Code of Fundraising Practice launched

Insight

02.07.2025

The Fundraising Regulator (FR) has issued a new Code of Fundraising Practice to take effect from 1 November 2025. It replaces the current version, which was last revised in 2019.

The Code applies to fundraising activity for charitable, philanthropic or benevolent purposes in the UK. It sets standards that charities and those that fundraise for them are expected to follow when raising funds from the public and which the FR will enforce in its investigations and regulatory work.

The new Code is the result of a thorough two-year root and branch review of the standards, updating them for changes to technological, legislation and fundraising behaviour, and improving their accessibility and clarity.

A helpful table has been produced showing the changes made in the new Code compared to the current version for each rule. The revised rules are intended to be clearer, more flexible and better suited to fundraising practices now and into the future. In particular, as fundraising methods continue to evolve to take advantage of new technologies, the new Code is designed to better reflect developing practices.

New principles-based approach

A new broader, principles-based approach to rule setting has been adopted with the Code focussing more on general guidelines rather than prescriptive rules. That said, some of the law that relates to fundraising is quite prescriptive and so the drafters of the new Code have had to strike a balance between more flexible principles and more detailed standards.

In a blog post launching the new Code, the Chair of the FR’s Standards Committee, Suzanne McCarthy explains that the aim is to “empower fundraisers to exercise good judgement in a wide range of scenarios – including new and emerging fundraising methods”.

Where the FR is not lead regulator, such as on data protection or Gift Aid, rules have been removed, simplified or revised to create a clearer distinction for users.

The new Code is 45% shorter, with better signposting to legal requirements and external guidance, making it more accessible and easier to navigate (the web version will be key word searchable).

New standards

New standards are set on:

Protecting fundraisers (rule 2.1.2)	Organisations must take reasonable steps to protect fundraisers from harm and harassment while fundraising and ensure that they feel supported and able to raise concerns. This includes having processes in place for fundraisers to report any issues that arise and taking reasonable steps to deal with them.
Regulatory engagement (rule 2.1.3)	Organisations must respond constructively and within an appropriate time to enquiries from the FR or the Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel relating to compliance with the Code and ensure fundraising partners do the same. This rule is supplemented by a guide on how the regulator engages with fundraisers over concerns about non-compliance with the Code and its expectations on engaging with such enquiries. This warns that “[f]rustrating or impeding our regulatory enquiries by failing to respond fully and in a timely way will be a breach of the code for which organisations may be held to account.”
Paying fundraisers (rule 2.4)	Organisations must give appropriate consideration to the approach they take to paying fundraisers and whether this fits with the organisation’s values. This is a more nuanced approach than the current rule, which warns against using commission-based payments.
Convenience giving and unstaffed collections (rule 7.5)	This deals with collection methods that do not need a fundraiser to be present, such as tap-to-donate and other contactless payment methods, top-up or micro-donation schemes, static collections, clothing and goods donation banks and charity bags distributed door to door.
Online fundraising platforms (rule 9)	This sets out the responsibilities of online fundraising platforms, including ensuring that information about how fees for hosting a fundraising campaign are calculated is clearly visible to donors before requesting their financial details.

Code support guides

Support guides have been developed to help organisation meet the standards on:

Documenting fundraising decisions. This gives advice on when and how to keep records of decisions that affect fundraising – from accepting or refusing donations to handling complaints. It gives tips on writing meeting minutes, managing conflicts of interest, and carrying out and recording risk assessments.
Due diligence and fundraising. This looks at carrying out proper, but proportionate, checks to confirm the identity and verify the legitimacy and suitability of donations, donors, fundraising partners and others that an organisation works with.
Monitoring fundraising partners. This reinforces the need for charities to have effective processes in place to monitor the performance of fundraising partners and any sub-contractors (mindful of the FR’s recent market inquiry into poor practices by subcontractors used by fundraising agencies working for charities).

The support guides include useful top tip checklists and are effective from 1 November 2025.

The FR has said that it plans to produce further guides on cashless collections, vulnerable donors, gaming and streaming, social media fundraising, events and artificial intelligence.

Time to prepare

While launched on 28 April 2025, the new Code was does not come into effect until 1 November 2025. In the meantime, the standards in the current version of the Code continue to apply.

Charities and other fundraising organisations therefore have four months to:

Review the new Code and supporting guidance.
Update their relevant policies and procedures.
Train staff and volunteers.

We advised the FR on the English and Welsh legal aspects of the Code review, with advice on the Scottish aspects being provided by Turcan Connell and on the Northern Ireland aspects by Edwards & Co.

James Maloney, a partner in our Charity and Community team, who worked on the review with Sara van der Pas, said:

“This has been an important process to streamline the Code to make it more accessible to charities, fundraisers and the public. The legal requirements imposed by charity and fundraising law are not straightforward and we were delighted to be able to help the Fundraising Regulator navigate the challenges they presented for the Code review.”

This publication is a general summary of the law. It should not replace legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances.