Delivering intelligent fundraising regulation that protects the public

Our work this year focused on delivering proportionate, evidence-based regulation that protects the public and supports trust in charitable fundraising.

Casework

During the reporting period we received 1,284 cases, a 9% increase on the previous year. We closed 1,294 cases in total, (including cases opened in earlier reporting periods).

Of the cases we closed: 

• 499 related to charitable fundraising and were within our regulatory remit. 
• 795 were outside our remit. These mainly concerned personal cause fundraising appeals, suspected fraud, or wider 
  governance issues that other regulators or organisations were better placed to handle.

We continued to see a steady number of concerns raised about a small group of Community Interest Companies (CICs) carrying out public-facing fundraising. Eighteen per cent of all complaints we received related to CICs, an increase from 12% in 2023-2024. Many of these cases involved organisations previously identified through our intelligence work, as well as new CICs carrying out similar activities. 

Self-reporting also remained an important element of our casework, helping to ensure that charities alert us promptly to issues they are facing and enabling us to check that appropriate actions are being taken. We received 19 self-reports this year, compared with 31 last year. None resulted in a formal investigation, and no wider themes emerged.

New Code of Fundraising Practice

This year marked an important milestone with the launch of the new Code of Fundraising Practice (‘the code’) on 28 April 2025. The updated code is shorter, clearer to navigate and designed to reflect modern fundraising practice. It includes new requirements in areas such as convenience giving, unstaffed collections, fundraiser safety and online fundraising platforms. Together with a suite of new guidance, these changes ensure strong public protection and reinforce clear expectations for charitable institutions.

The code was shaped through extensive engagement. More than 6,000 comments were gathered across a three stage 
consultation process involving charities of all sizes, sector bodies, fundraisers and members of the public. This collaborative approach ensured that the final code is proportionate, adaptable and capable of supporting innovation as new fundraising methods emerge.

The new code was positively received across the sector and government. The Minister for Civil Society welcomed the new code, highlighting how it will help ensure charitable giving remains transparent, safe and accessible.

Proactive regulation

This year we strengthened our proactive regulatory work by identifying emerging risks, focusing on areas where the public may be most vulnerable and working closely with a wide range of partners.

Following the publication of new guidance for charities on marketing child and orphan sponsorship programmes, we began monitoring compliance across the sector. Early engagement has already led to meaningful improvements, with a broad range of charities updating their materials to provide clearer information about how donations are used and who benefits. This work will continue into the next reporting year as we assess the impact of the guidance and support further improvements.

Cash collections remained another important area of focus. We worked with major supermarkets to produce practical advice on hosting charitable cash collections, covering the checks that should be made before accepting a booking, expected behaviour on site and secure handling of donations. We also began similar work with the transport sector, including Network Rail, Transport for London and train operating companies, to support safe and well managed collections in stations and other transport settings.

Our work this year in relation to CICs brought together representatives from licensing teams, law enforcement, central government and other regulators to help ensure that charitable fundraising carried out by all CICs meets legal and regulatory expectations. The group is now well established and will continue working to promote good practice.

Supporting fundraising organisations to thrive

Our work this year focused on helping fundraising organisations understand and apply the standards in the new code. 

Preparing for the new code 

During the six month transition period for the new code, we aimed to ensure that organisations of all sizes felt confident, informed and ready to meet the updated standards. 

We delivered a broad programme of guidance, support and engagement. This included webinars, conference sessions, blogs, newsletters, targeted emails and a Are you code confident? quiz on LinkedIn designed to reach senior fundraisers.

Digital engagement was strong throughout the period. Traffic to the code resources increased around each communication and campaign. The code landing page received high levels of activity and the code PDF was downloaded by over 10,000 users. We also published new code support guides covering due diligence, documenting fundraising decisions and monitoring fundraising partnerships, along with additional guidance on fundraising events, social media and online gaming.

Evaluation findings showed significant improvements in understanding, confidence and organisational readiness. Fundraisers reported that the new code is clearer and easier to apply, and that our guidance helped them prepare for its introduction. 

