Annual review 2019/20
Our Coronavirus guidance was viewed 30,000 times
As the pandemic began to impact fundraising, we recognised the need to provide clear advice to members of the public and to fundraisers. We provided guidance jointly with the Chartered Institute of Fundraising to ensure organisations received a clear and consistent message. Our Coronavirus guidance was viewed almost 30,000 times.
75% agreed the code has been improved
The new and improved Code of Fundraising Practice came into effect on 1 October 2019. The revisions were the most extensive changes made in more than a decade. Our first survey of organisations registered with the Fundraising Regulator found that 92% of respondents had engaged with the new code, and 75% of those agreed our aim of improving the navigation experience had been achieved.
Nearly half our enquiries came from charities
Our enquiries service helps people to understand the fundraising standards. This year, we received 1,143 enquiries; nearly half came from charities or their trustees and a significant proportion from members of the public.
Many fundraisers used the service to ask for specific advice on implementing our Coronavirus guidance, such as the practicalities of resuming face-to-face, door-to-door and private site collections.
We received 13% more complaints
We received 836 complaints, a 13% increase on the previous year. The most complained about methods were charity bags, online fundraising and face-to-face fundraising.
With many public fundraising activities paused after March 2020, we saw a decrease in the number of complaints made to us. However, numbers picked up in July as charities began to adapt and resume activity.
We found a breach in 80% of our investigations
This was the first year in which we named all organisations in our published investigation summaries. We decided to name organisations to promote a culture of ethical fundraising and allow the public to make informed decisions when they donate. We identified at least one breach of the code in 20 of the 25 investigations we published this year.
Nearly 12,000 people have used the FPS
Since the Fundraising Preference Service (FPS) was launched in 2017, it has provided a free service for nearly 12,000 people to opt-out of receiving direct marketing from charities registered in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. 5,503 suppression requests were made in 2019/20 against 725 charities.
19% more organisations registered with us
Overall, 4,289 fundraising organisations registered with us, an increase of 19% on the previous year. The number of small charity registrations increased across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
We collected 97% of the levy from 1,877 charities, the highest payment rate to date. This demonstrates our regulation is an established part of the fundraising landscape.
90% of our income was from the Fundraising Levy
Our income was £2.39m, comprised of £2.16m from the levy and £229k from other registrations, along with £3k of interest.
We incurred expenses of £1.92m and achieved a surplus of £470k, which has been taken to reserves in line with our policy. More detailed information about our finances is in our annual report and accounts.
