Complaints and investigations

The Fundraising Regulator investigates complaints about charitable fundraising 

• where these cannot be resolved by organisations themselves; or
• where it has caused, or has the potential to cause, significant public harm.

Our complaints process explains more about our approach to casework. 

How to make a complaint

If you want to make a complaint about an organisation’s charitable fundraising use our online form.

To complain about the Fundraising Regulator, please refer to our complain about us process.

If you are aware of a known or potential breach of the Code of Fundraising Practice and have the authority to report this on behalf of a charitable fundraising organisation, please refer to our self-reporting process.

If you have any difficulties completing the complaints form, you can contact us by:

• emailing complaints@fundraisingregulator.org.uk
• calling 0300 999 3407 (Monday to Friday, 09.30 am – 4.30 pm)
• sending a letter to Fundraising Regulator, 50 Featherstone Street, London, EC1Y 8RT

What we can investigate

We can investigate concerns about charitable fundraising. For example, if you believe a fundraising organisation:

• has made misleading or excessive requests for donations
• has been disrespectful or treated you unfairly when seeking donations
• is not transparent or open about the relationship it has with a third party
• has failed to respect your wishes
• has not dealt appropriately with a complaint you have made about fundraising

Read our complaints process to find out what we are able or unable to investigate.

Before making a complaint to us

We ask that you make a complaint to the fundraising organisation you have concerns about before contacting the Fundraising Regulator. This gives the organisation a chance to respond to the complaint and is often the quickest way to reach a resolution. It also helps the organisation to improve its practices. 

If you have a complaint about a third-party organisation that is fundraising on behalf of a charity, please contact the charity about your concerns.

You should usually give the organisation four weeks to respond. If you do not hear back at all, please check they have received your complaint before contacting us. You can bring your complaint to us if you are unhappy with its response or don’t hear back within four weeks.

Are you based in Scotland?

The Fundraising Regulator regulates complaints about charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We also deal with fundraising in Scotland where it is carried out by charities registered primarily with the Charity Commission for England and Wales or the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. Find out more about who we regulate.

The Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel regulates fundraising by charities only registered in Scotland with the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). To see if a charity is registered in Scotland you can search the Scottish Charity Register. To make a complaint about these charities, visit the Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel website.