Code Advice Service

The Code Advice Service continued to provide timely and expert support to fundraisers during the reporting period, helping them make informed decisions that reflect legal, open, honest and respectful fundraising. 

We received 668 enquiries, with a seven day response rate of 98.5%, reflecting our commitment to supporting compliance with the code. Many enquiries related to the new code, as organisations sought clarification on how the changes applied to their activities. Questions about lotteries, fundraising events and online fundraising platforms also remained common. 

Casework summaries 

We publish summaries of completed investigations into potential breaches of the code to support learning across the sector and increase transparency for the public. During the reporting period, we opened three new investigations, closed eight and published four investigation summaries on our website.

Across the investigations we closed, we identified a total of 45 breaches of the code. Themes highlighted in the published summaries included oversight of third-party agencies, clarity and transparency in fundraising campaigns, and the treatment of donors in vulnerable circumstances. 

We received three requests for an external review of our decisions. The reviewer recommended reopening one case to improve the clarity of the decision’s wording. 

Sector engagement

We spoke at 27 events over the year, providing updates on the new code and sharing regulatory insights with a wide range of audiences. Highlights included contributions to major sector conferences such as the Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIoF) Fundraising Convention, the Scottish Fundraising Conference, Civil Society Elevate, and the Muslim Charities Convention.

We also delivered webinars for member events run by the CIoF, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA), the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) and others. Together, these engagements helped us share learning, respond to questions and build understanding of new fundraising standards and guidance. 

Informing the public about principled fundraising

Our work this year focused on giving people clear information to help them make informed decisions about charitable giving. 

Fundraising Preference Service (FPS) 

The FPS continues to play an important role in helping the public manage direct marketing contact from charities. It provides a simple and reliable way for people to request that communications stop, either for themselves or on behalf of someone else, including those who may be vulnerable. 

 During the reporting period, 3,107 requests were made through the FPS, a 1% increase on the previous year. These requests came from 2,667 unique users, a small decrease compared with 2023-2024. In total, the FPS generated 7,527 suppressions, an increase of 2%. This reflects the number of individual charity contacts that were stopped as a result of requests.

Thirty eight per cent of suppressions were made on behalf of another person, and 12% of the requests related to someone who had died. These figures highlight the continued importance of the service in supporting families, carers and others who help manage the affairs of people who may need additional support. 

Digital Fundraising Badge

This year we launched the digital Fundraising Badge, giving the public a clearer way to identify charities that are registered with us and committed to legal, open, honest and respectful fundraising. When added to a charity’s website, the badge links directly to its entry in the Fundraising Directory. This provides a simple way for donors to verify registration and supports greater transparency in how organisations present their fundraising practices.

Since launch, use of the digital badge has grown steadily, with 461 charities adopting it during the reporting period. Charities have also welcomed the automatic update of the registration year, which ensures their digital materials remain accurate without additional work.

Voice for ethical fundraising 

We continued to provide a clear and trusted voice on ethical fundraising, offering expert comment to help shape accurate reporting on issues affecting donors and the sector. Our insights were included in prominent national outlets such as The Times, The Telegraph, iNews and BBC News, as well as leading charity sector publications. We provided commentary on topics including CIC fundraising, online platforms and cash collections, helping to improve public understanding of responsible fundraising practice and reinforcing our role as an independent source of guidance. 

Safer giving 

This year, we continued to promote safer giving through our year-round digital campaign, including targeted activity during Ramadan when charitable giving is particularly high. Our paid social media campaign on Meta platforms (including Facebook and Instagram) performed strongly, achieving over 100,000 views, with average watch times significantly above industry averages.

For seasonal activity, we worked jointly with the Charity Commission and Action Fraud to reinforce safer-giving guidance during the Christmas period. This partnership highlighted simple checks, such as verifying charities on the register and looking for the Fundraising Badge, to help ensure donations reach genuine causes. 

