Reflecting on the changes to the fundraising levy

In 2023, the Fundraising Regulator launched a review of the annual levy we ask charities to pay to fund our work. For the first time since we were founded, we needed to increase the levy to ensure we could continue to provide the effective and proportionate self-regulation needed to promote public trust and confidence in charitable fundraising. 

Making the levy fairer for smaller organisations

Charities spending £100,000 a year and more on fundraising are included in the levy. Our review proposed increasing the levy payments for all organisations, but with the largest charities with the highest fundraising spend seeing the greatest increase in their levy payments. We received 222 responses to the review, with the majority of respondents supporting this proposal.  

We know that the current economic climate is challenging for many charities. To help charities manage their finances, the board agreed that the increases would be phased in over two years; in September 2024 and September 2025. From September 2026 the levy will increase in line with inflation, though we will reflect on any increases when considering our budget before making any decisions. 

Charities remain committed to voluntary regulation

We are pleased to report that we’ve collected approximately 97% of all levy income since the first phase of increases were introduced last September. This is broadly in line with the recovery rate for the past five years, demonstrating that most charities understand the value of, and remain committed to, the current system of voluntary regulation. We would like to thank all the organisations that have responded so positively to the changes, despite the difficult economic headwinds that many are facing. 

A small minority continue to not pay the levy

Despite most organisations accepting that the levy is a necessary cost of doing business, around 3% of those eligible to pay have either refused to do so or have not responded to our requests. It’s disappointing that a small minority of charities do not recognise their collective responsibility to fund the independent regulation of fundraising. It’s also unfair to those charities that do pay and thus play their part in maintaining and promoting public trust and confidence in charitable fundraising. 

What happens next? 

The organisations that have not paid the levy have now been marked ‘red’ in our online directory. We will also share a list of the registered charities concerned with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (CCEW) so that they are aware of the organisations that have refused to support the system of regulation that so many charities and members of the public benefit from.