Jolyon Maugham KC likes to boast that the crowdfunding of his (Not Very) Good Law Project is “best in class”. But the GLP’s latest crowdfunder, in support of legal action against the Conservative Party for alleged breaches of data protection rules, falls well short of Jolyon’s self-declared standards. Indeed, somewhat ironically, the crowdfunder breaches advertising standards rules.

Since March 2017, the GLP have launched 65 crowdfunders, which to date have in total raised a stonking £5.271 million. And, until January 2023, these crowdfunders were all hosted by the crowdfunding platform Crowdjustice (two of these crowdfunders, launched in November 2020 and November 2022 respectively, remain open). However, since February 2023 the GLP have hosted new crowdfunders on their own website.

To date, the GLP have launched 11 such in-house crowdfunders (of which five are now closed, and six remain open). And, on 4 August 2023, the GLP revised the format of these in-house crowdfunders, adding a selection of ‘donation amount’ buttons and other details, including an option to cover a ‘transaction fee’ of up to 4.5% of the donation, and a statement that “Most donors donate £X or more” – the clear implication being that £X is the median donation to that crowdfunder.

For example, in late November 2023 the GLP’s NHS Data crowdfunder, launched in July 2023, stated: “Most donors donate £20 or more”, and the £20 ‘donation amount’ button was highlighted (the other ‘donation amount’ buttons being £10, £35, £50, £100 and £200). And, at that time, the average (mean) donation to the crowdfunder was £19.93 (£64,734.52/3248 donations).

Similarly, in early January 2024 the GLP’s Voter ID crowdfunder, launched in April 2023, stated: “Most donors donate £23 or more”, and a £23 ‘donation amount’ button was highlighted (the other buttons being £10, £20, £50, £100 and £200). And, at that time, the average (mean) donation to the crowdfunder was £22.35 (£35,063.36/1569 donations).

In short, in each case, and as one might expect, the stated median donation was very close to the the average (mean) donation to that GLP crowdfunder.

However, in a thread posted on X (formerly Twitter) on 26 January, I noted that the latest GLP crowdfunder – their General Election: Data crowdfunder, launched four days previously in support of legal action against the Conservative Party – stated “Most donors donate £29 or more”, even though the average donation to the crowdfunder was at that point only £18.45. Funnily enough, an incomplete new GLP crowdfunder, posted on or before 26 December 2023 but quickly deleted, had also stated “Most donors donate £29 or more”, even though there had been no donations to that crowdfunder. And the General Election: Data crowdfunder included a £29 ‘donation amount’ button.

In contrast, like the NHS Data and Voter ID crowdfunders described above, on 26 January the GLP’s Net Zero 2 crowdfunder stated “Most donors donate £25 or more”, and the average donation to the crowdfunder was £25.58. Similarly, the GLP’s Climate Protestors crowdfunder stated “Most donors donate £23 or more”, and the average donation to the crowdfunder was £23.41.

It did not seem credible that the median donation to the General Election: Data crowdfunder could be so much greater than the average (mean) donation. Rather, the £29 figure looked to me like an attempt to misleadingly solicit larger donations than donors might otherwise make. So I asked Stewart Wood, the Labour Party peer and GLP board member, to comment (I couldn’t ask Jolyon himself, as he blocked me years ago).

Lord Wood did not respond but, on or before 5 February, the GLP amended all six of their open, in-house crowdfunders, so that, in each case, they now state: “Most donors donate £18.40 or more”.

It is not clear what this £18.40 figure represents – though it seems most unlikely that the average (mean) or median donation to each of six discrete crowdfunders would be exactly the same. And it is not clear why the GLP have revised the text of their General Election: Data crowdfunder from “Most donors donate £29 or more” to “Most donors donate £18.40 or more”, yet not replaced the £29 ‘donation amount’ button with an £18.40 ‘donation amount’ button. But, whatever the explanation, it is now clear that the “£29 or more” statement was misleading.

Indeed, given the rapidity with which the GLP abandoned it after my 26 January thread on X, together with the fact that – just a few weeks previously – it had been included in a draft crowdfunder seemingly posted online in error (and quickly deleted), the £29 figure appears to be an arbitrarily chosen sum designed to encourage a larger donation than a donor might have been intending to make (the average donation to the General Election: Data crowdfunder being just £18.45). And, if so, that is a straightforward breach of Rule 3.3 of the Non-Broadcast Code of Advertising Practice (the CAP Code) produced by the Committee of Advertising Practice, the sibling organisation of the Advertising Standards Authority.

Rule 3.3 of the CAP Code provides that:

Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner [emphasis added].

Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product.

The Committee of Advertising Practice has stated explicitly that “individuals or companies seeking donations should be aware that claims made on their pages on crowdfunding websites constitute advertising and are subject to the [CAP] Code.”

The only possible purpose of the “Most donors donate £X or more” statement is to provide prospective donors with material information, namely the median donation to that crowdfunder to date, with a view to ‘helping’ them make an informed decision about whether, and if so how much, to donate.

Accordingly, I have submitted a complaint about the GLP’s General Election:Data crowdfunder to the ASA/CAP (ref: A24-1232349).

It’s perhaps worth adding that, despite the textual amendment to “£18.40 or more” in each case, all six of the GLP’s in-house crowdfunders remain in breach of Rule 3.3 of the CAP Code, in that none of them includes an £18.40 ‘donation amount’ button. The General Medical Council crowdfunder, for example, still includes a highlighted £27 ‘donation amount’ button, alongside £10, £20, £50, £100 and £200 buttons, while the Net Zero 2 crowdfunder still includes a highlighted £25 ‘donation amount’ button, alongside £10, £20, £50, £100 and £200 buttons.

[Update: On 13 February, the GLP further amended five of the six crowdfunders, in each case replacing the previous six ‘donation amount’ buttons with just five buttons (for £10, £20, £50, £100 and £200), without a ‘donation amount’ button linked to the “Most donors donate £X or more” statement. And this further revised format is also used in a new crowdfunder, launched on 10 February.

However, the General Election: Data crowdfunder has not been further amended, so continues to include a £29 ‘donation amount’ button. Interestingly, since the crowdfunder was amended on 5 February, the average donation has fallen to £14.58.]

Whatever, if the “honest, open and trustworthy” Jolyon Maugham or Stewart Wood would now like to “default to transparency” and “proactively share” an explanation, I’m all ears.]

[Further update, 5 March: On or about 4 March, the GLP further amended all five of their open, in-house crowdfunders (the General Medical Council crowdfunder having been closed on 15 February, and the Net Zero 2 crowdfunder on 20 February), in each case replacing the statement “Most donors donate £18.40 or more” with “Most donors donate £19.09 or more”.

However, it remains unclear what this figure represents: the average (mean) donation to each of the five crowdfunders ranges from £18.39 (General Election: Data) to £39.05 (Suicide Prevention), and the collective average (mean) donation to the five crowdfunders is £20.71. So the £19.09 figure could be the collective median donation to the five open crowdfunders.

Despite these further amendments, however, the General Election: Data crowdfunder still includes a £29 ‘donation amount’ button.]