1. The document provides guidance for charity trustees on effectively campaigning within legal compliance, including understanding the different types of campaigning, managing risks, and campaigning during election periods. 2. It discusses trustees' duties to further their charity's objectives, tips for good campaigning practice, and issues trustees should consider around compliance and influence. 3. Advice includes having a strong evidence base, strategic planning, evaluating impact, and preempting possible complaints to regulators.

1. Drinks sponsors:
GETTING CAMPAIGNING
RIGHT: FROM
COMPLIANCE TO
INFLUENCE
7 NOVEMBER 2016
Partner sponsor:
Media partner:
Lead sponsor:

2. GETTING CAMPAIGNING RIGHT
• Simon Steeden, Partner, Bates Wells
Braithwaite
• Chris Walker, Senior External Relations Officer,
NCVO
• Discussion groups and feedback

3. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of the session you will have:
• Understood the law on campaigning with
reference to recent developments
• Received tips for good practice in campaigning
for trustees
• Discussed issues of relevance to trustees on
campaigning

4. Getting campaigning
right: trustees and
compliance
Simon Steeden: Partner
November 2016

5. Summary of this presentation
1. Legal framework/classifications of charity campaigning
2. Trustees’ duties
3. Trustee risk management/identification
4. Campaigning in the run up to elections
5. Questions

6. 1. The legal framework
for charity campaigning

7. Type 1: Non political campaigning
Campaigning targeted at voluntary changes,
such as…
Public awareness raising and
changing public attitudes on a
particular issue
Activities to change the policy or
practice of a business or
company

8. Type 2: Political campaigning
• Activity by a charity which is aimed at securing, or opposing, any
change in the law or in the policy or decisions of central government,
local authorities or other public bodies, whether in this country or
abroad. It includes activity to preserve an existing piece of legislation,
where a charity opposes it being replaced or amended.
• Human Dignity Trust v. Charity Commission CA/2013/0013.

9. Type 3: Party political and electoral campaigns
Charities cannot engage in party political or electoral campaigning

10. Examples of banned party political campaigning
‘Regulator orders mosque charity
to remove party political mural
from dome’
‘Charity Commission writes to four
charities that signed pro-Tory letter
in The Daily Telegraph’

11. How much campaigning can a charity carry out?
Type 1
Non-Political
Campaigning
Type 2
Political
Campaigning
=
=
100% of resources.
CC9 guidance (March
2008): political
campaigning cannot be the
sole and continuing activity.
199999/0119
Awareness
Raising
Changing
Law or
Policy
Type 3
Party Political
And Electoral
Campaigning
= Including supporting a
party, a candidate or groups
of candidates = prohibited.
Party
Political/
Electoral

12. 2. Trustees’ duties

13. CC9 Guidance – what a charity can do
Subject to satisfying Trustees’ duties, a charity can:
• Seek to change law or policy
• Campaign to preserve existing legislation
• Lobby MPs and disseminate voting patterns to charity supporters
• Affiliate to a campaigning alliance, even if some members are not
charities, e.g.

14. Trustees’ duties
1. Trustees must comply with all legal requirements, which include:
• Advertising law (i.e. ASA/CAP code)
• Charity law
• CC9 Guidance
• Election law
• Defamation law
• Public Order law e.g. SCOPA 2005
2. Trustees must ensure that any activity of the charity furthers its objects

15. Trustees’ duties - Furthering the charity’s objects
Q: How can Trustees decide if a campaign is furthering the charity’s
objects?
A: Trustees should consider the following questions:
1. How likely is it that the campaign will reach its objective?
2. What other activities would achieve the same objective?
3. Is the use of resources to promote the campaign justified, in terms of:
 Duration and financial cost?
 The availability of other more cost effective options
 Will campaigning be the only activity?

16. 3. Trustee risk
management

17. Risk: Questions trustees should consider
• Is the Charity acting outside its purposes?
• Is there a sound and factually accurate evidence base?
• Is there a risk to independence, e.g. public perception if
Charity’s policy coincides with a political party?
General risk
management
• Have the Trustees approved a strategic plan for
campaigning?
• Do the Trustees have appropriate means of approving
campaigning, e.g. delegated sub-committee?
Strategic Control
Ensuring that campaigning is an
ancillary activity of the Charity in
furthering its objects
• Are there “risk of what we say” policy/procedures in place for
Trustee sign off?
• Do the Trustees regularly review campaign risks?
• Are there campaign evaluations and impact assessments in
place?
Operational
Control
Ensuring policies are in place to
properly manage and deliver the
Charity’s Campaigning

