Complaints to Fundraising Regulator rise by 8%

Complaints made to the Fundraising Regulator have risen by 8%, its latest annual report shows.

The number of complaints made about charities to the organisation rose between 2022 and 2023, at the same time as the number of self-reports increased, with more charities reporting themselves for breaches of the Code of Fundraising Practice than before.

The regulator said 20 charities made use of the self-reporting pathway, which launched last year to allow charities to tell the regulator if they believe they have breached the code.

The number of self-reports increased in the last quarter of the year, primarily, the regulator said, in response to a news story that identified issues with a sub-contracting fundraising agency carrying out door-to-door fundraising.

Over 6,000 organisations are now registered with the Fundraising Regulator, which is a 7% increase on the year before.

According to the regulator, 73% of donors claim they are more confident supporting charities that display the Fundraising Badge, which is the logo that shows charities are registered with the Fundraising Regulator.

The research included in the report shows that 61% of respondents think more positively of a charity displaying the badge and more than half (51%) reported they would be more likely to support a charity they had not heard of before if it was displaying the badge.

The regulator also announced a 98% payment rate for its annual Fundraising Levy between the same period, from charities spending £100,000 or more on fundraising activities.

“The charitable fundraising sector has continued to face challenging conditions as the cost-of-living crisis and significant global events continue to impact the landscape, and this in turn affects the way we need to regulate the sector," Fundraising Regulator chair, Lord Toby Harris said.

“I would like to commend charities and their partners for their hard work in the face of such challenges. I also wish to thank the thousands of fundraising organisations that demonstrate their support for independent regulation and commitment to excellent practice through registering with us and paying the Fundraising Levy.”