In our Strategic Plan 2022-2027 our four strategic objectives are:

1. To deliver intelligent fundraising regulation that protects the public.
2. To inform the public about principled fundraising.
3. To support fundraising organisations to thrive.
4. To be a highly effective organisation.

Delivering intelligent fundraising regulation that protects the public

We have taken steps to increase our knowledge and understanding of how the fundraising sector is changing so that we can target our regulation in the most effective ways. We continue to operate an open and accessible complaints service that offers the public independent investigation of their complaints and assistance in getting them resolved. We also want to make sure we understand and keep ahead of developments in digital fundraising, the use of new technologies, and how fundraising is changing more broadly.

Incoming and closed casework

In 2023/24, we received 1,191 incoming cases overall – a 5% increase on 2022/23 (1,137 cases). We closed 1,140 cases in this reporting period (of which three were received in the previous financial year). 

We closed 92% of cases within four weeks, where our target was completing 90% of cases within four weeks of receiving a complaint. 

These figures include a small number of self-reported cases. In 2023/24, we received 31 self-reports (an increase of 55% from the 20 organisations in 2022/23), 12 of which were received in the last quarter of the year. Some were prompted by press stories identifying poor door-to-door fundraising activity carried out by subcontracted fundraising agencies. This resulted in us opening an investigation into the activity identified. 

In 2023/24, 467 of the 1,140 cases were closed as outside our remit. This is 41% overall, which is a slight decrease on 2022/23 (45%). Some of the complaints that we classify as outside of our remit may relate, in part, to charitable fundraising. However, there are aspects to the case that mean it is more appropriate for another regulator or organisation to consider them – such as concerns about wider governance or fraud.

Code review 2022–25 and code consultation

In October 2022, we launched a two-year process of reviewing and updating the Code of Fundraising Practice (the code). The last code review took place in 2018/19, and was largely focused on clarity, length, and accessibility. Since then, changes in legislation, technology and fundraising behaviour have created an environment in which the code requires a full review to ensure it stays up to date, reflects best practice, and remains clear, and accessible.

In September 2023, we ran a 12-week public consultation to gather feedback on our proposals to update the code and make it more principles-based, in common with the approach increasingly taken by other regulators. During the consultation period, we held a series of in-person and online engagement events with key stakeholders to encourage participation and raise awareness of our consultation, including events in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.

The consultation closed on 1 December 2023 and received over 4,500 comments on our proposals from over 150 organisations. We redrafted the code taking into account feedback from the consultation – alongside legal advice - which our internal committees and board then approved for a final consultation in September 2024. This second consultation closed on 1 November 2024, and we received 666 responses from 129 organisations. Pending review of the feedback from the consultation, the new code will be launched in early 2025, alongside a timetable for implementation.

Market inquiry into subcontracting in face-to-face fundraising

In October 2023, we launched our first market inquiry to investigate issues related to the use of subcontracting in face-to-face fundraising by charities and fundraising agencies. This followed intelligence from complaints, self-reports, and in the press about poor fundraising practice by subcontracted agencies. As part of the inquiry, we conducted desk research, and engagement with charity regulators and sector bodies, which we followed with a series of five factfinding workshops. The workshops were well attended by senior representatives from charities and fundraising agencies.

In March 2024, we published a report sharing our findings from the market inquiry. The report evaluated feedback from the workshops, analysed workshop discussions, and outlined our proposed next steps. The main recommendations were:

• There needs to be a clear line of sight from charity trustees throughout the subcontracting chain.
• Firms should be monitored and overseen more closely and receive appropriate training.
• Charities and agencies need to be satisfied that the payment model for fundraisers is appropriate and does not lead to bad practice.
• Although there were many examples of good practice, and a widespread willingness to do the right thing, both charities, and agencies need to tighten their contracts and focus more on due diligence and contract management.
• There needs to be a clear line of sight from charity trustees throughout the subcontracting chain.

Following the publication of the report, we have been working with the Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIoF) and the Charity of Commission for England and Wales (CCEW) to help support updated guidance and ensure consistency for the sector. The learnings from the inquiry have informed drafting the new Code of Fundraising Practice. The new code, and accompanying code compliance guidance on due diligence and monitoring partnerships, complement, and align with the principles expressed in the inquiry report.

