New UK Fundraising Regulator now in post

The charity sector has supported the launch of the new Fundraising Regulator, which took up the reins from the Fundraising Standards Board on 7th July. The regulator is tasked with ensuring the protection of donors to charities based in England and Wales. A separate regulatory scheme is being put in place for charities registered in Scotland and discussions around Northern Ireland are still in progress.

45 of the UK’s largest charities have agreed to contribute to its start-up costs and the chief executives of the Fundraising Regulator and Charity Commission have signed an agreement to formalise the two organisations’ collaboration.

The new regulator was set up in response to recommendations made by the cross-party review of fundraising regulation chaired by Sir Stuart Etherington in September 2015, itself published in response to the 2015 charity fundraising crisis.

Welcoming the launch, Minister for Civil Society Rob Wilson MP said:

“I have always been clear that unethical fundraising practices have to be stamped out. The new Fundraising Regulator is working hard with the sector to protect vulnerable and older people and I urge charities to sign up. This country is a generous nation and I want the giving public to have the trust and confidence to support the causes that matter most to them for many years to come.”

The Fundraising Regulator team has responsibility for regulation, dealing with complaints and the Code of Fundraising Practice, previously managed by the Institute of Fundraising.

Chairman of the Fundraising Regulator, Lord Grade said:

“The damage to public confidence experienced by charities affects the whole sector. No regulator can be effective without the confidence of the public and the support of the sector it regulates. Many charities have accepted that things must change and that they can be instrumental in leading that change.

Lord Grade went on to thank its predecessor, the Fundraising Standards Board, for all it has achieved in its 10 years as the regulator.

Senior charity figures also expressed their support for the new regulatory regime, with Mark Flanagan, chief executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, saying:

“Those who give charities their support expect and deserve the highest standards from our sector.  I hope that our new fundraising regulator will not just help identify and correct poor practice, but also help to restore some of the trust and confidence that we have lost from the public.”