18. Risk/Benefit analysis of campaigns
As part of its assessment of the overall risks and benefits of the activity, a charity
should consider:
• the risk that the activity may not be effective, or that the charity will be drawn
into activities that are outside its purposes
• the costs and benefits of engaging in a particular campaign
• the risks attached to the campaign, and how these might best be managed;
these include public perceptions of the charity’s independence, for example if
a charity is supporting or opposing a policy that is also advocated by a
political party
• the strategy for delivering the campaign
• how best to evaluate the campaign’s success and impact
• Trustees must not allow a charity to be ‘used as a vehicle for the expression
of the political views’ of individual trustees or staff
• Consider reputational risk. Reputation = valuable charity asset to be
protected
• Should keep a record of this risk analysis

19. Managing risk of political association
• It is important to consider the perception of party political association
of material, even if this is not the purpose of the campaign.
• Ensure use of social media and hashtags does not inadvertently
engage with terminology that is attached to one particular party unless
you can provide good rationale for the use
• Even where the Charity Commission investigate and do not uphold
the complaint, this can still draw negative attention to the charity and
can lead to newspaper coverage of such complaints – potential
reputational damage

20. Pre-empt possible complaints
• Pre-empt the kind of complaints you may receive and the investigations
these may lead to.
E.g:
• Paper trails of sign off and engagement with charity’s objects/activities
• Risk management controls in place
• Evidence of trustee level involvement/control
• Evidence of the percentage of charity resources used on the campaign
and consideration of how this can be justified

21. Consider the current environment facing charities
• In past, ASA biggest risk - Charity Commission becoming much more
of an active/strict regulator
• Shift in public opinion toward charities
• ‘Sock Puppet’ doctrine – public money funded charities
• Have to understand that this means more risk/more need for proper
controls and consideration of political association perception need for
proper factual basis for any allegations

22. And trustee engagement can bolster campaigns...

23. 4. Campaigning in the
run up to elections

24. Campaigning in election periods – regulators
Electoral
Commission
Charity
Commission
Intending to influence
people’s voting choice
Attempting to influence
public opinion on matters
of public policy
199999/0119

25. Timing – Charities and elections
• Remember: Charity Commission guidance CC9 still applies.
• Lobbying Act: regulated period for Political Parties Elections and
Referendums Act 2000 begins 4 -12 months before an election
• Charity Commission guidance on “Charities and Elections” applies
during the period between announcement of an election and date
election is held
• Other legislation may apply
– Representation of the People Act 1983
– Section 365 Companies Act 2006
– Local Government Act 1986
199999/0119

26. Simon Steeden
s.steeden@bwbllp.com
0207 551 7782
www.bwbllp.com
Get in touch...

27. CHRIS WALKER
SENIOR EXTERNAL
RELATIONS OFFICER, NCVO

28. WHEN CAMPAIGNING GOES RIGHT

29. DOING THE GROUNDWORK
• What do you want to achieve?
• Is campaigning the most effective way to do it?
• How will you know you have been successful?

30. KNOWING WHEN TO CAMPAIGN
Value added
Political opportunity
Timing
Winnability
Saleability – to decision makers, your supporters?
Does it fit with remit of your organisation?
Credibility
When other options have failed…

31. EVIDENCE
A good campaign needs a strong evidence base
• inform your work
• help your influencing
• help you evaluate

32. UNDERSTANDING CHANGE
Why do we need change?
What do we want to change?
How will change happen?
Who has the power to make this happen and
what will influence them?
What do we need to do?
What will success look like?

33. THE CAMPAIGNS CYCLE
Analyse the
issue
Develop
strategy for
change
Plan the
campaign
Deliver the
campaign,
monitor
progress
Evaluate – build
on success,
manage failures

34. PLANNING
Activities
Impact
Outcomes

35. • a process, not an event
• about achieving specific impacts, not just
raising awareness of problems
• about developing strategies based on research
and analysis rather than guesswork
• about choosing approaches and deploying
resources where they will have most impact
• communicating in ways which resonate with
those you seek to influence
…thinking and acting strategically
EFFECTIVE CAMPAIGNING IS…

36. QUESTIONS FOR TRUSTEES
• Is there a clearly identified end goal?
• Do we have the right plan to reach that goal?
• How likely is success?
• Do we have the resources we need?

37. DISCUSSION GROUPS
• What have been your biggest concerns around
campaigning as a trustee – how have you
mitigated these and worked as an organisation
to ensure you complied with the law and
campaigned effectively?
• How do you want to support campaigning by
your organisation? Are there any tools that
would help you to better support campaigning?

38. KEEP IN TOUCH
CHRIS WALKER, SENIOR EXTERNAL
RELATIONS OFFICER, NCVO
CHRIS.WALKER@NCVO.ORG.UK
@_C_WALKER