Suitable Wording for Appeals

Our Charity Start Up Documents subfolder (in the Charity & Non-Profits Group) now includes our Guidance Note: Fundraising Appeals By Charities - Suitable Wording For Appeals. This guidance will be relevant where a charity launches any type of appeal for funds for any purpose.

The Importance of Using the Correct Wording in your Charitable Appeals

Whatever the size of a charity – local or national, very small or very large, and whatever the nature of the activities that it is engaged in – from running a youth club to relieving the effects of a major disaster - it will need to ensure that the wording it uses in its appeals to the public for donations is appropriate for the purpose. Unless the wording of an appeal conforms to certain legal requirements, a charity will not be legally able to use any funds raised in the way it wishes. So it is vital to make sure that the appeal is worded correctly for the charitable purposes anticipated and these guidance notes should assist in getting this process right.

To assist charities in creating appeal wording which will be legally suitable for their purposes, this note gives various examples of wording of appeals, it outlines the law relating to the types of wording typically used in appeals, and it explains how certain types of wording may be too general or too specific to meet the particular needs of the charity concerned.

Implications of Raising Too Much or Too Little Money

The guidance notes also explain some of the issues that a charity may face if it raises either too much or too little money from an appeal with inappropriate wording and the complex and time-consuming problems that may result.