Fundraising, Grants and Charity Finance
This section covers the ways a charity brings money in and some of the ways it pays money out. Most charities need to fundraise, whether occasionally or as a continuous part of their work. Fundraising is one of the most heavily regulated things a charity does. Smaller charities in particular can find the rules on appeals, collections, professional fundraisers, Gift Aid and lotteries hard to navigate. The documents in this section are designed to help trustees and fundraisers plan and carry out those activities while avoiding the legal pitfalls.
Who is doing the fundraising?
The rules depend a good deal on who is raising the money. The charity's own trustees, staff and volunteers are subject to one set of expectations. Independent groups of supporters who raise money in aid of the charity, but are not part of it, need a clear understanding with the charity about how they operate. Businesses that promote the charity in their own marketing and professional fundraisers who are paid to raise funds are subject to statutory requirements, including the need for a written agreement. The sections keep these cases separate.
How are the sections organised?
Appeals, Collections and Volunteer Fundraising covers wording for appeals, public collections, the rules for independent fundraising groups and a whistleblowing policy for fundraising concerns. Donations, Gift Aid and Other Fundraising covers accepting and, where necessary, refusing donations, Gift Aid declarations, legacies in wills and lotteries and raffles. Commercial Fundraising and Sponsorship contains the agreements a charity needs with commercial participators, professional fundraisers and event sponsors.
On the outgoing side, Grants and Ex Gratia Payments covers the grants a charity makes to other organisations and payments it feels morally obliged to make but has no legal duty to make. Loans and Promissory Notes contains simple loan documentation for a charity or club that borrows money.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which rules actually govern our charity's fundraising? +
A patchwork, which is why fundraising trips charities up. Working with businesses and paid fundraisers triggers Charities Act 1992 agreement and statement requirements. Raffles and lotteries sit under gambling law. Email and text appeals engage the marketing consent rules. Gift Aid brings HMRC record requirements. And across all of it sits the Code of Fundraising Practice as the standard the Fundraising Regulator applies. This section's sections map onto those regimes with the documents each needs.
A local business wants to donate a share of its sales to us. What must be in place before it starts? +
Two things, both legal requirements: a written agreement between the charity and the business meeting the prescribed content of the Charities Act 1992, and a solicitation statement wherever the promotion appears, telling customers the charity's name and how much of each sale it receives. The business is a commercial participator once it represents that purchases benefit your charity. The agreements in the commercial participator section handle product and non-product promotions in two and three party forms.
Can we run a raffle to raise funds, and do we need a licence? +
Usually yes without a Gambling Commission licence, if you fit a tier. A raffle at an event, drawn at the event with tickets sold only there, is an incidental lottery needing no licence or registration. Regular or advance-ticket raffles are society lotteries: register with your local authority while proceeds stay within the small society limits, currently up to 20,000 pounds a draw and 250,000 pounds a year, and above that you need a Gambling Commission licence. The lottery guidance and checklist here walk the tiers.
Do we have to register with the Fundraising Regulator? +
Registration is voluntary, but the Code of Fundraising Practice is the standard your fundraising is judged against either way: the Regulator investigates complaints about charities whether or not they registered. Registration adds the badge, the levy for larger fundraisers and public commitment to the code. Small charities often register when public fundraising grows or funders ask. Whatever you decide, run fundraising to the code; the documents in this group are drafted with it in mind.
Can our charity borrow money, and how do we document it? +
Most charities can borrow if their governing document permits it and the trustees decide borrowing serves the charity's interests, minuted with the reasoning. Documenting the loan properly matters as much as the power: the loan and promissory note templates in this group come in versions for charitable companies, CIOs and unincorporated charities, because who signs and who is liable differs by structure. Secured borrowing against charity land carries extra statutory requirements, take advice before charging property.
