Commercial businesses, Community Interest Companies (CICs) and public interest bodies that engage in charitable fundraising can apply to register with the Fundraising Regulator. This includes organisations that:
- collect and distribute charity bags
- carry out face to face, direct or telephone fundraising
- provide online platforms for collecting donations or charitable crowdfunding
- operate payroll giving schemes; or
- run charitable lotteries, free draws or raffles.
Reasons to register
If your organisation is a CIC or public interest body that fundraises to support your own charitable, philanthropic or benevolent purposes, registering means you can show people that you are committed to fundraising in a way that is legal, open, honest and respectful in line with the Code of Fundraising Practice.
If your organisation is a commercial business that fundraises on behalf of charities, by registering with us you can demonstrate to the organisations you work with that you are committed to good fundraising practice. Registration also enables you to comply with charity law, as third party fundraisers must say what standards they sign up to as part of their fundraising agreements with charities.
All registered organisations can display the Fundraising Badge on their fundraising materials – the logo that says ‘registered with Fundraising Regulator’ –
and are listed in our public directory. Find out more reasons to register with the Fundraising Regulator.
Eligibility for non charity registration
Organisations which apply to register must:
- have a record of operating in a fundraising capacity for at least 12 months
- be registered with Companies House for at least one year
- commit to meeting the standards in the Code of Fundraising Practice; and
- agree to our registration terms and conditions for non charities.
Your organisation should not be registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales or Northern Ireland. If this applies to you, refer to our charity registration scheme instead.
Registration fees
Non charities pay a registration fee on the basis of their fundraising turnover, see our registration fee page for full details about how we calculate this. Our non charity registration fee bands are comparable to those that apply to charities.
Before applying to register
Before you start your application, you must:
- Be familiar with the Code of Fundraising Practice, to make sure you can detail (if asked) how you meet the standards relevant to your fundraising activities.
- Publish a complaints policy on your website, as you will need to provide a link to it in your application. See our complaints handling guidance for more information about what should be included.
- Review our definition of fundraising turnover, so you are aware which appropriate fee band applies to you.
If fundraising on behalf of a charitable organisation as a third party fundraiser, you must also provide a reference from a registered charity to support your application.
Apply to register
Please complete this form if you are a commercial business, CIC or public interest body applying to register with the Fundraising Regulator.
We aim to respond to all applications within seven days. Your application will be assessed by our registration team and you may be asked to provide further supporting evidence.