Other proactive regulation projects

This has been the first full year of the Fundraising Regulator’s proactive regulation function, following the appointment of our first Head of Proactive Regulation and Projects in May 2023 and the subsequent appointment of two other team members.

Proactive regulatory projects respond to identified issues with the aim to minimise the risk of potential harm to the public through advice and support to the sector. They are always collaborative, and sectorfocused, and commonly incorporate workshops, and working groups.

The launch of proactive projects comes from intelligence, so the focus this year has been to lay the foundations for robust intelligence gathering, and to build collaborative networks with other regulators and sector bodies. We have started to refine our internal intelligence sources, such as the use of our customer relationship management (CRM) system, and to deliver our external stakeholder engagement plan. We have developed a formalised bi-monthly Intelligence Report, which we use to identify trends and emerging issues, which in turn are analysed and considered for proactive regulatory projects.

In addition to the market inquiry, we have started proactive regulatory projects into the marketing of child sponsorship, cash collections at private sites (most notably supermarkets) and have convened and chaired multi-agency working groups about the regulation of CICs. With these foundations in place, the proactive team is well set to build further collaborative relationships with fundraisers and regulators to help ensure safe fundraising and best practice into the future.

Research on the public’s experience and expectations of charitable fundraising

In September 2023, we commissioned Opinium to conduct research into the public’s perceptions, experience, and expectations of charitable fundraising. The sector has access to a great deal of information about how people give, and which causes they support, but little is known about the public’s real-world experience of fundraising practice. In our role as a regulator, we are committed to using public research to underpin and inform our work. Understanding the motivations and experiences of those who support charities is an important part of this.

Opinium conducted a comprehensive mixed-method research programme, including surveying a representative sample of 3,000+ UK adults. We were heartened to find that overall charities perform well when it comes to public trust, with half of those surveyed generally trusting charities to deliver on what they promise. We were also pleased to find that the experience of current donors is good, with around two-thirds of respondents having had a positive experience of supporting charities over the last 12 months.

When it came to the public’s experience of fundraising through different methods, the research showed that donation methods where the individual had more control, such as sponsoring an individual, and lotteries, and prize draws, were generally rated positively. Approaches that were more direct, such as door-to-door, and street fundraising, were seen more negatively.

Encouragingly, two-fifths of survey respondents said that the existence of the Fundraising Regulator would make them more likely to trust regulated charitable fundraisers. This demonstrates the value of charities displaying the Fundraising Badge to show they are committed to best practice when fundraising.

The research also identified significant concern regarding scams and fraud. We regularly run safer giving campaigns in collaboration with the CCEW and Action Fraud, and we will continue to explore opportunities to collaborate with other partners to get this information shared more widely.

Informing the public about principled fundraising

The last few years have shown us that people continue to give generously, despite the financial pressures that many of them are under. It is our role to make sure that regardless of whatever fundraising is taking place, standards remain high, and the public continues to be protected. We continue to provide a way for the public to manage their communications with charities through the FPS and promoting the Fundraising Badge as a symbol of commitment to fundraising best practice.

Operating the FPS

The FPS is one of the key services we operate to protect the public, especially vulnerable members of the public. Our FPS website and phone helpline enable people to request charities to stop direct marketing communications.

In 2023/24, 3,083 requests (13% increase on 2022/23) were made by 2,349 unique users (15% increase), resulting in a total of 7,344 suppressions (7% increase). Thirty-six percent of the suppressions were made on behalf of someone else, and 9% of the requests were made on behalf of someone who had died.

Changes to how we list charities that breach the code in relation to the FPS

On our website we publish a list of charities that are in breach of Section 3.2.5 of the Code of Fundraising Practice because they have not logged on to the FPS charity portal to access the requests to stop direct marketing communications. Our approach to FPS compliance was reviewed by our board this year. It was recognised that our casework processes allow for a more nuanced approach than was being applied to FPS breaches. To tackle this, the board agreed that a more proportionate approach to publicly naming charities for code breaches in relation to the FPS would be implemented going forward. This also brings the approach more in line with that taken in casework.

The board decided that charities would not be named on our website until there were at least three uncollected suppressions from the public (previously a charity could be named with only one uncollected suppression). In addition, we would include the names of charities that have accessed the charity portal in the past to collect suppressions but then fail to collect more than three suppressions within the required time later on.

Promoting the FPS – digital marketing

We promote the FPS to the public by undertaking paid search advertising of the FPS through targeted Google Search Ads and Google Display Ads on relevant websites. We also conduct targeted paid social media campaigns using Facebook and YouTube to broaden its reach. As part of these campaigns, we continue to use our animation explaining the FPS to members of the public.

Advice and guidance 

Developing advice for members of the public to protect them is an important part of our role. This includes helping them understand fundraising practice so they can make informed decisions on whether to give to a particular charity. 

We continue to provide safer giving advice and run campaigns at key holidays and when emergency appeals are launched. In 2023/24, this included safer giving campaigns around Christmas and Ramadan and fraud awareness campaigns in partnership with Action Fraud. We also responded to the attack in Southport in July 2024, where we worked closely with the Charity Commission, National Emergencies Trust, JustGiving and GoFundMe, and the charities involved, to ensure funds were effectively distributed to the families impacted by the tragedy.

Press engagement 

In the last year, the Fundraising Regulator has significantly increased its press activity. In 2023/24, we were featured in 1,582 pieces of coverage (a 699% increase on 2022/23 where we were featured in 198 pieces of coverage). 

Some of the key themes from our press coverage this year included:

• Replying to several high-profile media stories involving subcontracting in door-to-door fundraising (including discussing our market inquiry into this issue).
• Responding to the bad fundraising practice being undertaken by several CICs.
• Sharing safer giving messaging during times of emergency, such as during the Southport attack.
• Encouraging charities to have robust oversight of their fundraising after several high-profile scams involving individuals fraudulently fundraising for charities were uncovered in the media.

Supporting fundraising organisations to thrive

We maintain the Code of Fundraising Practice (the code) to ensure organisations involved in charitable fundraising can do so in a way that is legal, open, honest, and respectful. We also share learnings through our Annual Complaints Report and summaries of our casework investigations and provide information and guidance through various channels, including our website, media activity, newsletter, and social media, as well as through participating in events.

Casework investigations 

We publish summaries of completed casework investigations into potential code breaches to share learning with the sector and the public. 

In 2023/24, we opened 16 new investigations, closed five investigations, and published four investigation summaries on our website and in our monthly newsletter. Through four of the five investigations we closed, we were able to identify 19 breaches of the code. In the other investigation we closed we issued regulatory advice to the charity. We had no requests for external review of any closed cases. 

The themes covered in the investigation summaries included: pressured fundraising, restricted campaigns, complaints handling, customer service, treating donors fairly, misleading information, no cold-calling signs, vulnerable circumstances, third-party fundraisers, fundraiser behaviour, fundraising licences, causing an obstruction, wearing appropriate identification when engaged in street fundraising and learning from complaints.

Self-reports 

During the last year, we received a steady number of self-reports through our self-reporting pathway each month. Since it launched in early 2022, we have had 61 self-reports submitted to us. The self-reports came from 31 organisations in 2023/24, which was an increase of 55% from the 20 organisations that submitted self-reports to us in 2022/23. This year we opened investigations into two self-reports; both were related to separate media articles regarding door-to-door fundraising.

It is extremely helpful to be able to work with charities who make self-reports to us so we can offer support and advice to help them overcome any fundraising difficulties. For most self-reports, the organisations had taken appropriate action to resolve their issues before contacting us. For others, we were able to offer advice and have constructive conversations with the organisations concerned. 

The themes of some of these self-reports included handling personal data, charity governance related to fundraising, potential fraud, and vulnerable circumstances of donors. We also received four self-reports about hacking/ransomware cyber security incidents, three of which were from hospices and small hospitals. It is notable that these selfreports were made at a time when there had been a suggestion that these types of incidents within the sector may be on the rise.

Annual Complaints Report 

We publish our Annual Complaints Report to share insights and learnings from the Fundraising Regulator’s casework and complaints received by 58 of the largest fundraising charities. We also share advice for charitable organisations on how to mitigate and respond to complaints about charitable fundraising. 

Insights from 2022/23’s report showed that door-to-door fundraising activity had increased since the pandemic. Because of this, we saw a significant increase in complaints about the practice, and for the first time in our reporting, door-to-door fundraising had generated more complaints than any other method. This included both complaints made directly to the Fundraising Regulator (15% of overall complaints) and to the sample of charities surveyed where the number of complaints more than doubled since 2021/22 (one in five overall complaints). 

The most common complaints to the Fundraising Regulator after door-to-door fundraising remained consistent with previous years – charity bags and clothing banks, addressed mail, and digital marketing. Online appeals drew the second-highest number of complaints made directly to the sample charities, followed by addressed mail then challenge and sponsorship events.

Changes to the way we report on complaints data from charities 

We surveyed over 450 charitable organisations in July 2023 to understand how they currently use the information we share about fundraising complaints in our Annual Complaints Report. 

Respondents told us how useful they find the data we share from the sample of charities and the information published about our casework. Respondents made suggestions as to how we could improve reporting this data to ensure it is useful, relevant, and accessible for charities. This included increasing the sample size of charities that submit data to make it more representative of the wider sector (we currently only collect data from some of the largest fundraising charities), presenting data in more accessible and interactive formats, and improving the way we collect data for analysis. 

In response to these findings, we have decided to pause the collection of data from charities for part two of our Annual Complaints Report (ACR) for around two years while we develop improvements to the way we share information with the sector. In the meantime, we will continue to report on the complaints we receive from members of the public (ACR part one).

Code Advice Service 

We provide one-to-one advice for fundraisers and the public through our dedicated Code Advice Service. In 2023/24, we responded to 679 enquiries (a 9% decrease on the 744 enquiries received in 2022/23) covering a range of issues, including online platforms, events, personal-cause fundraising, lotteries, and licences, and permissions. 

We carried out work this year to make our enquiries form for the Code Advice Service more accessible and easier to find on our website to improve user experience. The Code Advice Service has now been given a dedicated space on the website sitting both with the Code of Fundraising Practice and guidance sections on the website.

Guidance and sharing learnings 

We continue to share guidance and additional resources for fundraisers on our website and through our monthly newsletter and social media channels. 

This year, we published new guidance for charitable organisations who work with commercial participators and professional fundraisers. This was in response to requests made through our code consultation in autumn 2023, where some respondents said they would benefit from guidance in this area. We also regularly receive enquiries about commercial participator and professional fundraiser arrangements through our Code Advice Service. The legislation in this area can be complex, so the guidance aims to simplify the necessary information with helpful examples.

Strengthening our engagement across the UK 

We have participated in charity sector events throughout the year to raise awareness of the Fundraising Regulator’s work and the code. Events we joined included: 

• Chartered Institute of Fundraising
• Fundraising Convention 2024 and the Scottish Fundraising Conference
• Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) - The Gathering
• Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) - GoFod3
• Association of Charity Independent Examiners Conference
• Charity Practitioners’ Forum – Annual training day
• Omagh Forum for Rural Association
• Muslim Charities Convention
• CIMA virtual conference
• Beeston-Clarke Accountants – Charity Chatter
• Supporter Care Forum

We delivered extensive engagement activity from September - December 2023 as part of our code consultation, which involved attending events, and webinars in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.

We have strengthened our engagement with the fundraising sector in Wales and Northern Ireland through the work of our stakeholder and policy managers in each of these countries. This has included attending and speaking at events, contributing articles and blogs to sector publications, and working to build effective partnerships with key stakeholders in both the voluntary and public sector.

Establishing a mechanism for engaging fundraisers and fundraising compliance staff to share insights on fundraising practice 

This last year we started work to establish a mechanism to proactively engage with fundraising professionals to allow them to share insights on fundraising practice and have a voice in our policy work. We have been liaising with the Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIoF) to explore ways of engaging with its existing networks of fundraisers on such topics as reviewing new guidance and discussions about emerging issues and challenges in the sector. The new process is expected to be up-and-running in 2025.

Being a highly effective organisation

We continue to carefully monitor our expenditure to ensure we are offering value for money and make efficiencies where possible. We are keenly aware of how we are funded through the Fundraising Levy and registration scheme and take our budgeting responsibilities seriously. We are sensitive to the wider societal and political environment in which we operate and our position as a regulator in this context. This means we take matters such as sustainability and equality, diversity, and inclusion seriously and continuously strive to make improvements in these areas.

