow MPs. He said the Institute was already taking action to tackle the problem “long before” the meeting.
“I asked for this meeting,” Boswell said. “I wrote to the minister and said I thought he ought to be aware of what we are doing to drive up standards, as I had become aware his postbag was filling up with content about DM.”