Understanding the new Code of Fundraising Practice
The Fundraising Regulator has revised its Code of Fundraising Practice. This came into effect on 1 November 2025 and is arguably the most significant overhaul of fundraising regulation since 2019.
Trustees and charity leaders need to understand not only what the 2025 code says, but also how to prove their fundraising decisions are fair, reasonable and in line with good governance should they ever need to.
The new code has moved away from prescriptive rules to principles-based regulation. There are fewer rules, but more responsibility on trustees to demonstrate they've acted appropriately and proportionately.
Why this matters
The main change is how the Fundraising Regulator will assess whether you've met the 2025 code's standards. It will look at your decision making process, not just whether you have followed a checklist. This is particularly important if you find yourself subject to a complaint that is investigated, as they'll ask you to explain how your actions were "appropriate" and "proportionate" to your specific circumstances.
Whether your charity has a fundraising team or not, trustees need to understand and oversee how these principles apply to your fundraising activities and ensure there is effective fundraising governance in place or risk leaving your charity exposed.
The fundamental change
The 2019 code contained detailed requirements for almost every fundraising scenario. The 2025 code has significantly fewer rules and instead uses terms like "appropriate," "reasonable," and "proportionate" throughout.
The new code gives charities more flexibility to adapt the requirements to the size and context of their organisation. A local community charity and a national charity can both comply with the same rule, but in very different ways.
The 2025 code now includes examples of acceptable and unacceptable practices, but these aren't exhaustive lists. Your charity will need to show you've thought through how to meet the principle behind each rule.
The key changes
The 2025 code has been restructured into three parts: the standards for all fundraising, the standards for working with others, and the standards for specific fundraising methods. Many rules from the 2019 code have been combined, simplified or moved into guidance.
BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS DONORS. The general behaviour standards have been consolidated. The requirement to be "polite" has been replaced with a broader obligation to take "all reasonable steps" to ensure fundraising reflects positively on your organisation and the sector.
The rules on misleading donors have been strengthened. Your charity cannot suggest a donation is for a restricted purpose if it might be used for something else. When fundraising for a specific purpose, you must provide information about what happens if you raise more or less than the target amount.
TRUSTEE RESPONSIBILITIES. The general duties for trustees have been combined into fewer, broader rules. Your charity must act reasonably and carefully in all fundraising matters. This includes taking overall responsibility for fundraising activities you've delegated to others.
Protecting fundraisers
There's a new requirement to protect fundraisers from harm and harassment, with processes for reporting and dealing with issues that arise. Trustees must now respond constructively and within an appropriate time to enquiries from the Fundraising Regulator. This applies to your fundraising partners as well.
DUE DILIGENCE AND ACCEPTING DONATIONS. The due diligence requirement has been simplified and clarified. Your charity must carry out "appropriate due diligence, proportionate to the size and nature of the donation" before accepting it.
What's appropriate for a £50 donation is very different from what's acceptable for a £500,000 gift. Small donations often won't need formal due diligence checks. Larger donations from known sources may need relatively straightforward checks. Unexpected large donations, or those in unusual forms like crypto, will require more scrutiny.
Exceptional circumstances
Donations can only be refused or returned in exceptional circumstances, and you must document your decision.
HANDLING COMPLAINTS. Your charity must have a clear, publicly available fundraising complaints procedure. When working with fundraising partners, if they don't have their own procedure, they must agree to follow yours. When complaints arise, you must investigate thoroughly and fairly, respond appropriately, avoid unnecessary delays, and regularly review complaints to improve future fundraising.
There's also a new requirement for a published procedure for charity employees and volunteers to report concerns about fundraising practice, including how people raising concerns will be protected from victimisation and harassment.
PAYING FUNDRAISERS. The detailed requirements about commission payments, performance management and payment caps have been removed. Instead, there is now a single principle that you must give "appropriate consideration" when deciding how to pay fundraisers, and whether that aligns with your charity's values.
Guidance published
The Fundraising Regulator has published guidance on what constitutes appropriate consideration, but you now have more flexibility in structuring payment arrangements, provided you can justify your approach.
