Fundraising Governance Policy and Review Pack for Charities

Fundraising is a vital part of running many charities, but it also needs proper oversight. Trustees remain responsible for how their charity fundraises, even where fundraising is delegated to staff, volunteers, professional fundraisers, commercial partners or online platforms.

The Charity Fundraising Governance Policy and Review Pack has been created to help charities review, document and strengthen the way fundraising is planned, approved, monitored and reported.

This pack has been created with the Charity Commission’s CC20 guidance in mind, Charity fundraising: a guide to trustee duties. CC20 reminds trustees that they remain responsible for how their charity fundraises, even where fundraising activity is delegated to staff, volunteers, professional fundraisers, commercial partners or online platforms.

The documents in this pack are designed to help charities put practical governance around the key areas highlighted in CC20, including fundraising plans, restricted appeals, donation handling, donor records, third party fundraisers, fundraising complaints, risks and trustee reporting.

This pack is designed for charities that want to put clear, proportionate governance around their fundraising activities without creating unnecessary paperwork. It is particularly useful for trustees, senior managers, charity founders, fundraising leads and small charity boards who want to check whether their current fundraising arrangements are properly documented.

The pack includes a template Fundraising Governance Policy together with practical checklists and review tools to help charities consider key areas such as fundraising plans, restricted appeals, donation handling, Gift Aid, donor records, suspicious donations, third party fundraisers, commercial partners, fundraising complaints, trustee reporting and Trustees’ Annual Report disclosures.

It can be used by charities that do not currently have a fundraising policy, or by charities that already have some procedures in place but want to review whether they are complete, up to date and aligned with current Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator guidance.

What is included?

1. Fundraising Governance Policy
2. Guidance Notes
3. Fundraising Governance Audit Checklist
4. Trustee Board Discussion Checklist
5. Fundraising Plan Template
6. Fundraising Risk Register
7. Restricted Appeal Wording Checklist
8. Donation Acceptance and Refusal Checklist
9. Third Party Fundraiser and Commercial Partner Due Diligence Checklist
10. Fundraising Complaints Log
11. Trustee Fundraising Report Template

This pack helps charities consider questions such as:

1. Do trustees receive enough information about fundraising plans, risks, complaints and performance?
2. Are fundraising targets, methods, costs and risks properly documented?
3. Is appeal wording clear about what happens if too much is raised, too little is raised, or plans change?
4. Are restricted donations being identified, recorded and used correctly?
5. Are there proper controls for cash donations, Gift Aid, donor data, suspicious donations and fundraising fraud?
6. Are professional fundraisers, commercial partners and online platforms subject to proportionate due diligence and written terms?
7. Are fundraising complaints and incidents being recorded and reported to trustees?
8. Does the Trustees’ Annual Report accurately explain the charity’s fundraising approach where required?

This pack is not intended to make fundraising more complicated. It is designed to help charities evidence good governance, protect public trust and make sure fundraising is discussed, documented and monitored in a proportionate way.

Suitable for:

1. charities in England and Wales;
2. small and medium charities;
3. charities fundraising from the public;
4. charities working with volunteers, fundraisers, commercial partners or online platforms;
5. trustees and senior managers reviewing fundraising governance.

Not suitable for:

1. charities looking for bespoke legal advice on a complex fundraising arrangement;
2. charities needing a full review of professional fundraiser or commercial participator agreements;
3. charities involved in a dispute, investigation or regulatory issue;
4. charities outside England and Wales without checking local requirements.

This is a template pack and guidance document. Charities should adapt it to their own structure, fundraising methods, governing document, risk profile and existing policies.

Download details

This pack is provided as an editable Microsoft Word document so that you can adapt it to your charity’s structure, fundraising activities, internal processes and existing policies.

Once purchased, the document can be downloaded up to 3 times. Please download and save your copy within 30 days of purchase.