Fundraising company director banned for nine years

The director of a professional fundraising business has been banned from running a company until 2027 after failing to pass on more than £125,000 of public donations.

Christopher Stoddard ran CS Fundraising in Ross on Wye, acting as a direct marketing agency for charities and was sending out 150,000 mail donation letters each month at its peak.

However in December 2014 the company was placed into creditor’s voluntary liquidation, becoming the ninth company where Stoddard had a significant role to have gone into some form of insolvency.

An investigation by the Insolvency Service found the business had kept public donations of at least £125,634 and breached laws governing how charities solicit money.

Martin Gitner, deputy head of insolvent investigations at the Insolvency Service, said: “Members of the public who donate their money to worthy causes need to be confident that all funds, less agreed costs, are forwarded by the professional fundraising companies employed by the charities.”