DATA PROTECTION. Almost all the detailed data protection rules have been removed. They've been replaced with signposting to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) guidance and requirements.
However, two specific rules remain. Your charity must not sell or share personal data with other organisations unless you have consent. If you share data for fundraising purposes, the ICO expects you to tell donors the names of the third parties you're sharing with.
VULNERABLE DONORS. The new code has strengthened and clarified the rules on vulnerable circumstances. Appropriate consideration must be given to the needs of donors who may be vulnerable or need extra support to make informed decisions. This includes not accepting donations if you know, or have reason to believe, that someone cannot make an informed decision, and returning donations if you discover this after the fact.
Alert to signs
You're not expected to assess every donor's capacity. But fundraisers should be alert to the signs that someone lacks capacity and support them appropriately.
WORKING WITH PROFESSIONAL FUNDRAISERS. The requirements for written agreements with professional fundraisers and commercial participators have been simplified. Your charity must have an appropriate written agreement in place with any third party fundraiser, except for volunteers, where an agreement is optional.
The agreement must include appropriate terms about activities, timescales, payment, copyright over material, handling confidential information, expected behaviour, complaints procedures and subcontracting arrangements. The agreement must also provide adequate protection and rights for your charity. You must be able to end the agreement in a way that protects your charity's reputation if necessary.
LEGACY FUNDRAISING. There has been a consolidation of the legacy fundraising rules, but the underlying standards remain unchanged. Your charity must consider the freedom of testators to provide for their families and any sensitive circumstances.
The rules around fundraisers receiving personal legacies have been strengthened. Charity fundraisers must not draft, or be directly involved in drafting, wills in their own favour. Your charity fundraisers must inform you of any offer of a 'personal' legacy, and your charity must have procedures for handling such situations.
What you need to do
The transition to the principles-based code requires active trustee engagement. Your existing policies were likely written to comply with the 2019 code's prescriptive rules and need to be updated to reflect the new principles-based approach.
You need to think through how your charity will demonstrate that its approaches are "appropriate", "reasonable" and "proportionate" to your specific circumstances.
The new code requires your charity to document key decisions. This includes decisions about refusing or returning donations, conducting due diligence, and payment arrangements you've considered appropriate for fundraisers.
Start documenting now. If the Fundraising Regulator investigates a complaint, they'll look at your decision making process. If you can't show that you considered the relevant factors, you'll struggle to demonstrate compliance.
Make sure your fundraising complaints procedure is clear, publicly available, and covers the new requirements around investigation, response times and learning from complaints. Check that your procedure for employees and volunteers to report concerns about fundraising practice meets the new requirements, particularly around protection from victimisation.
Understand the shift
Your charity needs to understand the shift to principles-based regulation. Your team needs to be able to make appropriate judgments about how to apply the code's principles to specific situations, which requires specialised training.
If you work with professional fundraisers or commercial participators, review your agreements to check they meet the new requirements. The content requirements have been simplified, but the need for adequate protection and the ability to end agreements to protect your charity's reputation has been emphasised.
Your due diligence procedures for accepting donations need to be risk-based and proportionate. Make sure you can demonstrate the appropriate level of due diligence for different donation types and sizes. The same applies to due diligence on volunteers, trustees and third party fundraisers.
It's not enough to train your fundraisers. Every trustee should understand the new code, particularly the shift to principles-based regulation and its implications for governance. Trustees who don't understand these changes cannot fulfill their duty to oversee fundraising effectively.
Run a specific session on the new code at your next board meeting. Use real examples from your charity's fundraising to discuss how you would demonstrate that your approach is appropriate and proportionate.
A trust-based approach
The new code is a signal that the Fundraising Regulator trusts charities to make appropriate decisions for their circumstances.
This is positive for well-governed charities. It gives you more flexibility and reduces bureaucracy. But it also means more responsibility. Your charity needs to show you've thought through your decisions and acted appropriately.
The 2025 code is a significant change, but it's a positive development for the charity sector. The move to principles-based regulation is about treating charities as responsible organisations capable of making good decisions.
