Charity Commission updates its emergency appeal guidance (CC40)
Howard Lake | 27 February 2026 | News
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) is published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
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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.