Charity Fundraising & Grants UK: Rules for Trustees

Overview

Charity fundraising covers every method a charity uses to bring in donations and voluntary income, from street collections and online appeals to corporate partnerships, sponsored events, and legacy campaigns. Grant administration is the other side of the coin: the processes a charity uses either to apply for funding from grant-makers, or to distribute its own funds to other organisations or beneficiaries.

Both sit within a framework shaped by the Charities Act 2011, the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice, data protection law, and the charity's own governing document. Trustees carry personal responsibility for making sure funds are raised honestly and spent on the purposes the donors intended.

That duty cannot be delegated away, even when day-to-day fundraising is run by staff, volunteers, or external agencies working under contract. A well-run charity treats fundraising governance as a core board issue rather than something left to the fundraising team alone.

Key steps

1. Map your fundraising activities against the Code of Fundraising Practice. Start by listing every way your charity raises money, then cross-check each one against the standards set out by the Fundraising Regulator. This gives you a clear picture of where your current practice is solid and where gaps exist, particularly around vulnerable donors, data handling, and third-party fundraisers. 2. Put written agreements in place with volunteer groups and professional fundraisers. Any external party raising money in your charity's name should be operating under a clear written arrangement. This covers permitted activities, how donations are handled and transferred, use of your logo and name, reporting expectations, and how the relationship ends. Professional fundraiser agreements have specific statutory requirements under the Charities Act. 3. Draft appeal wording carefully and keep records. Every fundraising appeal should be honest about who benefits, how funds will be used, and what happens if you raise too much or too little. Keep copies of appeal materials and any promises made, because trustees can be challenged later on whether funds were applied in line with the appeal. 4. Follow the rules for public collections and events. Street collections, house-to-house collections, and many public events need licensing or permits from the local authority, and online platforms have their own registration requirements. Build a compliance checklist for each collection type so nothing is missed in the rush to launch a campaign. 5. Build grant-making policies and due diligence into your processes. If your charity awards grants, you need documented criteria, an application and assessment process, conflict of interest controls, and monitoring arrangements to check funds are used as intended. Grant agreements should spell out conditions, reporting, and what happens if funds are misused or unspent.

Common questions