Who we are

The Fundraising Regulator is the independent regulator of charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

What we do

Our work ensures public protection, accountability, and excellence in fundraising now and into the future. We work in partnership with other regulators and representative bodies in the charitable and fundraising sectors to build public trust and confidence and ensure consistently high fundraising standards across the UK.

We do this by:

• setting, maintaining and promoting the standards for fundraising in the Code of Fundraising Practice (the code) in consultation with the public, fundraising stakeholders and governments across the UK.
• Investigating complaints about fundraising where the fundraising has caused harm or has the potential to cause harm, considering whether there has been a breach of the code and taking action as necessary.
• Maintaining a public Fundraising Directory of all fundraising organisations that have registered with us to show which organisations have committed to the code and excellent fundraising.
• Enabling people to stop the direct marketing contact they receive from fundraising organisations by using the Fundraising Preference Service (FPS); and
• continually reviewing the fundraising landscape and responding proactively and preventatively to emerging or unaddressed issues.

Our vision

A society where charitable fundraising is open, honest, and respectful, so that people have confidence and trust in fundraising and charitable fundraising thrives.

Our mission

• Inform and protect the public, donors, potential donors and beneficiaries.
• Take action to continue to improve standards in fundraising.
• Use our knowledge and insight to support excellent standards of fundraising now and in the future.
• Sustain and enhance public confidence in charitable fundraising.

Our values

• Transparent: our actions and processes are clear and visible, while respecting privacy and confidentiality requirements.
• Independent: we make autonomous decisions remaining free from undue influence.
• Agile: we are responsive to emerging themes in fundraising, so that we can continue to inform the public and support the sector.
• Proportionate: the actions we take are consistent with the risks posed.
• Collaborative: we work with stakeholders, including other regulators, to deliver robust and consistent regulatory outcomes and messages to the sector and the public.
• Insightful: our decision making is appropriately consultation and evidence-led.

Our history

Following widespread concern about how charities contact donors and potential donors, Sir Stuart Etherington (the former Chief Executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations) led a government-commissioned review into the self-regulation of charity fundraising throughout summer 2015. 

The Fundraising Regulator assumed responsibility for regulating fundraising from 7 July 2016. For more information about the review and the principles behind our set up, download the report.