Guidance for charities in the run-up to a general election

Howard Lake | 4 April 2005 | News

With the date for the general election about to be announced, the Charity Commission has reminded charities about what constitutes acceptable political activity in the circumstances.

The Charity Commission’s ./guidance to charities on political activity is designed to help them decide what is, and what isn’t, appropriate in the run-up to a general election. The Commission has issued the reminder to help charities maintain their independence and help ensure they can continue to use their voice effectively during pre-election time.

The Commission reminded charities on several key points:

• when promoting a policy similar to that of a particular political party make sure the charity’s position is independent from that of the individual parties – promoting only the interests of its beneficiaries
• when inviting candidates to speak on particular issues the charity is promoting they should strive to ensure balanced political representation
• charities must not help candidates with their election campaigns, whether financially or in other ways

There are also a number of recommendations for charities concerning publicity, the use of their premises and other relevant legislation.

Full details are published in ‘Charities and elections’, available from the Charity Commission’s website. The advice should be
read in conjunction with ‘Campaigning and political activities by charities’ (CC9) also by the Charity Commission.

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.