Complaints from whistleblowers
If you have a fundraising concern as a member of staff or a fundraiser representing a charitable organisation, you may be considered a ‘whistleblower’. As such, we may treat your complaint a bit differently and you may also be afforded legal protection under UK law.
If you are a charity worker and report certain types of wrongdoing, your employer must not treat you unfairly at work because of this. If the information you report, and how you report it, meets specific requirements the law will protect you. You must:
be a worker, not a volunteer
reveal the information in the public interest
reveal certain types of wrongdoing; and
tell the right person or organisation.
However, we cannot tell you if your whistleblowing disclosure is protected under the law or give legal advice in this area. We also cannot consider complaints outside of our remit because the complainant is a whistleblower.
As part of our process, we will ask you to get independent advice to determine:
whether protection applies to your situation; and
what to do if you’re treated unfairly after whistleblowing.
How the Fundraising Regulator can help
Your information helps us determine if a charity is at risk of breaching the Code of Fundraising Practice, and how serious it is. We will make a record of your concern, and investigate those that meet the threshold for action, as we would do with other complaints and intelligence we may receive. If we investigate a concern, we usually work with the organisation to help get it back into compliance.
We only look at how organisations fundraise and do not investigate any crimes, or governance concerns (issues about how the organisation is run and decisions it takes).
What to report to the Fundraising Regulator
You can report things that have happened, are happening or are likely to happen. Only report issues to us that could fall within our scope. For example, if fundraising:
is likely to breach the rules and standards of the Code of Fundraising Practice
is likely to pose risk of harm to the public, the fundraising sector or the organisation in question; or
presents a safeguarding concern.
In cases where we have decided that the complaint falls outside of our regulatory remit, we will tell you why and signpost you to the appropriate body to help with your concerns.
If you are not comfortable in completing our online form, you can email our dedicated whistleblowers inbox: whistleblowing@fundraisingregulator.org.uk