Fundraising Regulator informs charities of its upcoming levy
Howard Lake | 5 October 2016 | News
The first of 2,100 charities in England and Wales will this week receive a letter from the Fundraising Regulator letting them know that they will be expected to pay its levy.
The letters are being sent in six phases from now until early November to those charities that fall within the scope of the new regulator’s levy arrangements. The 62 charities with the largest fundraising expenditure will receive the letters first.
These letters will then be followed by an invoice asking for payment within 30 days.
Funding the regulator
The fees will be used to fund the self-regulatory body, which began operations on 7 July 2016, taking over from the Fundraising Standards Board.
Which charities need to pay the levy?
The levy applies to those charities that have spent more than £100,000 a year on fundraising. The figures are then from charities’ annual returns to the Charity Commission for the year ending 31 December 2014.
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Majority support from the largest charities
Chair of the Fundraising Regulator, Lord Grade, argued the need for fundraising charities to support the new system of self-regulation. He said:
“46 of the 50 largest fundraising charities have demonstrated their commitment to addressing poor fundraising practices across the sector by supporting our set-up costs. We are now fully up and running and charities spending more than £100,000 per year on fundraising must now pay the levy, in line with a key recommendation of the Etherington Review. Our regulatory role and the restoration of public confidence will only be successful if the sector is ready to fund its self-regulation, working with us constructively to deliver the necessary changes.”
Sir Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, claimed that charities “have shown their support for the new system of self-regulation and their commitment to driving up standards in fundraising”.
He added:
“It is an important signal that charities themselves will fund the new fundraising regulator that has more powers and is responsible for upholding tighter standards. I hope that charities will support this work and continue to demonstrate their willingness to play their part in addressing these important issues.”
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.