# New guidance on working with professional fundraisers & commercial participators

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/08/15/new-guidance-on-working-with-professional-fundraisers-commercial-participators/
- Published: 2024-08-15T09:00:00+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**The new guidance comes in response to comments made in the public consultation
the Fundraising Regulator ran as part of its review of the Code of Fundraising Practice,
and regular enquiries received about commercial participators and professional fundraisers
through its Code Advice Service.**

A professional fundraiser is an individual or business who is paid by a charity 
to fundraise on their behalf, while a commercial participator is an individual or
business that promotes their goods or services on the basis that they will make 
contributions to one or more charities.

Some respondents to the Regulator’s public consultation said they were unclear about
what they needed to do when working with commercial participators and professional
fundraisers, and felt that they would benefit from some guidance in this area. 

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Those asking through the Code Advice Service are often unclear on the difference
between professional fundraisers and commercial participators, and unsure when written
agreements and solicitation statements are required and what these should include.

The Fundraising Regulator has published two new pieces of guidance for charities:
[one about working with commercial participators](https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/more-from-us/resources/guidance-charitable-institutions-working-commercial-participators)
and [one about working with professional fundraisers](https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/more-from-us/resources/guidance-charitable-institutions-working-professional-fundraisers).

[In a blog](https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/more-from-us/news/working-commercial-participators-and-professional-fundraisers-our-new-guidance)
on the Regulator’s site, Oliver Bayer, Policy Officer at the Fundraising Regulator
says that the guidance explains what a charity needs to put in place to work with
commercial participators and professional fundraisers lawfully such as carrying 
out due diligence and having a written agreement in place. It also includes what
commercial participators and professional fundraisers themselves need to do to comply
with the law, such as complying with written agreements and providing solicitation
statements.

Bayer comments:

> “This guidance will help charities, commercial participators and professional 
> fundraisers fundraise in line with the law. The legislation in this area can be
> complex, so the guidance aims to simplify the necessary information with helpful
> examples.”

Next month, the Fundraising Regulator will be launching the second and final part
of its consultation on the new draft of the Code of Fundraising Practice.

 * **[The Charity Commission bares its gums](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/03/07/charity-commission-bares-gums/)**(
   7 March 2016)
 * **[Funding the Fundraising Regulator](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/07/15/funding-fundraising-regulator/)**(
   15 July 2016)
 * **[Five tweets for fundraisers for 22 September 2016](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/09/22/five-tweets-fundraisers-22-september-2016/)**(
   22 September 2016)