Compliance with fundraising reporting rules
Stuart McKay · Posted on: February 12th 2026 · read
New research published by the Fundraising Regulator shows that 56% of charities fully comply with the legal requirements on fundraising reporting, a significant increase from just 33% in 2022.
Charities with annual incomes over £1 million must include a fundraising statement in their trustees’ annual report covering specific elements of their fundraising: including regulatory participation, monitoring of third parties, the number of complaints received, and safeguards for vulnerable people.
The Regulator analysed a sample of annual reports from levy-paying charities and found marked improvements across most areas, including:
Improvements of levy-paying charities annual reports
Reporting on fundraising approaches.
Reporting on steps taken to protect vulnerable people and other members of the public while fundraising.
Reporting on number of fundraising complaints received.
The only area where a decline was evidenced was in reporting on participation in voluntary regulations and schemes.
This improvement suggests that charities are taking their obligations on reporting more seriously, increasing the transparency of fundraising activities in their annual reporting.
Non-levy paying charities were found to provide significantly less detailed fundraising reporting than their levy-paying counterparts. In the sample reviewed, only a small proportion included thorough explanations of their fundraising approaches, how they applied voluntary regulation, or how they monitored third-party fundraising.
These findings are a helpful prompt for charities (particularly those over £1m income) to re-check that their trustees’ annual report includes all required fundraising disclosures, and that statements are specific, evidenced and consistent with how fundraising is governed and delivered.
Given the decline in reporting on voluntary schemes, charities should also confirm whether they participate in relevant standards (or explain why not) and ensure oversight of third-party fundraising, complaints reporting and protections for vulnerable people are clearly documented.
"For non-levy paying charities, enhancing the level of detail in fundraising reporting can be a practical way to strengthen transparency and donor confidence, even where the levy framework does not apply."
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