Who Regulates Fundraising?
Fundraising regulation in Scotland
In Scotland, fundraising regulation will be overseen by us, the Scottish Fundraising Standards Panel, in line with the Code of Fundraising Practice.
We will work with key stakeholders to ensure high fundraising standards throughout Scottish charities and we aim to achieve this through relevant guidance and events which will be published on our website. You can keep up-to-date with this through our News & Events page.
We will also adjudicate on fundraising complaints in relation to Scottish charities through the 3-stage process:
Stage 1: Complain to the charity – if you remain unsatisfied with the resolution, move to stage 2
Stage 2: Complain to the charity trustees – if you still remain unsatisfied, move to stage 3
Stage 3: Escalate complaint to the Panel
You can read more about each step on our Make a complaint page and read our complaints policy on our How we assess your complaint page.
For charities that are registered in another part of the UK, please see the relevant section below.
Fundraising regulation in England and Wales
In England and Wales, the Fundraising Regulator is responsible for fundraising regulation. The Code of Fundraising Practice sits with the Fundraising Regulator and we will work closely with them in proposing and considering any amendments to the Code.
For charities that are registered in both Scotland with the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and England and Wales with the Charity Commission (CCEW), the lead regulator model is applied. This is the model used by both charity regulators.
So, this means that if a charity’s lead regulator is CCEW then any fundraising complaints will be dealt with by the Fundraising Regulator, and if a charity’s lead regulator is OSCR then any fundraising complaints will be dealt with by us.
Fundraising regulation in Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) established a working group and carried out a full consultation and concluded in June 2017 that the Fundraising Regulator for England and Wales would take on responsibility of fundraising regulation in Northern Ireland. You can read more about their decision here.