Being a highly effective organisation

Our work this year focused on implementing changes to the levy and registration fees, improving internal processes and casework systems, appointing new board members and developing our approach to artificial intelligence to ensure our operations remain efficient and fit for the future. 

Levy and registration 

This year we completed the implementation of the levy and registration fee changes agreed following the sector-wide engagement exercise carried out in 2023-24. The first phase of the levy increase came into effect in September 2024 and helped ensure we can continue to provide effective regulation needed now and in the future. Updated registration fees for non-charity organisations were also introduced in January 2025, following targeted engagement with those affected.

Despite the financial pressures facing many organisations, payment rates remained strong. We collected around 98% of levy income during the year, consistent with the high levels seen over the past five years. A small number of eligible organisations chose not to pay. In line with our levy policy, these charities were marked red on our public directory to ensure transparency. The information was published and covered in the charity sector press and was also shared with the Charity Commission for England and Wales. 

Registration continued to grow, which was one of our priorities this year. Over 7,000 charities are now registered, reflecting the broad mix of fundraising organisations choosing to demonstrate their commitment to the code.

Office move and sustainability 

We completed our move to 50 Featherstone Street, a modern office space that better supports our hybrid working model and provides a more flexible and cost effective environment for staff. The move also enabled us to take further steps to improve our environmental sustainability. This included reviewing our sustainability policy and embedding more sustainable procurement and office management practices. As a tenant in a serviced building, we continue to work within the responsibilities of the landlord while making proportionate changes that support reduced waste and more efficient use of resources. 

Board appointments 

In January 2025, we appointed four new members to the board. Paul Amadi, Anne Heal, Nick Jones and Girish Menon bring extensive experience across charitable fundraising, regulation and governance, and all started their roles in April 2025. They succeed Jenny Williams, David Cunningham, Sacha Deshmukh and Jill Thompson, whose terms had come to an end. Three of these departing members were founding board members when the Regulator began its work in 2016. These appointments ensure the board continues to benefit from a broad mix of skills and perspectives to support effective oversight of the organisation.

Casework processes 

We improved our casework processes to support consistent and proportionate decision making. This included the introduction of a new compliance case stage, which allows us to gather further information and work with organisations to address concerns without the need for a full investigation. This approach enables us to target our regulatory activity where it can be most effective, resolve issues more efficiently and support charities to make timely improvements in their fundraising practice. 

Artificial intelligence 

This year we continued to develop a careful and responsible approach to using artificial intelligence in our work. Through a series of pilots, we tested how generative AI tools could support routine tasks, particularly within our communications work. The pilots showed clear benefits when used with strong human oversight.

To ensure this is done safely and transparently, we introduced an internal end-to-end approval process for new AI use cases, covering screening, testing, implementation and review. This framework, together with our AI Usage Policy, ensures that any use of AI remains proportionate, risk-aware and aligned with our role as a regulator. We will continue to expand organisational understanding of AI and explore targeted use cases where it adds value.

Priorities for 2025-26

In 2025–26, we will build on the launch of the new code by publishing additional guidance and digital support, including helping charities to understand and apply the new soft opt-in legislation appropriately. We will improve the reporting of complaints data from charities and continue to provide clear, timely advice through the Code Advice Service. Our safer giving work will also grow, with expanded public information campaigns and greater promotion of the digital Fundraising Badge. 

Our focus will continue to be on strengthening public protection, supporting ethical fundraising and improving our effectiveness as a regulator. We will develop our proactive regulatory approach by drawing on intelligence and enhanced data analysis to identify emerging risks, while deepening collaboration with other regulators and enforcement partners. This includes working with the Charity Commission for England and Wales to update its guidance on trustee duties, as well as conducting new research into the public’s experience of fundraising to inform future policy and practice. 

We will also embed improvements to our casework processes, implement the second phase of levy increases agreed in 2023–24, and enhance the systems that support our casework, levy and registration functions. Further priorities include advancing our work on equality, diversity and inclusion, strengthening data management, and continuing to explore the careful, responsible use of artificial intelligence.