Our registration scheme and the Fundraising Levy

Payment of the Fundraising Levy and registration fees for smaller charities is the primary means of funding for the Fundraising Regulator. The cost of the levy is shared among charities who spend the most on their fundraising activity (those that spend more than £100,000 on fundraising activities annually). The levy has historically represented around 90% of our overall income and it funds our core activities, which include running our Code Advice Service and the FPS, handling and investigating complaints, and maintaining the code and guidance. 

We are pleased to report that we collected nearly 98% of the levy in this financial year from 2,108 charities. This consistently high payment rate of the levy over the past five years demonstrates that our regulation is now an established part of the fundraising landscape, and our fee is an accepted cost of business. 

However, around 2% of those eligible to pay the levy (61 charities) refused to pay. It is disappointing that a small minority of charities do not recognise their collective responsibility to fund independent regulation of fundraising. It is also unfair to those charities who do pay. We will continue to work alongside statutory regulators and sector bodies to make it clear that the levy should be paid by all fundraising charities spending more than £100,000 on fundraising as a matter of fairness. Choosing not to contribute does not only affect the charity concerned; it means that our regulation and services, which are beneficial to all fundraising organisations and the wider public, will be underfunded.

We exceeded our target of 6,500 registered bodies this year (which includes the 2,108 levy payers). Our total registrations – 6,553 by 31 August 2024 – is an increase of 8% on the previous year (6,056 registrations). This year, we once again found that smaller charities are increasingly recognising the value of voluntary regulation, as we saw a significant increase in their registrations: up 19%, or 680 charities. 

We have invited non-charity organisations to register with us since early 2017 as we recognise the value and role that they play in the fundraising sector. We currently have approximately 190 non-charities registered, and they contribute about 6% of our income (approximately £230,000). Organisations engaged in newer forms of fundraising have registered, for example online fundraising platforms and some of those running free prize draws from which charities benefit.

Fundraising Levy and registration fees changes

This year, we conducted a review of the Fundraising Levy (the levy) and registration fee for the first time since our creation in 2016. A rise in the levy has been necessary for us to meet an increasing caseload demand, achieve our strategic goal of being a more proactive regulator, and remain sustainable for the future.

In December 2023, we launched a review on proposals to increase the levy for all applicable charities, but proportionately more for charities that spend a greater amount on their fundraising. We also proposed an increase to the fee for small charity registration from £50 to £60 to reflect a rise in our processing costs since 2016.

We received 222 responses to the review from across the sector. We found that 51% of respondents supported our proposals to increase the levy, but that 70% of levy payer respondents (representing 3.6% of all current levy payers) were opposed to our plans. Many respondents who were against the proposals shared a common concern about the size of the increase at a time when charities are facing significant financial pressures. Some also raised concerns about our plans to increase the levy annually in line with inflation in future.

Recognising these concerns, our board agreed that although the levy will need to go up for the first time in eight years, the proposed increases should be phased in over two years instead of one. The board also decided that from September 2026, the levy will increase in line with inflation, but that it will carefully reflect on any such increases when considering and setting each year’s budget.

Non-charity fee changes and review

In July 2024, we conducted a review on our proposals to increase the fees non-charities (mainly commercial companies) pay to help fund our work, to give affected organisations the opportunity to feedback on our proposals.

Non-charities benefit from our regulation in the same way that charities do, so we set out plans for an increase in those fees consistent with those which were applied to charities. Subject to the review, we expect any revised fees to take effect in January 2025. 

Based on the responses to the review, we have published a summary of our decision to raise fees.

Increased costs

This year the Fundraising Regulator funded a deficit budget using underspending from previous years that had been delayed. The effect of this was to run down our reserves to a more optimal level. Increased costs this year included the cost of establishing and increasing the work of our proactive regulatory function, including running projects postponed from 2022/23 while we recruited our new Projects Manager. Other large projects that have contributed to these increased costs include the implementation of casework audit review recommendations and the code review (including attending external events as part of the engagement exercise for the code consultation). We have also seen more unexpected recruitment costs over the past year, as staff turnover has been higher than previous years leading to increased recruitment costs.

Developing our Sustainability Policy

To support our strategic plan, we implemented a sustainability policy in February 2024 as part of our commitment to maintaining and promoting environmental sustainability, both in and outside the workplace, and reducing the negative environmental impact from our operations. The new policy meant we made improvements in our use of materials and resources as well as waste management. We will proactively review our operations in line with the policy to maintain our commitment to environment sustainability