Ethical Policy
This policy outlines Wood Street Mission’s fundraising ethical policy.
Policy purpose
Wood Street Mission improve the life chances of children and families living in poverty by contributing to the creation of a society where all children have equal access to those items necessary for their wellbeing and education.
This policy details our ethical principles which are embedded across all of our fundraising activities.
Wood Street Mission’s fundraising complies with Charity Commission Guidance and UK law.
We comply with and support the Fundraising Regulator’s Promise to be legal, open, honest and respectful.
This policy is endorsed by the Senior Leadership Team and the Board of Trustees.
Our Ethical principles
As an independent charity we rely on our supporters to raise and donate funds and items, and to raise awareness of our work.
Our focus is to improve the life chances of children and families living on a low income in Manchester and Salford. We expect individuals and corporations that support us through donations, and also those who supply us, to enable us to achieve our mission. Therefore, accepting a donation or partnering with an organisation needs to have greater benefit to achieving our mission than it takes away.
We expect all individuals, companies and suppliers to:
- Respect and comply with the detail and the spirit of this ethical policy.
- Be clear to us where this is not possible so that we can act immediately and with integrity in our decision making.
Areas of ethical concern
The following issues of ethical concern will be considered in our ethical research:
- Discriminatory and non-inclusive practices
- Modern slavery or human trafficking
- Poor labour standards, unsafe practices or human rights violations
- Fraudulent or corrupt business practices.
Refusal of donations
We abide by charity law, and will refuse donations if the donor is known to be associated with criminal sources and/or illegal activity.
It is at our discretion, based on two criteria in deciding whether to refuse a donation:
- Where it is clear that the activities of a company or individual are inconsistent with the objectives of our mission.
- Where it can be shown clearly that the risk to the charity of accepting a donation will be greater than the value of the donation itself.
Checks will be made for unsolicited and anonymous donations over the value of £10,000. A donation may be refused if additional checks cannot provide enough assurance that the source complies with this policy.
We do not screen individual donations by their employers as is outside the scope and capacity of Wood Street Mission.
Corporate donations
Corporate donations have the potential to deliver significant value, both financially and in-kind to support us to achieve our mission. However, Wood Street Mission state that through our corporate partnerships, or corporate donations, we do not promote any companies or brands and do not endorse products or services by these associations.
Thank you for reviewing our policy. If you have any questions about the content, please get in touch on: Steph@woodstreetmission.org.uk.
Senior Management team and board approved: September 2023
