Mitigating the risk of charity fraud: Some top tips

As part of this year’s Charity Fraud Awareness Week, we partnered with the Fraud Advisory Panel and Evelyn Partners to host an event on what charities can do to protect themselves from fraud.

Speakers from our own charities and regulatory team were joined by experts from the private and charity sectors to consider issues around grant giving fraud, the threat of cyber fraud and how to respond should the worst happen and an event of fraud is uncovered within an organisation.

The event also provided an opportunity for charities of different shapes and sizes and operating in different sectors to come together to discuss the prevalence of the threat of fraud within the sector, their own experiences and share advice and good practice.

We have summarised below our ‘top tips’ for charities to take in attempting to mitigate the risk of fraud:

• Ensure that a robust anti-fraud policy is in place, that this policy is regularly reviewed to ensure it remains fit-for-purpose and that the policy is promoted across the charity, with training being provided to all staff and volunteers around its contents;
• Carry out adequate risk assessments in relation to fraud, identifying where your organisation may be particularly susceptible and document how you will mitigate against those specific risks;
• Encourage and promote a culture of openness to enable staff to voice concerns, ensuring there is a process in place for them to do so; and
• Have a fraud response plan, with a team in place, so everyone knows what steps to take if fraud is discovered.

Our experts on Scottish charity law, Emma Maxwell and Emma Manson, are able to offer advice to charities looking to implement robust policies and procedures to help protect their organisation against fraud. Our leading cyber security team are also on hand to help you manage cyber security risks and best practices. Please do get in touch for an initial conversation.

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