Appeals, Collections and Volunteer Fundraising
Use this section for fundraising carried out by the charity itself and by supporters acting on its behalf: launching an appeal, collecting from the public and working with independent groups who raise money in aid of the charity.
What do we need to know about appeals and public collections?
The way an appeal is worded matters. If an appeal is tied to a specific purpose and raises too little or too much or the purpose cannot be carried out, the charity's freedom to use the money can be restricted. The Guidance Note: Fundraising Appeals By Charities - Suitable Wording for Appeals explains how to word an appeal so that funds can be used sensibly. The Guidance Notes - Public Charitable Collections: Charity Officers Acting As Fundraisers explains what the charity's own trustees, staff and volunteers need to know when they collect money from the public, including the statements they may need to make.
What about independent fundraising groups?
Friends' groups, local committees and other volunteer groups often raise money in aid of a charity without being part of it. They are not the charity's volunteers in the ordinary sense and the charity does not control them, but it is responsible for its name and reputation and needs to be clear about how money is handled. The Guidance Notes - Volunteer Charity Fundraising Groups explains the relationship. The Volunteer Fundraising Groups: Rules For Working With A Charity is a set of rules the charity can ask such groups to follow.
How can concerns about fundraising be raised?
The Charity Fundraising Whistleblowing Policy gives staff, volunteers and fundraisers a way to report concerns about fundraising practice, such as pressure on donors or misuse of funds. It also sets out how the charity will deal with them. It supports the charity's financial controls as well as its fundraising standards.
Volunteers who work within the charity under its direction are covered in the People, Volunteers and Premises section.
- Guidance Note: Fundraising Appeals By Charities - Suitable Wording for Appeals
- Volunteer Fundraising Groups: Rules For Working With A Charity
- Guidance Notes - Volunteer Charity Fundraising Groups
- Guidance Notes - Public Charitable Collections: Charity Officers Acting As Fundraisers
- Charity Fundraising Whistleblowing Policy
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Frequently Asked Questions
Because the wording fixes what the money can be used for. An appeal for a specific project creates funds restricted to that project: if it fails or raises too much, the surplus cannot simply be redirected, though rules introduced by the Charities Act 2022 now let trustees redirect smaller funds, up to 1,000 pounds without Commission consent, and treat small gifts as redirectable. Wording that names the specific purpose but allows application to general purposes if needed avoids the trap entirely. The guidance note provides tested formulations.
Public charitable collections have their own licensing regimes, typically local authority permits for street collections and separate rules for house to house collections, and the person rattling the tin needs authority from the charity as well. Officers and volunteers acting as fundraisers should carry that authority and follow the collection's terms. The public collections guidance note here covers the regimes and the practicalities before your first collection day.