Fundraising Regulator publishes list of charity registrants
Melanie May | 12 July 2017 | News
The Fundraising Regulator has published a list of all the charities that have registered with it, which includes all those that have paid the levy.
The levy is voluntary and is collected from charities in England and Wales that spend £100,000 or more each year on fundraising. It 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 31st December 2014 (the most recent full year for which this data is available within the annual return).
Registered charities fall into two categories:
- Those who spend more than £100,000 per year on fundraising and have paid a voluntary levy which covers the Fundraising Regulator’s running costs. These charities are automatically registered.
- Those who spend below £100,000 per year on fundraising are not required to pay the levy, but voluntarily pay a £50 per year administration charge to be registered.
There are ten banded thresholds for the levy, starting from £150 per year for charities spending £100,000 – £149,999 annually on generating voluntary income, to £2,500 for those spending £1-2 million, up to £15,000 for those spending £50 million or more.
Registered charities agree to the Fundraising Regulator’s Fundraising Promise, which outlines a fundraising commitment made to donors and the public as well as terms and conditions of registration, which allow them to use the “Registered with the Fundraising Regulator” badge.
The Fundraising Regulator invoiced 2,011 charities. 219 of these were removed from the levy scope, leaving 1,792 within it. As of 22nd June, £1.7m had been raised with 372 of those invoiced not having paid. This comprised 57 refusals to pay, 246 non-responses and 69 continuing negotiations. As of today a number still have not paid the levy.
On 22nd June, Fundraising Regulator Chief Executive Stephen Dunmore responded to an article suggesting that the Regulator was ‘running on reserves’ due to a lack of support. He refuted the claim, saying it was ‘entirely incorrect’. He added:
“Our draft budget for the second year of operation is £1.8 million, revised downwards from £1.96m to reflect operational experience acquired during our first year of activity and our forecast of levy income. To date the levy has provided £1.7 million in year 1 (September 2017-August 2018) and we are confident that this will reach at least £1.8 million. The Board will take final decisions on our 2017/18 business plan and budget in July.”
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On the publishing of the register, Dunmore said:
“We are grateful to all charities who have played a role in supporting us by assisting with our set-up costs and by paying the levy. This is a commitment to ethical, regulated fundraising in the charity sector and good progress is being made. However, I would urge those who have not paid the levy to do so as soon as possible and for others to register.”
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.