A week after publishing a list to 'name and shame' non-payers of the Fundraising Regulator's annual levy, the body established in 2016 to provide oversight for the charity sector will soon be contacting organisations once again to ask for payment of its voluntary charge.
The Regulator's first foray into this area was not without its problems, with numerous reports of charges being levied at the wrong rate and, in some cases, being inflated by 1000%. The charge was based on a sliding scale, dictated by a charity's fundraising spend in the year to 31 December 2014. Charities that spent £100,000 or more on fundraising were asked to pay £150, with that figure rising according to a fee structure set by the Regulator. The same formula will be used again this year, but the Regulator appears to have responded to criticisms citing the unfairness to charities whose fundraising spend fluctuates from year to year and may fall well below the £100,000 level in some years. Charities are therefore urged to notify the Regulator if they would prefer to use the fundraising figures from a more recent financial year for which an annual return has been submitted. The Fundraising Regulator's press release, and the scale of fees to be applied, can be read here. Charities should also be mindful of how figures are presented in their accounts, so fundraising figures are not inflated or inaccurately represented. Charity accounts must, of course, be true, honest and fair, but there can be a tendency to use 'fundraising' as a catch-all category when describing the costs of marketing of a charities services to its beneficiaries, for example. If you have missed any of my previous blogs or articles, you can link to them here, where you can find useful information on Data Protection and GDPR, the Charity Governance Code, Fundraising Regulations and Risk Management. To discuss these or any other matters relating to your charity or foundation, please be in touch with me, Jon Benjamin, here.