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The Fundraising Regulator is the independent regulator of charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

What we do

The Fundraising Regulator is the independent regulator of charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Our work ensures public protection, accountability, and excellence in fundraising now and into the future. We work in partnership with other regulators and representative bodies in the charitable and fundraising sectors to build public trust and confidence and ensure consistently high fundraising standards across the UK.

We do this by:

  • setting, maintaining and promoting the standards for fundraising in the Code of Fundraising Practice (the code) in consultation with the public, fundraising stakeholders and governments across the UK.
  • Investigating complaints about fundraising where the fundraising has caused harm or has the potential to cause harm, considering whether there has been a breach of the code and taking action as necessary.
  • Maintaining a public Fundraising Directory of all fundraising organisations that have registered with us to show which organisations have committed to the code and excellent fundraising.
  • Enabling people to stop the direct marketing contact they receive from fundraising organisations by using the Fundraising Preference Service (FPS); and
  • continually reviewing the fundraising landscape and responding proactively and preventatively to emerging or unaddressed issues.

Who we are

Who we are

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Our vision

A society where charitable fundraising is open, honest, and respectful, so that people have confidence and trust in fundraising and charitable fundraising thrives.

Our mission

  • Inform and protect the public, donors, potential donors and beneficiaries.
  • Take action to continue to improve standards in fundraising.
  • Use our knowledge and insight to support excellent standards of fundraising now and in the future.
  • Sustain and enhance public confidence in charitable fundraising.

Our values

  • Transparent: our actions and processes are clear and visible, while respecting privacy and confidentiality requirements.
  • Independent: we make autonomous decisions remaining free from undue influence.
  • Agile: we are responsive to emerging themes in fundraising, so that we can continue to inform the public and support the sector.
  • Proportionate: the actions we take are consistent with the risks posed.
  • Collaborative: we work with stakeholders, including other regulators, to deliver robust and consistent regulatory outcomes and messages to the sector and the public.
  • Insightful: our decision making is appropriately consultation and evidence-led.

Following widespread concern about how charities contact donors and potential donors, Sir Stuart Etherington (the former Chief Executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations) led a government-commissioned review into the self-regulation of charity fundraising throughout summer 2015. 

The Fundraising Regulator assumed responsibility for regulating fundraising from 7 July 2016. For more information about the review and the principles behind our set up, download the report.

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Regulating fundraising for the future: Trust in charities, confidence in fundraising regulation (September 2015) (620.13 KB)

We thank NCVO for granting the Fundraising Regulator permission to host this report on our website.

Scope of our regulation

We regulate all fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland carried out by charitable institutions and third-party fundraisers. This includes:

  • charities registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales and the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland
  • exempt charities (for example, universities in England)
  • other organisations with entirely or predominantly charitable, philanthropic and benevolent objectives (for example, community interest companies)
  • commercial agencies and other organisations employed by charities to raise funds for them; and
  • online fundraising platforms.

Where fundraising is carried out in aid of an organisation, but without the organisation's permission, we will assess on a case-by-case basis whether any responsibility can reasonably be assigned to the charity in respect of the activity concerned.

Enforcement

We do not have statutory powers to sanction fundraising organisations if they are found to be non-compliant with the Code of Fundraising Practice. However, where we investigate and make recommendations for improvement in fundraising practice, there is a high level of compliance with our decisions. This demonstrates the sector’s willingness to improve and that a voluntary model of regulation is working.

Fundraising regulation in Scotland

Fundraising self-regulation in Scotland is different to the system in place in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

  • Fundraising by charities only registered in Scotland with the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is subject to adjudication by the Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel.
  • Fundraising in Scotland by charities where the lead regulator is the Charity Commission for England and Wales or Northern Ireland, is regulated by the Fundraising Regulator. 

However, the Code of Fundraising Practice applies across all four countries in the UK.

We are mostly funded by an annual voluntary Fundraising Levy on charities spending £100,000 or more each year on fundraising. 

We also receive income from registration fees from commercial fundraising businesses, community interest companies and charities spending less than £100,000 a year on fundraising. 

Every organisation that has paid to support us each year has an entry in our Fundraising Directory. 

You can find out more about our income and expenditure in our latest annual report and accounts. More about our anticipated budget can be found in our Strategic Plan.

Who is the Fundraising Regulator?

Find out more about who we are, our aims as a regulator, and the work being done to improve fundraising standards and build public trust. 

Want to speak to our team?

Contact us