Dutch charities team up to audit face-to-face agency compliance standards

A group of 22 Dutch charities have joined forces to test the current compliance standards of their face-to-face agencies.

With face-to-face fundraising being an important channel for the recruitment of regular donors for many Dutch charities, the group, led by charity trade association Goede Doelen Nederland, set up a pilot scheme to test agency compliance standards through a collective auditing approach.

An individual approach would have meant 51 separate audits. As a result of the collective approach, each of the 11 agencies, which are all used by one or more of the charities, was only audited once: a significant difference in terms of efficiency and cost.

Compliance specialist DMCC carried out the audits over a three-month period to test the agencies’ compliance with rules, regulation and quality agreements, and to gain insights and management information into their current compliance standards.

General insights gained from the auditing process will be shared with the 22 participating charities in an April session held by Goede Doelen Nederland. Each charity will also receive a customised report with the audit results of the agencies they work with.

“Hopefully this process, and the management information delivered will lead to more open dialogue between charities and their agencies, and to a joint effort towards achieving higher levels of quality and donor satisfaction,” said Gosse Bosma, director of Goede Doelen Nederland.