Fundraising Regulator reports 97% of increased levy on charities has been paid
Howard Lake | 6 February 2025 | News
The Fundraising Regulator has announced that approximately 97% of the levy that fundraising charities pay to it has been received. This covers the period in which the independent regulator of charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland raised its levy for the first time since it was established.
Charities that spend £100,000 a year or more on fundraising are required to pay the levy. In 2023 the regulator began a review of its annual levy, with the subsequent decision made to phase the increase in over two years, in September 2024 and September 2025. In addition, it was decided that, while all organisations would need to pay an increased levy, the largest charities should see greater increases in their payments than smaller charities.
In 2023, the Fundraising Regulator launched a review of the annual levy we ask charities to pay to fund our work. For the first time since we were founded, we needed to increase the levy to ensure we could continue to provide the effective and proportionate self-regulation needed to promote public trust and confidence in charitable fundraising.
Advertisement
The 97% collection rate is “broadly in line” with the recovery rate for the past five years, the Fundraising Regulator announced in its blog post update on the levy.
Criticism of charities that don’t pay
The regulator’s post thanked “all the organisations that have responded so positively to the changes, despite the difficult economic headwinds that many are facing”. It reiterated its criticism of the 3% or so of eligible charities that either refuse to pay or have not responded to its requests.
“It’s disappointing that a small minority of charities do not recognise their collective responsibility to fund the independent regulation of fundraising”, argued the regulator. “It’s also unfair to those charities that do pay and thus play their part in maintaining and promoting public trust and confidence in charitable fundraising”.
The organisations that have not paid the levy are now listed in the regulator’s directory with a red indicator. The Fundraising Regulator has also alerted the Charity Commission for England and Wales (CCEW) to the list of charities.
The list includes 16 universities or colleges, several arts organisations including three opera companies, and one NHS trust.
Second phase of levy increase
The second phase of the levy increase will take place in September this year. Its board will announce its plans in the summer.
- Fundraising Regulator appoints four new committee members (14 November 2024)
- Fundraising Regulator opens consultation on new draft code (3 March 2024)
- Subcontracting relationships must be monitored more closely, says Fundraising Regulator (26 March 2024)
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.