UK Charity Laws, Legal Regulations Fundraising Donations

Charity Commission CC20 And UK Legal Requirements, Laws, Rules And Regulations For Fundraising & Donations

A simple, clear summary of the Charity Commission CC20 fundraising guidance and Fundraising Regulator rules and regulations, and the main UK laws and legal requirements for fundraising and dopnations. Plus 20+ great ideas that will get your charity trustees fundraising

How Find More Funding For Your Charity

Use Funding Finder, to find a huge range of grants and Help Finder to find lots of free fundraising support and also companies that make product/financial donations. There's a fundraising online health check, with 50+downloadable funder lists, the huge resource base, Crisis Support Programme and Quality Mark. Quick, simple and everything is free.

To find the funding and free help you need - Register Now

CHARITY COMMISSION CC20 AND OTHER FUNDRAISING REGULATIONS & LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

Charity trustees must comply with the Charity Commission CC20 fundraising regulations and also the Fundraising Regulator's code of practice. HMRC, the Gambling Commission, the ICO and others also issue guidance on the law, rules and legal requiremenst in the UK. It is not trustees' responsibility to do all this themselves, but it is their responsibility to ensure that it is done. Many don't know that, so a good 1st step might be to make them aware of this.

Charity Commission CC20 - Fundraising Rules And Regulations

Charity trustees may think fundraising isn't their responsibility, but Charity Commission regulatory guidance (CC20) makes clear that it is. It lays out 6 key principles.

Planning effectively.
Supervising your fundraisers.
Protecting your charity’s reputation, money and other assets.
Identifying and ensuring compliance with the laws or regulations that apply specifically to your charity’s fundraising.
Identifying and following any recognised standards that apply to your charity’s fundraising.
Being open and accountable.

Fundraising Regulator Rules & Regulations

The Fundraising Regulator rules and regulatians largely reflect those of the Charity Commission in that the main duty of trustees is to advance the purposes of the charity, act in the charity’s best interest and that the charity’s assets and resources are only used for the purposes for which the charity was set up. This extends to the charity's fundraising activities. The detailed Fundraising Regulator guidance covers:

General fundraising duties.
Risk assessment.
Accepting, refusing and returning donations.
Complaints and concerns about fundraising.
Paying fundraisers.
Solicitation statements.
Using funds.
Accounting and reporting.

Fundraising UK Laws & Legal Requirements

Charities are subject to a whole range of UK laws and regulations, so it's not really possible to produce a definitive list. However, here are 3 you should know about.

HMRC - the most important for us is securing Gift Aid, but there is wide ranging relevant tax regulation, including areas such as legacies and fundraising events.
- They have a charities and CASC helpline and online contact form.
Information Commissioner's Office - anything to do with the personal data of those making donations, so you should know about basic data protection, including consent.
- They have various ways you can contact them, including a helpline.
Gambling Commission - less well known, but this is what you need for lotteries, raffles, 100 clubs etc.
- They have a helpline and online contact form.

You need also to be mindful of licences and permissions for events and collections, such as street collections.

For more on the above, or other issues, ask an AI Tech Bunny. You'll find one in the bottom right of every screen. Click the icon and ask it short questions, including key words. You cana sk about anything to do with setting up and running a charity or non profit.

IDEAS TO ENGAGE CHARITY TRUSTEES IN FUNDRAISING

Here are some ideas to help engage your charity trustees in fundraising. Perhaps cover this during trustee induction, or board training, or invite your chair to table this as an agenda item.

Ways For Trustees To Make Donations

If you're one of those great people who can and wishes to make either a substantial one-off or ongoing gift, that's fantastic, but, if not;
Almost anyone can make a small regular donation, or buy a raffle ticket.
Or consider leaving a gift in your will and be willing to share that, to encourage others to do so as well.

Use Your Trustee Networks

Discuss with the fundraisers who in your own network might be engaged and help arrange an introduction or invite them to visit. Review prospect/donor lists with your fundraisers.
For companies, it could be access to a staff volunteer programme, or charity of the year, or payroll giving.
Represent your charity, or even speak at external events, or;
- Secure a speaking opportunity for your charity’s staff.
Promote your charity’s work via your own networks, such as articles in newsletters, or:
- Forward campaign e mails/newsletters to individuals in your own network.

Easy Social Media Ideas

Connect with your charity on social media, and like and share its posts.
Recruit social media champions to connect with your charity and promote it into new networks of potential supporters.
Appear in a short social media video clip, saying why you volunteer and describing the fantastic impact your charity has.
Or, better still, get someone well known in your network to do so, or provide a quote you can use.

Simple Ideas For Charity Trustees To Get Hands On In Fundraising

Host a 'friendraiser' and invite your charity along to talk about your work.
Do something good for yourself and your charity, at the same time.
- The marathon you’ve always wanted to run, or a fun run, or lose weight, or give up smoking.
Contact local shops/businesses and ask them to display a collection tin, or make a raffle donation, or auction prize, or sponsorship.
Attend external meetings, where your presence may support the staff team.
Write thank you letters or make calls to donors.
- Or sign Christmas cards to key funders and stakeholders.
Don't just turn up, but rather, actively engage with guests and promote your work at events.
- Better still, invite friends/colleagues to come along as well.
Sell tickets/ or source auction items/raffle prizes.
- Get inventive, by seeing who can source the best 'money can't buy' prize.
Get some exercise by distributing posters/leaflets in your local community.

A Free One Stop Shop for Everything Your Charity Needs

A registered charity ourselves, we provide 8 online health checks, the huge information hub, Quality Mark and 3 online directories.

Funding Finder - click through to more funders than any other grants directory, categories for Crisis Funding, Core Funding and Small Charities & Community Groups and 50+ downloadable grant lists.
Help Finder – find advice, pro bono support and free services and products, including lots of free fundraising support and companies that make product/financial donations.
Data Finder - finds data for funding bids, fundraising research, impact reporting, planning and campaigning.

Fast, Simple & Everything Is Free

To find the funding and free help you need – Register Now

Charity Excellence AI Services

In addition to the 6 systems within Charity Excellence, we provide a range of free Artificial Intelligence (AI) services.

Enabling you to find funding, help, resources and data.
Ask Me Anything – answering almost any question about running your charity.
Funding Bid Writer Service.
Welfare support and funding for individuals.
Charity & non-profit facts and popular questions, for the public and media.

Just click the AI tech bunny icon in the bottom right of any web page or in-system and tell it what you need. Ask as many questions as you wish to, they're free, available 24/7 and will not collect any personal information.

AI Insight Briefings: Impact on:

Toolkits & Guides:

Training

We have created 2 one-hour training webinars.

Introduction to AI.
Using ChatGPT.