Fundraising Regulator publishes list of payers & non-payers of voluntary levy
Melanie May | 1 September 2017 | News
The Fundraising Regulator has published its list of the charities that have paid, and not paid, its voluntary levy.
According to the Fundraising Regulator, the list has been published ‘in the interests of transparency and fairness’ and reveals the names of around 160 charities that have so far not paid. Earlier in August, Lord Grade called non-payment ‘unacceptable and unprofessional’, and said that paying demonstrated ‘a commitment to the public that a charity believes in honest and ethical fundraising’.
1,570 charities were asked to contribute to year one of the levy, which is used to fund the Regulator and applies to charities in England and Wales that spend £100,000 or more each year on fundraising. In addition, the Regulator is currently negotiating with an additional 95 organisations that are not yet included.
The levy is based on the ‘spend on generating voluntary income’ data submitted as part of the annual return to the Charity Commission made by charities for the year ended 31 December 2014. There are ten banded thresholds, which determine how much a charity is expected to pay. One spending £100,000-£149,000 would pay £150 a year, while at the top of the scale, a charity spending over £50m would pay £15,000. Others, which are exempt, are asked to pay a flat rate of £1,000.
FR Regulation Watch, which tweets every time a charity joins the Regulator in an attempt to inform the levy debate in an impartial way, has released a graph illustrating the levy payers and where they fall on the payment scale:
@ukfundraising The Fundraising Reg announced today who has paid the Levy and who didn't. Here's a picture to illustrate it #fundraising pic.twitter.com/5rS46hmBwL
— FR Regulation Watch (@FRegWatch) August 31, 2017
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Dr Alasdair Rutherford is a Senior Lecturer in Social Statistics at the University of Stirling specialising in the analysis of data about the third sector, and is behind FR Regulation Watch.
Based on his analysis following the list’s publication, Dr Rutherford says:
“About 84% of the 1,665 eligible charities have paid the Levy and signed-up to the new Fundraising Regulator. The largest charities are most likely to have paid (93%), with lower take-up amongst smaller charities (82%). Some smaller charities with fluctuating fundraising expenditure refusing to pay may feel that the way the threshold has been assessed is unfair. Charities who have paid are most likely to operate in the fields of Education & Research, Health or Social Services.”
“In naming charities who have decided not to contribute, a distinction should be made between those large charities who have opted out, and the smaller charities who have been caught up in the Levy due to an exceptional year in 2014. This affects only a small number of charities, but being named and shamed could have consequences for their reputations. Most of the largest fundraising charities have joined the new Regulator, but it is right that questions are asked of those large charities that have taken the decision not to participate in the regulation.”
The Fundraising Regulator has said that those listed as non-payers have either refused to contribute to the levy, or have not responded to its communications and added:
“ The list will be updated to include charities with whom we are still in negotiation, as and when they decide whether or not to pay. As such it is a live document.
“As always, we are grateful to those charities who have paid the levy, and look forward to continued collaboration in the future.”
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.