CharityGiving website suspended - charity regulator acts to protect public donations The online giving website charitygiving.co.uk has today been suspended. In order to protect funds the public has raised and prevent further charitable pledges being made via the website whilst the Charity Commission’s investigation continues the decision has been taken to suspend the CharityGiving online portal with immediate effect. The action was taken by the charity’s interim manager after careful consideration and consultation with the Charity Commission as part of the Commission’s statutory inquiry into The Dove Trust. CharityGiving is an online fundraising portal run by The Dove Trust (registered charity number 287401). The Commission used its powers under the Charities Act 2011 to appoint Pesh Framjee of Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP as Interim Manager of the charity on 6 June 2013 in order to fulfil specified functions. On 28 June, due to the risk to charitable funds, the Commission acted to restrict the charity’s bank accounts. This morning the Charity Commission has made an order to give the Interim Manager full control of the charity to the exclusion of the charity’s trustees. The trustees have not filed any accounts since the year ending 5 April 2009 and the Commission has serious concerns about mismanagement in the administration of the charity by the trustees in relation to the operation of the online donations portal and risk to charity funds. The interim manager’s recent assessment indicates that there is a shortfall between the funds due to the charities donated through CharityGiving, and the cash held by The Dove Trust. Michelle Russell, Head of Investigations and Enforcement at the Charity Commission, said: “We have taken this action because of serious concerns about the trustees’ management of the fundraising portal and the charity’s financial situation. We recognise this will cause concern among the donors and fundraisers who have collected money...
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 17:15:05 +0000