Charities that use questionable fundraising tactics damage the reputation of the third sector, undermine public trust and deter people from making much-needed donations to worthy causes. Petition the Minister for Civil Society to take action.

Donations to charities have been falling. According to research from the Charities Aid Foundation last year, individual charitable donations fell by £500m in 2015 to £9.6bn, the lowest amount for seven years.

Examples of questionable fundraising tactics include:

• making false statements in fundraising leaflets 
• harassment of passers-by in the street by "chuggers"
• the deliberate use of underhand ploys to "squash" donations out of members of the public
• claiming that 100% of donations go to charitable causes when this isn't true

What needs to be done

Charities that are found to use questionable fundraising tactics should face more action and stiffer penalties.

As the Minister for Civil Society, Rob Wilson MP should instigate an inquiry into the practices of charities that have been shown to have engaged in questionable fundraising tactics in the last 12 months, and call them to account. Too often, charities that have behaved badly are seen to "get away with it"; current sanctions simply don't have enough bite.

The public needs reassuring that charities won't get off the hook when they are found to have engaged in questionable fundraising tactics.

What if nothing gets done?

If this isn't fixed, funding for causes that we all care about will be choked-off - that's less money to find cures for devastating illnesses, illnesses that your or a family member might be suffering from right now. False claims made by environmental groups will make people question established concerns like climate change and could prevent them from making the changes needed to avoid dangerous global warming.

Why this matters to me (and why I hope it will matter to you) 

I care about the natural environment. I want others to care about it too - I don't want them being put off because green charities make unsubstantiated claims just to support their fundraising.

A close family member of mine has leukaemia. I'd like to see cancer research charities continue their work to find a cure, but they need funding to do that.