# Charity Commission updates its emergency appeal guidance (CC40)

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2026/02/27/charity-commission-updates-its-emergency-appeal-guidance-cc40/
- Published: 2026-02-27T12:31:41+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The Charity Commission has released updated guidance on its CC40 guide on running
and supporting charitable emergency appeals, with a focus on making the advice more
accessible and specifically tailored for charities.**

The advice is published for charities in England and Wales. It recommends existing
charities’s leadership first assess their capacity and legal aims. Trustees must
ensure emergency work falls within the charity’s established purposes. If a charity
lacks the expertise or presence for direct relief, the guidance strongly recommends
focusing on fundraising to pass funds to a better-placed organisation, while carrying
out due diligence checks. This approach avoids duplication and ensures a faster,
more effective response.

Planning is essential for swift action. Charities are urged to have contingency 
plans in place, which must include clearly setting out the appeal’s terms.

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Critically, all appeals must clearly state a secondary purpose. This is a legal 
requirement that explains how donations will be used if the appeal raises too much
or too little, or if the original purpose cannot be achieved.

The guidance also stresses the importance of transparency, advising charities to
keep the public informed on the appeal’s progress and how funds are being used.

[Charity emergency appeals: starting, running and supporting charitable emergency appeals (CC40)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disaster-appeals-charity-commission-guidance-on-starting-running-and-supporting-charitable-disaster-appeals-cc40/disaster-appeals-charity-commission-guidance-on-starting-running-and-supporting-charitable-disaster-appeals)
is published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

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